Image by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit’s moderator purge could have real impacts on reliability and information safety as it rushes to replace mods with inexperienced, poorly vetted volunteers, according to Ars Technica. With testimony by both expelled former moderators and some of those who replaced them, Ars Technica’s report shows the trouble with the company’s push to quickly replace the mods who sent their subreddits dark, marked them NSFW, or turned them into jokey John Oliver fan forums earlier this year.Reddit began removing protesting moderators in June and said it would continue doing so until morale improves unless subreddits opened back up. Since then, Reddit has been trying to replace those it’s expelled. The Ars Technica piece lists several examples... Continue reading…

Android 14 is just on the horizon, but Android's own Quarterly Feature Drops are still chugging along. This quarter's feature drop brings plenty of useful new features to all Android users and should come to all supported devices in the coming weeks and months. Note that an Android Feature Drop is not the same as a Pixel Feature Drop, where Pixel-related drops are only for Google's own Pixel phones.

Photo illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge From simple fitness bands to rugged sports watches to rings, these are the best trackers you can get. Continue reading…

Meta didn’t build those massive offices in the Bay Area just for them to sit empty, you know? | Photo by Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Starting today, Meta’s offices are going to be full again. The company has been saying since June that any employee assigned to an office — which means anyone not formally designated as a remote employee — will be required to be in that office at least three days a week. Now, CNBC reports that the mandate has gone into effect.Over the last three years, Meta went through the same cycle of remote work as an increasingly large number of other tech companies. When the pandemic began, the company found it was surprisingly productive even with everyone at home, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and others began to wax poetic about the remote and distributed future of work. Zuckerberg himself estimated that in the next decade, “we could get to about... Continue reading…

A lot of smartphone users don't typically give much thought to the many software releases rolled out to their devices. Some prefer to set their iPhones to automatically update, so they don't have to worry about doing it manually, while others prefer to just keep the same software version their device shipped with. A select few pick and choose when to update. Regardless of how you prefer to update your device, you may have noticed a new type of software release called a Rapid Security Response. But what does this really mean, and how does it compare to the other types of software releases seeded out to great iPhones?

Whether you just purchased a new Chromebook to move away from a Windows laptop or are just a fan of ChromeOS, we have one piece of advice: You don't have to use Google Chrome all the time.

Headphones offer a unique experience that gives you the power to immerse yourself in music, movies, or games, while blocking out the rest of the world. This experience is amplified with headphones that offer robust sound and powerful ANC capabilities like the Philips Fidelio L3 headphones.

Image: Larian Studios You’re gonna be spending a lot of time down, down, down by the river. Continue reading…

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images On the heels of the Labor Day weekend, United Airlines briefly issued a nationwide ground stop order, citing a “systemwide technology issue.” The order was lifted around 10 minutes later. “We are experiencing a systemwide technology issue and are holding all aircraft at their departure airports. Flights that are already airborne are continuing to their destination as planned. We will share more information as it becomes available,” the airlines said in a tweet on X (formerly Twitter). “Thank you for your patience as we work on a resolution to get you on your way as soon as possible.”United did not immediately provide any details about why it issued a ground stop and how it was able to lift it so quickly. We are experiencing a... Continue reading…

Larian Studios The companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 have redefined the term “player-sexual,” or the idea that a character’s romantic and sexual orientation are firmly and solely fixed on the player. Usually, in a game that allows you to romance other characters, it takes a moment for the sparks to really start flying. There’s a general buildup of flirtations before you get to have a romantic interlude with your chosen somewhere around a game’s climax. (See what I did there?) In Baldur’s Gate 3, there is so little time between the initial “I like you” and visiting Boning’s Gate that a whole speedrun category has been developed around getting to a sex scene as quickly as possible, with the world record currently sitting at two minutes and four seconds.... Continue reading…

The smartphone world might be fast-paced, but OnePlus is a brand that consistently delivers innovative technology, exceptional performance, and stylish designs. While the brand started by providing some of the best cheap Android phones, it is now among the upper echelons of the market, producing impressive flagship devices without compromising the quality of its more affordable phones. Thanks to its catalog of excellent devices, such as the OnePlus 11 and Nord N30, choosing the ideal phone for your needs can be tricky since they come in different price ranges and features. Fortunately, Amazon and Best Buy are offering irresistible discounts, making it easy to grab your favorite models at a fraction of their original prices. Check them out below to choose the one that suits your needs.

Bluetooth trackers come in all shapes and sizes. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge For those of us who can’t ever seem to know where our keys, wallets, and remote controls have disappeared to. Continue reading…