Lifehacker

There are plenty of reasons to update your iPhone to iOS 16. You can customize your Lock Screen to be anything you want, edit and undo iMessages, and even see your iPhone’s battery percentage again. While those new features and changes are worth updating for, none are as pressing as the latest security update.

Of all the suspicious ingredients to add to cake batter, mayonnaise is certainly at the top of the list. Known for adorning meat-laden sandwiches and turning everything from eggs to Jell-o into a “salad,” mayo doesn’t seem like a customary ingredient for brownies, yet here we are.

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With iOS 14, Apple brought widgets to your iPhone’s Home Screen—with iOS 16, Apple wants to do the same with your Lock Screen. With this update, you can create multiple Lock Screens that you can cycle through at any time, and each Lock Screen can hold up to five different widgets: There’s a grid of four squares below…Read more...

Many of us instinctually know that talking consistently to a baby or toddler is important for their development. But it may be even more important that we realize: As child development research shows, encouraging a child’s language development isn’t just about the number of words that they hear—it’s also about the…Read more...

Back-to-school season means backpacks are on the brain. I believe having a stocked backpack is an adult thing to do, too, though. Rarely do I leave the house with nothing but my phone, wallet, and keys. I’d rather be prepared with more than the bare minimum when I’m out and about.Read more...

The best fried rice is made with “leftover” rice. Specifically, rice that has already been cooked, then dried, usually in the refrigerator. The best breakfast burritos are, in turn, made with leftover fried rice—or at least, that’s what was inside the best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.Read more...

Time is money, or so they say. But how much is your time actually worth? When you’re deciding what to do with your free time, it can be helpful to put a price tag on it to determine what tradeoffs you’re really making.Read more...

Part of what makes video games so darn fun is the pure exploration. Us 90s gamers remember how huge Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule Field felt for the first time, or how realistic Grand Theft Auto III’s Liberty City seemed. While these games are still just as fun to explore today, modern tech makes it possible to take that…Read more...

It’s a beautiful thing, to reach the point in a relationship when your no-longer-new partner has finally discovered all of the horrible smells your body can produce, and chooses to stick with you nonetheless. The last thing you want, however, is for this smelly point to arrive ahead of schedule—killing the romance…Read more...

Ladies and gentlemen, start your iPhones: iOS 16 is finally here. After three months of software testing, Apple has finally released its big new iPhone update to all compatible devices. With it comes a slew of new and exciting features. Some, you might know already, such as the ability to edit iMessages, but others,…Read more...

Eleven years ago, we published a brief report of a quirky hack: Turning on a kids’ bubble machine is said to keep mosquitoes at bay. And this weekend, I saw the same idea going viral on TikTok. But does it really work?Read more...

Even if your preferred tomato consumption method is “biting into it like an apple,” there will come a time in your life when you will have to peel a tomato. Perhaps you will be processing your summer haul, or simply making a little marinated tomato salad. But you will arrive at a moment when those skins need to come…Read more...

After months of testing, iOS 16 is finally out in the wild today as a stable public release. It’s filled with welcome new (or new to iPhone) features, like a customizable Lock Screen with widgets and the ability to edit and undo iMessages. But not all features are ready for launch day.

There’s an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardahians where Kourtney holds up a donut and says, “I can’t eat this, but how exciting is it to smell it?” That’s how many millennials—and, frankly, people of all ages living during these times—feel about home ownership. Thanks to a combination of economic factors, we can’t…Read more...

There is a lot of confusion around electric bicycles, or e-bikes, and that stems largely from the different laws governing their use around the country. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates e-bikes at the federal level, but focuses on product safety for manufacturing and initial sale, leaving states…Read more...

You probably take screenshots every day, whether it’s a location you want to remember, a picture you want to save, or a text thread you want to share. Your Photos app is likely littered with screenshots from the past several months, if not years, crowding your photo library and taking up storage on your iPhone and…Read more...

When you get the sniffles or a scratchy throat, you might jump to the conclusion you’re sick—and since the pandemic began, there’s plenty of reason to be anxious about that. Fall and winter usually usher in cold and flu season, but something else might be the cause of your symptoms: You might have fall allergies and…Read more...

Grieving is hard and complicated after a loss, but some people may find themselves dealing with anticipatory grief, which is grief that comes before a loss. Anticipatory grief can happen in situations such as when a friend or family member has been diagnosed with a terminal illness—when a loss is known to be coming,…Read more...

Given the health risks associated with mold, it’s not something you want in or near your home. Unfortunately, flooding, humidity, and/or improper storage can result in mold growing on basically anything we own—including our books.Read more...

When you pick up items of clothing from the dry cleaner, they typically come in thin, clear, plastic garment bags. Once you get them home, it would make sense to simply pop them in your closet, in the bag. After all, these are pieces of clothing that you’re paying someone else to clean, so they must be worth the…Read more...

When a window has been closed for years—or even over a long winter—it’s normal for it to stick a bit when you try to open it again. But sometimes it takes more than some extra muscle to let the fresh air in—especially in situations where a window has been painted shut.Read more...

Take a look at the bottom of the faucet on most modern kitchen and bathroom sinks, and you’ll probably see a small, round screen called an aerator. This thin piece of metal helps to control the water as it comes out of the faucet by adding air—which reduces splashing and water usage.Read more...

