Technologies

No Matter What Happens at WWDC Today, I’m Never Using This AI Feature on My iPhone 16

Commentary: I’m an AI reporter, and this one AI feature on my iPhone 16 drove me bananas. So, no matter what Apple announces regarding Apple Intelligence at today’s developers event, I’m never turning it back on.

I was ridiculously excited to upgrade to an iPhone 16 last fall. After spending five years with my well-loved, but outdated iPhone 11, I was ready for all the usual perks: a better battery life, nicer cameras and (particularly exciting for me) a Barbie pink hue. What I didn’t expect was that my iPhone 16 would come with not one, but two new buttons: action and camera control. And one of these would absolutely rain on my parade.

The action button is a small button above the volume adjusters. It was introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro models and is a customizable button that can do anything from turning your ringer on to ordering your Dunkin’ coffee to-go. It’s small, demure and minds its own business.

It’s the camera control button that causes all the chaos.

Camera control is a new button on the iPhone 16 lineup that does what the name suggests: it controls your camera. It’s meant to help you quickly snap photos and serves as a shortcut to launching your camera app. You can slide your finger through a mini settings menu to adjust your camera’s zoom, among other things. But there’s one true reason for the button’s existence: AI.

Like every other tech company, Apple has been heavily investing in artificial intelligence. We’re expecting next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference to highlight any progress the company’s made since it debuted its suite of Apple Intelligence features last year, and to detail what role AI will play in the next generation of its software and hardware.

Apple Intelligence has been the driving force behind much of the company’s innovation. The camera control button, for instance, is the physical pathway into Visual Intelligence, a new AI-powered feature that lets you use your camera to scan objects in the real world to get more information on them. It sounds snazzy, but it’s completely pointless to me, and it’s a feature I have never been enticed to use.

There are other use cases for the camera control button, including ways to customize your button’s settings, as my colleagues have found through their testing. But that doesn’t change the fact that the camera control button is so completely annoying.

It’s a long button, about the size of the power button, located on the lower right side of the device. And it’s very, very easy to tap by accident. I’ve opened my camera while putting my phone in my pocket, while I’m driving and using navigation apps and once as I was turning off my phone for the night, which left the camera app open the whole night and drained my phone’s battery.

And if that wasn’t annoying enough, every time I actually intended to open my camera via camera control, it took several taps to do so. Go figure.

While I had camera control enabled, my camera roll included stunning shots like these:

I ask you: What is the point of a button that works when you don’t need it and doesn’t work when you do? There are already three ways to access your iPhone’s camera from the lock screen that take literal seconds to use. Camera control is a very expensive, very unreliable addition to the iPhone 16, all for the sake of AI features that many people don’t need or use. There hasn’t been one moment since I turned camera control off that I’ve missed it. So even if Apple announces some huge Visual Intelligence updates at WWDC next week, there’s no way I’m voluntarily turning it back on.

I realize my gripes with camera control are minor complaints among what has been an overall positive experience with my new phone. But as an AI reporter, I can’t help but see this as a troubling sign. So many tech companies have overhauled their software and devices to be AI-friendly, whether it’s Google spamming us with Gemini pop-ups in every single Google app, the new Copilot button on Microsoft Windows laptops or Apple’s camera control button.

Tech companies are too eager to get on the AI train and haven’t given enough thought to whether those features enhance or just derail our experience using their products. And not enough offer opt-out options. Thankfully for me and my camera roll, Apple does. But I hope in the future, such drastic measures won’t be necessary as companies are more intentional with their AI-enabling features.

If you want to join me in making your camera control button obsolete, you can navigate to your iPhone’s settings and select camera. Then, tap camera control. Within camera control select accessibility, and then toggle off camera control. If you’re also experiencing the hyper-sensitivity, you can adjust how many taps (and the pressure needed) to trigger the button in that same accessibility page under light-press force.

For more, check out our hands-on experience with the iPhone 16 Pro and our iOS 19 wish list.

