If you use Microsoft Authenticator to manage your passwords, the clock is ticking. 

On Aug. 1, the app won’t store or manage your passwords anymore. That means you won’t be able to save passwords or use two-factor authentication or auto-fill. 

And if the Authenticator app was your go-to password manager, you’ll need to find a new one. Microsoft is moving to a login method we’re becoming more familiar with: passkeys. Instead of a mix of letters, symbols and numbers, you’ll use PINs, fingerprint scans, facial recognition or a pattern on your device’s lock screen to log in to your accounts. Attila Tomaschek, a CNET software senior writer and digital security expert, believes it’s a safer option compared with the risky password practices we use. 

By the numbers, 49% of US adults have bad password habits, according to a CNET survey. Having a password you use for several accounts or that’s easy to guess can put you at risk of hackers stealing your data. 

There’s less than a week before the big switch. So it’s time to figure out how passkeys will work with Microsoft and to pick a new password manager. Here’s what you need to know to get started. 

Microsoft Authenticator will stop supporting passwords on Aug. 1

Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition like Windows Hello, or other biometric data like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you’re logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your accounts. In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator.

As of this month, you won’t be able to use the autofill password function. And next month, you’ll no longer be able to use saved passwords.

If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. «Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts,» Tomaschek said.

Why passkeys are a better alternative to passwords

So what exactly is a passkey? It’s a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That’s generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack.

«Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks,» said Tomaschek. 

Passkeys aren’t stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they’re stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager.

How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. «If you have a password and ‘one-time code’ set up on your account, we’ll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you’re signed in, you’ll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your passkey,» according to the blog post.

To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select «Set up a passkey.» You’ll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you’re logged in, you can set up the passkey.

Other password manager alternatives 

Since Microsoft will get rid of all of your passwords in two weeks, you’ll need a new place to store your passwords safely. Tomaschek has a few of the best password manager recommendations after testing and reviewing several. 

The top recommendation is Bitwarden for its transparency. It’s open-source and audited annually. From a price perspective, the free plan lets you store infinite passwords across unlimited devices. The free plan also includes features most password managers would charge for, including password sharing and a username and password generator. 

Bitwarden’s upgraded plans have other upgraded features that could be worth the cost, too. 

Personally, Tomaschek has been using 1Password for a while, and he likes the interface and family plan. Even though it’s second on the list, Tomaschek says it’s just as good as Bitwarden. 

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

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a pretty tough one. I honestly don’t think of it as an actual dictionary-approved word, but rather a slang term. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with G.

Wordle hint No. 4: Animal antics

Today’s Wordle answer is pronounced the same as the name of the animal that is the University of Minnesota’s mascot.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a person who runs errands in an office or on a movie set.

Quick tips for Wordle

#1: Check our list ranking the popularity of all the letters in the alphabet and choose your starter words accordingly. (TRAIN, STERN and AUDIO are good.)

#2: Don’t forget that letters can be used more than once.

#3: Many words are similar. You don’t want to use up multiple guesses that don’t advance your cause. So if the puzzle is STA_E, don’t guess STARE, STATE and STALE. Guess something that uses that R, T and L, like TWIRL.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is GOFER.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 24, No. 1496 was QUAKE.

Recent Wordle answers

July 20, No. 1492: BLANK

July 21, No, 1493: TIZZY

July 22, No. 1494: BURNT

July 23, No. 1495: WATER

The iPhone 16 Pro already has a great camera system capable of taking photos so good you’d think they were taken on pro-level mirrorless cameras. I love the quality of all three rear lenses, and while I like recent features, such as the Photographic Styles and Apple’s ProRaw image format, I think there’s more the company can do to help photographers take their best ever photos. 

I’ve spent 14 years reviewing iPhones and Android phones from all brands for CNET, and as a professional photographer I’ve always had an eye toward testing the cameras of top models like the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Pixel 9 Pro. In that time, I’ve found a variety of features that I’d love to see Apple incorporate into its upcoming iPhone 17. 

So let’s get started. 

Samsung’s My Filters color filter clone

My Filters, as Samsung sometimes calls it, is a tool hidden inside recent Galaxy camera phones. It essentially lets you steal the color tones from one image and apply them to another. Say you found a lovely photo online with dreamy pastel tones and warm highlights. You can save that image to your phone (even a screenshot of it will do), load it into the filter creation tool within the camera app and it will then create a new filter that aims to replicate the tones of that image. That filter will then be saved to your phone for you to apply to all your images later on. 

While the filters it creates are not always especially accurate to the source image (sometimes the effects can be quite subtle), I do like the results you can get from it. I’ve been able to create some lovely filmic looks that I’ve customized to try and give the impression of old Kodak film stocks. 

Apple’s Photographic Styles is the nearest thing the iPhone has, and while some of the looks are nice enough, there’s not a lot of scope for getting truly creative with colors, film grain and other effects. I’d love to see Apple expand on its Photographic Styles tool to give the sort of filmic looks Fujifilm has achieved so well with its customizable «recipes» on its ever-popular cameras like the X100VI. 

