Lifehacker

The newest Nintendo Switch, commonly known as the Switch OLED, was released in October 2021. It’s the fourth major release in the Switch generation of consoles, after the original Switch in 2017, the Switch V2 in August 2019 (which offered better battery life), and the more basic Switch Lite in September 2019. Four…Read more...

Christmas is a load of shit, you say? Christmas movies are bad, actually? Well then, instead of supporting the holiday industrial complex by watching Miracle on 34th Street or Home Alone for the eight billionth time, slap on one of these anti-Christmas movies. I promise there will be no warming of the heart nor…Read more...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 18 months, you know that the housing market is bonkers. Prices are out of control, demand is out of control, and properties are selling faster and with more offers than before the pandemic began. If you’ve thought about buying a home recently, or tried, you have…Read more...

When it comes to home design and decor, everything old is new. From patterns and colors, to furniture and home layout, a lot of the current trends aren’t current at all. And while it’s easy to find a new Art Deco lamp at Target, or a midcentury-modern couch online, there are some parts of older homes that simply…Read more...

Other than toddlers attempting to avoid naps, if you ask almost anyone else, they’ll tell you that they’re tired—if not exhausted. In addition to constantly being busy, many people would likely blame their persistent tiredness on a lack of restful sleep.Read more...

Some humans may think it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but their pets might not love the holidays as much as they do. For one thing, it probably throws off their normal schedule of sleeping 20 hours a day. Plus, there’s all this weird stuff hanging around the house that they’re not allowed to play with—not to…Read more...

Only a few weeks after recalling a variety of their aerosol antiperspirants, the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has now issued a voluntary recall of some of its aerosol dry shampoo and conditioner sprays, according to a notice from P&G posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website. The recalled products…Read more...

The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S have been out in the world for over a year, meaning we’re firmly inside the next-gen gaming era, and if you don’t have one of these systems yet, it can feel like you’re missing out. But are you, really? It has me wondering, when is the best time to buy the latest gaming console?

Few shows have blown a lead quite like How I Met Your Mother. For a few years there in the mid-aughts, it looked the the most natural successor to Friends: An NYC-set, relationship-focused group hang filled with memes and moments that entered the pop culture lexicon.Read more...

Donating a gift to a total stranger is a great way to celebrate the holiday spirit, but you have to know where and how to give first. Handing something to a random person on the street isn’t the most effective method, and some giving organizations don’t make it clear where your donations are actually going.…Read more...

Some movies live on forever. But some movies, like old toys, are loved passionately—and then abandoned entirely. Sometimes that’s by design; movies made to catch hold of a cultural moment aren’t likely to endure. A star or a style that’s big today isn’t necessarily going to make money tomorrow. Sometimes we were…Read more...

Apple’s AirTags and Find My service can be helpful for finding things you lose—but they also introduce a big privacy problem. While those of us on iOS have had some tools for fighting those issues, Apple left those of us on Android without much to work with. A new Android AirTag finder app finally addresses some of…Read more...

Listen, I don’t have pets. My three kids under age 9 keep begging for a dog, to which I say, “Are you going to pick up its poo at 5:30 in the morning when it’s freezing outside?” To which they reply, “Yes! We will!” Which we all know is a heinous, heinous lie. So, because I need another care task like I need a fourth…Read more...

This week, kids are watching season 2 of The Witcher, navigating the pitfalls of virtual reality (spoiler: the problem is other people), and enjoying some old fashioned glitter bombing. They are not, it seems, posting school shooting threats on TikTok.

When Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019, it also acquired that once-venerable studio’s slate of animated films in development, which included two comic book-based properties I was very excited for: Mouse Guard, axed two weeks before production was to begin, and Nimona, which was just 10 months from completion…Read more...

Most early abortions are done by taking pills that cause a miscarriage. This method—medication abortion—is simple and safe, but until recently, federal rules made it illegal to get these pills in the mail like other prescriptions. The FDA has now permanently changed that rule.