Outside, the sound of grasshoppers and crickets chirping adds to the ambiance—especially in the summertime. But indoors, that noise can get annoying very quickly. Plus, while some people may not find grasshoppers and crickets as frightening as spiders, coming across one or more of these insects inside your home can be…Read more...

When it comes to updating the interior of your home (especially on a budget), paint is your best friend. A few coats can transform a room or a hallway, and make tired, worn furniture look new.Read more...

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The old saying “cash is king” hasn’t really been true in ages. Card and app transactions represent about 60% of all purchases between $10 and $100, meaning cash is now used mainly for small purchases—and the occasional business that doesn’t accept credit cards or cash apps. But cash is also still very useful. When a…Read more...

This post began life as a roundup of films built on female power—a good tie-in to the forthcoming release of the Viola Davis-starring historical epic The Woman King, about the all-female fighters of the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin) in the 19th century, no? But history has overtaken that idea with the death of…Read more...

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Apples are wonderful when baked, play well with other flavors, and are fairly versatile. Apple cakes, pies, crumbles, and tarts, make for excellent gifts, breakfasts, or snacks...and who can turn down an apple cinnamon anything? The downside is that when raw apples are added to desserts, it can lead to leatheriness…Read more...

You paid for your DLC, so you should have access to it at all times. Unfortunately, it seems some PS4 players had their DLC uninstalled unexpectedly, with no clear solution other than to reinstall it all over again. Before you resort to reinstalling your games and losing all your save data, though, you should try this…Read more...

It’s nerve-wracking to imagine any scenario where you and your family are impacted by a natural disaster, which is why you should always be prepared. Preparation can help reduce your anxiety now and make any disaster situation more tolerable if it ever happens. While you’re planning out what you and your family can do…Read more...

You’ve heard of employees “quiet quitting.” Now get ready for the trending term’s flip side: “quiet firing.” As we’ve previously pointed out, quiet quitting was quickly blown out of proportion. It’s not “quitting;” it’s doing the amount of work that you agreed to be compensated for. And so, amid the the growing…Read more...

Braces are a common thing for kids to get, and chances are your child’s dentist will suggest you get a consultation with an orthodontist at some point. (The American Association of Orthodontists suggests doing this before age 7.) But does your kid really need braces?Read more...

Is your PS5 controller acting up? A firmware update for your DualSense controller can quickly fix many minor issue. If you have a PS5, it’s easy to update the controller by plugging it into the console. If you don’t have a console, however—perhaps because you use the controller for PC gaming—you can use a Windows…Read more...

I have a dog that gets carsick if the conditions are not exactly perfect. I have to withhold food if we’re going to be in the car more than fifteen minutes and reassure her that I’m not taking her to be abandoned. Still, she frequently ralphs, and I frequently clean it up, so I thought I was something of an expert on…Read more...

Fall is a beautiful and practical time for a trip: The scenery in the northern part of the country is particularly exquisite, the southern part offers a little warmth for anyone still clinging to summer, and each state offers something cool to see or do.Read more...

Being a teenager (and a young adult) can be incredibly stressful. In a recent survey, the American Institute of Stress found that 64% of people between ages 15-29 are experiencing high levels of stress. Meanwhile, 61% of middle schoolers reporting feeling a high level of pressure to get good grades.

Increased work obligations, diminished emotional capacity, family emergencies—there’s no shortage of reasons why someone might need to step back from a relationship, at least for a little while. The notion of “downgrading” or “de-escalating” a relationship might sound like code for “breaking up.” In reality, not all…Read more...

This week, some young people are learning about how they have no privacy at work. Others are asking why they can’t make friends. But everyone is asking whether Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine.

Our shoulder blades can move in multiple directions. They can slide up and down, toward each other or apart from each other, and they can rotate clockwise and counterclockwise. When you’re doing an exercise that involves your upper back, instructors will sometimes boil down all this complexity to “squeezing” or…Read more...

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Apple has a habit of aggressively removing features in the name of progress. They killed the DVD drive from the Mac while discs were still popular, removed HDMI and MagSafe from MacBook Pros (before subsequently bringing them back), and, of course, are responsible for the death of the headphone jack. Apple’s decision…Read more...

Sensory activities are a really important aspect of child development. In particular, activities that incorporate “messy play” are helpful for kids to integrate different sensations into their lives, which helps them with motor skills, language skills, and engages their creativity. For kids with “sensory…Read more...

Rest days are a commonly used tool to manage your workload in an exercise routine. While they’re not technically necessary, they can be a good idea, giving your body extra time to recover between workouts. Even when I’m doing an intense workout program, I make sure to give myself, at minimum, one full rest day. Or,…Read more...

One of the basic tenets of interior design—if you ever plan to sell your home—is to avoid overly personal choices of the more permanent variety. Yet, as anyone who has ever house- or apartment-hunted before can attest, many people think that textured walls are a universally appealing design choice. Fact: They are not.…Read more...

Maybe you love podcasts. Maybe you have listened to every single episode of every single show spotlighted on the Apple Podcasts homepage. And maybe you have thus found yourself in a listening rut. There are so many interview shows, scripted non-fiction shows, comedy chat shows, and fiction dramas, sometimes it seems…Read more...

You probably love your living room. It’s where you put up your feet at the end of the day, ready to unwind in whatever home theater experience you have created. If you’re looking up, though, you’re doing it wrong—at least according to the “experts” on Reddit.

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Update, 2:10 p.m. Sept. 8: Buckingham Palace announced this afternoon that Queen Elizabeth II has died.