Technologies

Google Updates Maps to Make Your National Park Visit Easier to Navigate

Updates due later this month will help you better plan your summer getaway.

Summer is just around the corner, and that means many of you are planning a road trip to one of America’s 63 national parks. The National Park Service recorded 312 million visits in 2022, an increase of 5% over the previous year, and while that’s still a bit lower than pre-pandemic levels, figuring out how to make the most of your time in the wild can sometimes be — well — a bear.

To help make you the most of your outdoor adventure, Google is rolling out updates to Google Maps that will help you get around the park a bit easier and perhaps with more confidence about your enjoyment of the experience, addressing challenges such as identifying a trail that suits your group’s ability or finding public restrooms close to your location.

The updates, which Google announced Tuesday in a company blog post, focus on four key areas of interest to many park visitors, including those must-do attractions, campgrounds, visitor centers and trailheads. The updates will include more details about the attractions, such as photos, videos and reviews from other visitors to help you decide whether it’s worth adding to your itinerary.

Another helpful update will make it easier to decide whether a particular trail in the park meets your desires and skill levels. Maps will highlight the entire route of the trail, from where it begins to where it ends, and include photos and reviews from other users, including how difficult it is and whether it’s suited for walking, hiking or biking.

Getting to the park and to the trails should be a bit easier with more precise directions, including highlighting park entrances on the map. And because cell service can often be sketchy in the wilderness, Google will offer a new way to download park maps for offline use.

The updates will come to iOS and Android users later this month, with updates for parks around the world planned in the coming months, Google said.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 22, #445

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 445 for May 22.

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 has some very long answers, which might be tough to unscramble. 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: Keeping an eye on things

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: They may save or defend.

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:

DATE, DATES, WRAP, ROTE, TOTE, CURT, SEEN, NEST, NETS, DRAW, WARD, STEW, TEES, TRUST, STEED, TEED, GUARD, TROT, TRAP

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’ve got 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:

STEWARD, TRUSTEE, GUARDIAN, CUSTODIAN, PROTECTOR

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is TAKECARE. To find it, start with the T that’s two letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 22, #241

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 241, for May 22.

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.

Connections: Sports Edition has a fun purple category. Once you see the connection, you’ll assemble that one easily enough. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: Think Venus and Serena Williams.

Green group hint: Protect your head on the gridiron.

Blue group hint: Hoopster Bruins.

Purple group hint: A certain color.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Tennis lingo.

Green group: Parts of a football helmet.

Blue group: UCLA basketball alumni.

Purple group: Orange things.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis lingo. The four answers are ace, deuce, fault and let.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is parts of a football helmet. The four answers are chin strap, face mask, pads and shell.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is UCLA basketball alumni. The four answers are Holiday, Lavine, Love and Westbrook.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is orange things. The four answers are basketball, football pylon, Netherlands and Syracuse.

Technologies

The New Android 16 Beta Has a Big Visual Overhaul. Here’s How to Install It on Your Pixel

The latest Android 16 update transitions to Quarterly Platform Releases and includes the latest visual overhaul for the OS.

If you hadn’t heard already, Android is about to get a lot more «jelly-like» thanks to a design overhaul called Material 3 Expressive. Its official launch will likely be alongside the next Pixel devices, but the latest beta build of Android 16 now includes several pieces of the new look that existing Pixel owners can play around with right now.

Last month’s Android 16 beta 4 marked the end of the beta program this year, but that doesn’t mean new Android 16 builds will stop releasing. As it historically has, the beta program has transitioned to Quarterly Platform Release updates. These releases are still betas, but they are more stable than the preceding builds and offer a look at more features that will eventually come to devices in future Feature Drops.

Among all of this week’s Google I/O 2025 announcements, Android didn’t take up much space outside of a few mentions. That’s mostly due to the fact that a majority of what’s new for the OS this year was announced during The Android Show last week, with the new design at the forefront.

Announced on Reddit during the I/O keynote, the QPR1 update includes some of the new Material 3 Expressive design elements that very much change the way the OS «feels» — even if not every piece of the redesign is in place yet.If you held off from the beta program but don’t want to wait for the official release to get your hands on Material 3 Expressive, now’s your chance. Below, we’ll show you how to install it on your Pixel device.

For more, don’t miss our Google I/O 2025 recap.

What’s new in Android 16 QPR1?

The big news here is that this QPR build includes several pieces of the Material 3 Expressive design overhaul. It’s a fresh take on the OS while still looking like a natural progression of what was there before. It’s easier to find important actions within the OS, and the new design will eventually make its way to apps when developers adopt the new design language. Google has already shown off a few of the apps it plans to update with Material 3 Expressive, including Gmail, Fitbit and Google Photos.

While the public release will include more of Material 3 Expressive, the biggest visual changes are present here. The launcher, notifications, quick settings and lock screen all «pop» like never before.

According to the Reddit post, in addition to Material 3 Expressive, the QPR1 update also includes «new platform features, bug fixes, performance optimizations, and the August 2025 security patches.» Specifics aren’t given in the release notes, but the security patch on the Reddit post differs from what the release notes say, so expect to still have the May 5, 2025, security patch after the update is installed.

What Pixel devices can install the Android 16 QPR1?

In order to install the Android 16 QPR1, you’ll need a compatible Pixel. Here’s the full list of supported devices.

Pixel 6, 6a, and 6 Pro
Pixel 7, 7a, and 7 Pro
Pixel Fold
Pixel Tablet
Pixel 8, 8a, and 8 Pro
Pixel 9, 9a, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold

How to install the Android 16 QPR1

Installing the Android 16 QPR1 build is easy.

If you’re running the last Android 16 Beta release, and have a compatible device, you don’t need to do anything. You should be able to check for a system update and the QPR should begin to download.

If you’re new to installing Android 16 on your device, here’s how to get things moving:

Go to the Android Beta site and log in to your Google account.
Click or tap on «View your eligible devices» or just scroll down to the section.
You should see the devices associated with the Google account you’ve logged in with.
Under the device on which you’d like to install the Android 16 update, click or tap the «+ Opt in» button.
Agree to the terms of the beta program and click or tap «Confirm and enroll.»

Once your device is enrolled, you can check to see if the update is waiting for you. It typically doesn’t take long.

On your Pixel, go to your Settings menu.
Tap System.
Tap Software updates.
Tap System update.

From there, the Android 16 QPR1 build should start downloading to your device. If it continues to say «Your Pixel is up to date,» give it a few more minutes or try restarting your phone, then try again. Moreover, if the update that appears is the Android 16 Beta 4 for whatever reason, download and install that, and check for updates again once your Pixel restarts.

Alternatively, you can flash the update to your Pixel.

For more, check out why Android 16 is being released earlier this year.