Every year, Apple releases new features that both improve data privacy on the iPhone, and set a new benchmark for the industry as a whole. With iOS 15, it’s all about transparency. iOS 15.2 brings a new feature called App Privacy Report that provides a visual, easy-to-read report of all the ways an app is using or…Read more...

Some people are just too hard to buy for. You know the type. They’re really into something, and they’re really particular about it. Gamers and bookworms come to mind, but the same applies to people who are really into coffee.

While Secret Santa forces you to know something about the gift recipient, the beauty of the White Elephant gift is the promise of possibility. And for those of us who like to toe the line of what makes an “appropriate” gift, White Elephant is our time to shine.

Dogs are our companions, our friends, and our helpers. They deserve the best in life that we have to offer—and that means accepting their deep desire to spend time with us in the kitchen, making their food and water easily accessible (even in small spaces), and keeping them safe and comfortable. Here are a few DIY…Read more...

It’s that time of year again—when your search results are crowded with variations of “X Best Gift Ideas for Y”-style articles. And this seems like one of them, but it isn’t. Well, it is. But it isn’t.

All-inclusive vacations can be a great deal, at least on paper: Just hand over a fixed amount of money to a resort or cruise company, and they’ll take care of your lodging, meals, entertainment, and maybe even airfare. But “all-inclusive” means different things in different situations—and you might be surprised at…Read more...

Other than providing most of the world’s oxygen, 80 percent of its biodiversity, and the livelihoods of billions of people, the rainforests have never done anything good for anyone. The 12 horrors listed here prove we should provide massive financial incentives for corporations to destroy the rainforests at a rate of…Read more...

I’ll say it: Goodreads is one of the worst-designed websites on the planet. Sure, it’s a nice website to help you track your reading list and bond with a reading community, but the design is so clunky that it can feel like a chore to navigate. Most of us would probably be better off using a simple spreadsheet to track…Read more...

I suffer from Marty McFly syndrome. Someone says a thing can’t be done, and I’ve already checked out three books on how to do it by the time they’ve taken their next breath. So when a Lifehacker reader commented on a recent duck article and asked about leveling up to goose, it might as well have been a court order. I…Read more...

If you’ve ever woken up at 3 a.m. (then again at 4:30 and 5:47) with hangxiety— that post-drunk, pre-sober psychological state of dread-filled limbo when you question all your life choices—then you’ve probably wondered whether you should cut back on drinking. You may not want or need to give it up entirely, but you…Read more...

The forecast is not looking good. I’m not talking about weather (although climate change is its own crisis). I mean the COVID-19 case numbers.

Chocolate truffles are the cheeseball of the dessert world: high-impact, low-effort, and they never fail to please a crowd. All you need to make them is high-quality chocolate, some sort of dairy, and a tasty dust, chopped nut, or sprinkle to roll them in. You can shape the ganache with your hands for a rustic,…Read more...

Attempting to pare down a book collection has a way of blinding us to our actual reading habits. Sure, that 600-page history book has made it through multiple moves without so much as a quick first-chapter skim—but how dare you suggest getting rid of it?Read more...

Tech innovations are coming so fast and furious these days, it can be hard to stay on top of it all (even when the PR firms promoting it all have your email address). You can try keeping up to date by staying glued to Twitter, but by the time something trends on social media, it’s usually already old news among…Read more...

This year and every year—but this year especially—there has been a lot of chatter about the ways in which the movie world has contracted, with big budget genre blockbusters (usually superhero movies) taking over local movie theaters almost entirely, pushing out nearly everything else. This isn’t good. Superhero…Read more...

If you want to breath new life into some old furniture or decor, a little paint can do the trick. These faux finishes will elevate a regular piece and add elegance to older furniture, and you can DIY them for less expense than you might think.Read more...

With only about two weeks left in 2021, it’s tempting to think ahead to what the new year may have in store for us—from fresh strains of COVID-19, to devastating natural disasters, to an ever more broken political system. But for now, let’s live in the moment, and try to get through the holidays, with some free food…Read more...

