Technologies

Clean Up Your Phone By Deleting Your Android Web Browser’s Cookies, Cache

Your web browser’s cookies and cache can build up a lot of data on your Android device. Clearing it out can help keep the clutter to a minimum.

Your Android phone is online constantly, and your web browser in particular is picking up data from all the different websites you visit. Much of that data builds up in your web browser app — whether you’re using Google Chrome, Firefox or Samsung Internet — storing it as part of the cookies and cache within those apps. This data can be helpful for websites you regularly frequent, letting them load faster with your accounts already logged in.

While data for the websites you frequent is certainly convenient, the cache and cookies are also where data from websites you visited as a one-off along with random data trackers also build up. Some of the cookies in particular can track your browsing history, and it could be helping serve up personalized advertising based on your web history. For instance, the way you end up seeing advertising for a product that you might have viewed briefly on a shopping website.

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Because of this, every so often it’s good to clear out your cache. This way you can remove data that you simply don’t need on your phone, especially if it’s a data tracker that you aren’t even aware is part of your phone’s cookies. This will lead to a minor convenience of having to log back into some of your favorite websites, but it’s a small price in order to make sure your phone isn’t stocking up on extraneous data.

The steps differ slightly depending on the type of phone and web browser app you’re using, so below we’ll go over how to clear this data for Google Chrome browser (often the default for many Android phones like the Google Pixel line), Samsung’s Internet browser (often the default on the Galaxy phone series) and Mozilla’s Firefox browser. You can also check out our separate guide on how to clear your cache on an iPhone web browser in case you have a few Apple devices to tidy up, too.

Google Chrome

You can delete your cookies and cache from within the Android version of Google Chrome by first tapping the More button in the top right corner of the browser, indicated by a column of three dots, then tapping History, then Clear browsing data. You can also access this from the Chrome Settings menu, tapping Privacy and Security and then Clear browsing data.

Chrome also offers Basic and Advanced settings for clearing your Browsing history, Cookies and site data and Cached images and files. You can use the Time range drop-down to select whether you want to delete the entire history or a selection of anywhere from the past 24 hours up to the last four weeks. Tapping Advanced will also give you access to deleting Saved passwords, Autofill form data and Site settings. After selecting what you want to delete, tap the blue Clear data button. You might receive an additional prompt in the event Chrome deems certain websites as being «important» to you, and if so you’ll get the chance to confirm before clearing. Otherwise if you do not receive that prompt, Chrome will immediately proceed to clear as you instructed.

Samsung Internet

There are two different ways you can clear your Samsung Internet browser’s cache and cookie data. You can clear from within the browser itself, or you can go through your phone’s Settings app.

To clear while in the Samsung Internet browser app, first tap the Options button in the bottom right corner represented by three horizontal lines, then Settings; scroll down to and tap Personal Data, then tap Delete browsing data to get a menu of options to delete. You can clear your Browsing history, Cookies and site data, Cached images and files, Passwords and Autofill forms in any combination. After tapping Delete data, you’ll then receive a prompt asking for you to confirm your choices before deleting.

Going through the browser app itself provides the most customization of what you want to delete. However, if you want to access similar options from your phone’s settings menu, open the Settings app and tap on Apps, then scroll down to and tap Samsung Internet and then Storage.

At the bottom of Storage, you get separate options to Clear cache and Clear data. Tapping Clear cache will immediately delete the cache, but Clear data brings up a prompt that warns you that all of the application’s data will be deleted permanently, including files, settings, accounts and databases. While it doesn’t specify cookies, this «going nuclear» approach should zap all remaining data, letting you restart the Samsung Internet browser as if it were brand-new.

Mozilla Firefox

Much as with Google Chrome, you can clear the cache from within the Mozilla Firefox Android app. To access this function, tap the More button on the right of the address bar, again symbolized by three vertically aligned dots. Then tap Settings and scroll down to Delete browsing data.

Of the three browsers we’re discussing here, Firefox gives you the most options under the Delete browsing data menu, allowing you to also delete any existing Open tabs, your Browsing history and site data, Site permissions and even your Downloads folder alongside Cookies and Cached images and files.

While you can’t pick a time range as you can for Chrome, you can be more specific regarding what type of data you would like to remove.

And Firefox has an additional option for those who never want to keep their browsing data after they’re done using the app. Inside of Settings is a Delete browsing data on quit option, which instructs Firefox to wipe any combination of these same settings every time you quit the application. It’s a useful feature if you’d like to keep the browser tidy and, say, avoid accidentally handing off your browser history to someone who may have stolen or otherwise gained access to your phone.

For more, check out everything to know about Google’s new operating system, Android 13, including how to download the beta. Also, take a look at CNET’s list of the best Android apps and some settings you’ll want to change on your current phone.

Technologies

OpenAI Will Loosen ChatGPT’s Mental Health Guardrails and Allow Erotica for Adult Users

Sam Altman said the company will ease limits for adults after rolling out age verification.

ChatGPT is treading cautiously right now, but the chatbot may become more risqué by the end of the year.

In recent weeks, the generative AI chatbot has been operating under somewhat stringent limitations, as OpenAI tried to address concerns that it was not handling sensitive mental health issues well. But CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X Tuesday that the company would ease some of those restrictions because it’s «been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues.»

Though Altman didn’t elaborate on what tools are being used to address the problem, OpenAI recently announced new parental controls in ChatGPT.

CNET reached out to OpenAI for details, but the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Other changes are also expected. Altman said the company could allow «erotica» for verified adult users as it implements an «age-gating» system, or age-restricted content, in December. The mature content is part of the company’s «treat adult users like adults» principle, Altman said.

Altman’s post also announced a new version of ChatGPT in the next few weeks, with a personality that behaves more like the company’s GPT-4o model. Chatbot users had complained after the company replaced 4o with the impersonal GPT-5 earlier this year, saying the new version lacked the engaging and fun personality of previous chatbot models.

«If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing),» Altman wrote.

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After OpenAI was sued by parents who alleged ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide, the company imposed an array of new restrictions and changes, including parental controls, alerts for risky behavior and a teen-friendly version of the chatbot. In the summer, OpenAI implemented break reminders that encourage people to occasionally stop chatting with the bot.

On Tuesday, the company also announced the creation of a council of experts on AI and well-being, including some with expertise in psychology and human behavior.

This comes as lawmakers and regulators are ringing the alarm on the risks AI tools pose to people, especially children. On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed new restrictions on AI companion chatbots into law. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several AI companies, including OpenAI.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 15 #591

Here are hints — and the answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 15, No. 591.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one, once you understand the theme. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Going up?

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Not an escalator, but…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

ROTATE, LOBE, NOPE, RATS, STAR, SAME, LOSE, VOTE, BUTTE, SAMS, BAMS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

ALARM, OPEN, CLOSE, LOBBY, GROUND, BASEMENT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is ELEVATORBUTTONS. To find it, look for the E that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind straight up, and then straight down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 15, #387

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 15, No. 387.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is packed with abbreviations, so if that’s your thing, it’s a good day for you. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Hoops.

Green group hint: Are you in a league?

Blue group hint: Alma maters.

Purple group hint: Knock it out of the park.