Nothing Phone 3’s Macro Mode

I wasn’t all that impressed with the Nothing Phone 3 in my recent review and a large part of that was down to the overall disappointing camera performance. But it does have one saving grace in its macro mode. As someone who runs a photography YouTube channel specializing in macro photography, I feel I have a high bar for what looks good when it comes to close-up photos of tiny things like insects or flowers. But even I have to admit that this phone takes superb close-up photos. 

The iPhone 16 Pro also has a macro function which uses the ultrawide lens to achieve close-up focusing. And while it certainly succeeds in getting up close and personal with whatever insect you happen to find, images don’t always look great from it. I’ve found colors to look a little drab, though. And while it can focus close to the lens, it results in a wide-angle view. This means you’ll need to get your phone right up close to an insect, likely scaring it off. 

I found Nothing’s macro mode to look much more natural in its image processing, with vibrant colors. As it doesn’t appear to rely on the ultrawide lens, it gives a closer view on your subject without the wide angle distortion. Fine, macro photography might be a niche use, but it’s also something that anyone with a phone can do (versus having dedicated macro equipment). I’d still love to see Apple work on its close-up skills.

Xiaomi’s 15 Ultra camera grip

I loved Xiaomi’s 14 Ultra and 15 Ultra phones, finding them capable of taking some of the best photos I’ve ever seen from phone cameras. There’s a lot of reasons why these phones are great for photographers, but one of my favorite things about shooting with them are the Xiaomi-made accessories, including the camera grip and filter mount.

The grip in particular is super helpful as it allows you to hold the phone just like a regular compact camera, while the built-in shutter button makes it easier to snap away without having to tap the screen. The filter mount meanwhile allows me to use the same professional screw-in filters (like pro-mist, circular polarizers or neutral density filters) that I use with my professional camera kit. 

Apple doesn’t make a camera grip for the iPhone and while there are various third party ones, I haven’t found many I really love to use. The Leica Lux grip is as well-built as you’d expect from the iconic photography brand, but it relies on MagSafe which feels risky trusting your phone to hold in place only with magnets and it will only work with the Leica app, not with the default iPhone camera app. (Oh, and it’s a nearly $400 accessory.)

Xiaomi’s kit, being made by the company itself and for the specific phone, works seamlessly, connecting securely to the phone and working as expected with the default camera app. The iPhone is amazing as an everyday carry camera, but it could be elevated dramatically if Apple created hardware accessories specifically for photographers.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s variable aperture

While I’m on the topic of Xiaomi, the company’s 14 Ultra is definitely worth stealing from. In particular, the variable aperture in its main camera can go from wide open at f/1.7 and close down to f/4. Most phones have a fixed aperture and while you’d rarely notice the difference, when it comes to night-time photography, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra was amazing.

By closing down the aperture, I was able to create authentic starburst effects around points of light like streetlights in exactly the same way that you would by using a narrow aperture with a mirrorless camera and lens on a tripod. I loved the images I captured with the phone as they looked so much more professional than the weird amorphous blobs seen around light sources in night photos from other phones. 

I won’t hold my breath on this one as even Xiaomi didn’t stick with the technology for long. While the company made a big deal about it on the 14 Ultra, when it launched the 15 Ultra a year later, the variable aperture was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the mechanics make the phone too expensive to produce or maybe there just wasn’t enough benefit — or demand — for starbursts in night photos.

Either way, it was a real highlight for me and it’s something I’d love to see Apple implement in the iPhone 17’s camera.

Xiaomi and Sony’s external lens cameras

Yes, I’m talking about Xiaomi again. But also Sony, so simmer down. At MWC earlier this year Xiaomi showed off a concept for a camera and lens unit that attaches to your phone but contains its own large image sensor and larger, higher-quality optics. It harnesses the computing power, image processing and larger display of your phone, but offers much better overall image quality than the tiny cameras in your phone are able to achieve. 

Sony actually had a similar idea itself all the way back in 2013, packing its QX100 and QX10 cameras with a large image sensor and full zoom lens, but no screen. Like the Xiaomi concept, it connected to a phone to act as the display. While Sony’s product did go on sale, it never really took off and the company didn’t return to the format, while Xiaomi’s is firmly still in «concept» territory. 

I certainly won’t be alone in having daydreamed about what an Apple camera would be like. Pairing the top-end image processing Apple is able to achieve with its iPhones with a significantly larger image sensor and pro-standard lens optics could result in an absolute photography powerhouse for both casual snappers and pros alike. 

And while I don’t ever foresee the company launching an actual stand-alone camera, I’d love to see it create a camera unit like Sony’s and Xiaomi’s that’s designed to work in tandem with an iPhone. Do I expect to see this at the iPhone 17 launch? Absolutely not. Will I dream about it anyway? Damn right.