Are hackers really spying on people through their phone cameras and webcams? The short answer: Yes. Webcams and phone cameras can be hacked, giving bad actors complete control over how they function. As a result, hackers can use a device’s camera to both spy on individuals and search for personal information. Luckily,…Read more...

Many of us are antsy to travel abroad now that some entry restrictions are relaxed. However, COVID-19 is still very much here, and hopping on a plane and flying across an ocean are not without risks, even if you’ve been vaccinated and boosted.

For centuries, cannabis was deceptively low-tech—seed, meet dirt; dried plant, meet flame. But even in ancient times, people were always looking for more efficient ways to consume; nearly 2,500 years ago in Greece, Herodotus wrote of a vaping technique that involved placing hemp seeds on blazing hot stones.

Who among us doesn’t wake up with an achy neck sometimes, or find that our back doesn’t feel great after sitting or standing in the same position all day? While a concerning level of pain is a matter for a doctor or a physical therapist, a few stretches can go a long way in alleviating everyday stiffness.

If you have a healthy relationship with your in-laws and enjoy spending time with them, that’s amazing! (And where’d you get that—Amazon?) If the thought of your father-in-law loudly clearing his throat one more time sends a paroxysm of muted rage through your chest cavity, though, here are a few tips to help you deal…Read more...

When I was in college, I got into baking as a way to mitigate the stress brought on by taking classes I didn’t really enjoy with the goal of getting a job I didn’t really want. One Christmas, my dad gave me Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess, and my roommate wrapped up a copy of Ken Haedrich’s Pie. I don’t…Read more...

Though your knee-jerk reactions may suggest otherwise, there’s nothing incongruous about pairing Christmas with scary stories.

iOS 15.2 is filled with features big and small. Along with features like Digital Legacy and App Privacy Report, comes a feature we’ve been waiting years for; the ability to completely erase and reset a locked iPhone without needing to connect it to a Mac or PC first.Read more...

A little bit about myself: I like cocktails. I like making them. I like drinking them. I care about them very deeply. I predominantly exercise this affinity from the comfort of my own home, and over the course of the last several years have acquired a home bar I am quite comfortable in and enjoy a lot. Nightly, in…Read more...

Student loans are choking an entire generation of Americans. For decades, people were encouraged to prioritize higher education, and one of the most effective encouragements was the relatively easy process of getting a loan to pay tuition and living expenses while you earned your degree. I can remember applying for…Read more...

At long last, you can search for songs within a playlist in Apple Music. Until now, if you had long Apple Music playlists on your iPhone, you couldn’t use the search bar to find a specific song, making it difficult to quickly find the song you really wanted to listen to. It may be overdue, but Apple has finally added…Read more...

Rolling in to an office holiday party or other seasonal gathering with a cheeseball is a simple, cost-effective way to win friends and influence colleagues. Cheeseballs are fun to eat and easy to make, and there are plenty of recipes for them on this wide and vast informational web.Read more...

If you were planning on making your famous Christmas cheesecake this year, then the current cream cheese shortage has likely thrown a wrench in your rich, creamy plans. Now, Philadelphia Cream Cheese has a counteroffer.

While it might be a bit rich of Netflix to launch a new comedy series that appears to be a straight up parody of The Woman in the Window—a critical bomb the streamer paid big bucks for to acquire from Disney amid the pandemic, you may remember—come Jan. 28, Kristen Bell will become The Woman in the House Across the…Read more...

The sixth—and possibly final—payment from the Child Tax Credit program should be deposited in the bank accounts of eligible parents today, Dec. 15. Those who have their checks mailed can expect them to arrive over the next few days.

Apple’s macOS 12.1 is a fun update. It finally brings iOS’ and iPadOS’ SharePlay to macOS FaceTime—allowing you to share your screen and other media with your friends on video calls—in addition to Hide My Email and Apple Music Voice Plan, among other great features. However, if you’re rocking an M1 Mac, you might not…Read more...

The global pandemic has certainly made travel abroad more complicated, not least because of the additional paperwork demonstrating your vaccination and testing status that is required to leave and reenter the country. But the reality is that you’ve always needed certain essential documents for international…Read more...