Technologies

Here’s the Best Time to Spot November’s Supermoon, the Brightest Moon of 2025

Does the moon look brighter and bigger? It’s not just you — here’s why this month’s supermoon is even more super.

November is a great month for skygazers, featuring a trio of meteor showers and the return of the northern hemisphere winter constellations. This week, it also features the second of four consecutive supermoons. This month’s supermoon will happen on Nov. 4-5, and November’s beaver moon is special because it’ll be the brightest full moon of 2025.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

In addition to being a supermoon, November’s full moon is known as the beaver moon. There is some debate as to why it was named this way. Some believe that this was the best time of year in the old days to set beaver traps to get pelts for winter clothing. Others believe that it coincides with the busiest part of the year for beavers, who are now stocking their lodges with supplies for the upcoming winter.

The brightest supermoon: When’s the best time to see it?

The moon will reach peak illumination at 8:19 a.m. ET on Nov. 5, making the evening of Nov. 4 and the morning of Nov. 5 the best times to view the moon.

Since moon phases shift slowly, the moon will appear almost full for nearly a week. If you are unable to view the full moon on its best night due to weather or other reasons, you can still see a mostly full moon at any point from Nov. 3 to Nov. 8.

For all of those days, the moon will be measurably brighter in the night sky compared to any other full moon in 2025. The reason for this is because of the moon’s elliptical orbit. Since it’s not a perfect circle, the moon’s 27.3-day journey around the Earth brings it closer to us on some days, a phenomenon known as perigee. If there is a full moon during this time, it’s branded as a «perigean full moon,» which you may know better as a supermoon.

Not all supermoons are equal, and November’s will be a little more special than others. According to The Farmer’s Almanac, the beaver moon will be a scant 221,817 miles away from Earth, making it the closest full moon of the year. That means it’ll be the biggest and brightest of the year.

In practice, the differences are fairly minor and likely won’t be visible to the naked eye when compared side by side to other supermoons. A supermoon is only about 7% larger than a regular full moon. According to NASA, the biggest difference is when comparing a supermoon to a micromoon, where a supermoon will be about 14% larger and 30% brighter. So, if you notice that your backyard patio is lit up more than usual, it’s because of the supermoon.

Also due to the moon’s orbit, November will also bring a micro new moon, which means the moon will be as far away from the Earth as it can get — a phenomenon known as apogee. November’s new moon occurs on Nov. 20, but you won’t be able to see it.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, Nov. 3

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 3.

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

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s fairly straightforward, but if you need help, read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: On the ___ (using Tinder or Bumble)
Answer: APPS

5A clue: Color of the second-hardest Connections category
Answer: BLUE

6A clue: Prepare, as a Thanksgiving turkey
Answer: CARVE

8A clue: Have to have
Answer: NEED

9A clue: Camper’s construction
Answer: TENT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Kimmel’s channel
Answer: ABC

2D clue: Audience member who’s in on the magic trick
Answer: PLANT

3D clue: Many a baby food
Answer: PUREE

4D clue: Typical number of objects that humans can hold in working memory, hence phone numbers
Answer: SEVEN

7D clue: Summer hrs. in N.Y.C.
Answer: EDT

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 3, #406

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 3, No. 406.

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 a fun one. The purple category, as always, is a real brain-bender. 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: Catch up!

Green group hint: Beehive State.

Blue group hint: Hoops statistics.

Purple group hint: Signal-callers, but tweak their last name.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Fall behind.

Green group: Utah teams.

Blue group: Categories of points in a basketball box score.

Purple group: NFL QBs, with the first letter changed.

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 fall behind. The four answers are drop back, falter, lag and trail.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Utah teams. The four answers are Cougars, Jazz, Mammoth and Utes.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is categories of points in a basketball box score. The four answers are bench, fast-break, paint and second-chance.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFL QBs, with the first letter changed. The four answers are cove (Jordan Love), Ellen (Josh Allen), mix (Bo Nix) and wields (Justin Fields).