Technologies

Slow iPhone? This one-minute task will speed it up instantly

You should be clearing your iPhone cache on a regular basis. Here’s how to do it in Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

If your iPhone has been a little sluggish lately, that doesn’t mean you have to buy the latest iPhone (like the upcoming iPhone 13). You can try clearing your iPhone cache instead. It’s a simple trick to get your iPhone back up to speed. You can also try freeing up space on your iPhone to help it zoom from app to app and whip open browser tabs again.

Typically, visiting a website requires your phone to download information like photos, banners and other data. To help speed up that process, most internet browsers will store some of that data in a cache so it’s easier to retrieve. Think about it like storing a 24-pack of beverages in your fridge so you don’t have to trek to the grocery store every time you want a drink. In small doses, it’s convenient.

Things become less convenient when your browser’s cache gets outdated and the data being retrieved no longer matches the data actually being used on the website. The result? Slower load speeds and wonky website formatting. That’s why clearing your cache can help: It gives sites a fresh start in your browser and frees up some space in your storage.

Note that clearing your cache will sign you out of sites you’re currently logged into. Still, it’s generally worth that mild inconvenience every now and then to keep things moving quickly.

Here are step-by-step guides on how to clear your cache on your iPhone, based on which browser you use.

How to clear your iPhone cache in Safari

Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and you can clear your cache in a few short steps. Note that, starting with iOS 11, following this process will affect all devices signed into your iCloud account. As a result all your devices’ caches will be cleared, and you’ll need to sign into everything the next time you use them. Here’s what to do:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Select Safari from the list of apps.

3. Scroll down and select Clear History and Website Data.

4. Confirm your selection in the popup box.

Then you’re set!

How to clear your iPhone cache in Chrome

Chrome is another popular browser for iPhone users. The overall process for clearing your Chrome cache requires a few more steps, and you’ll need to do things through the Chrome browser itself. Here’s how.

1. Open the Chrome app.

2. Select the three dots in the bottom right to open more options.

3. Scroll down and select Settings.

4. Select Privacy in the next menu.

5. Then select Clear Browsing Data to open up one last menu.

6. Select the intended time range at the top of the menu (anywhere from Last Hour to All Time).

7. Make sure that Cookies, Site Data is selected, along with Cached Images and Files. Finally, hit Clear Browsing Data at the bottom of the screen.

How to clear your iPhone cache in Firefox

If you’re a Firefox devotee, don’t worry. Clearing the cache on your iPhone is pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps.

1. Click the hamburger menu in the bottom right corner to open up more options.

2. Select Privacy in the next menu.

3. Select Settings at the bottom of that menu.

4. Select Data Management.

5. You can select Website Data to clear data for individual sites, or select Clear Private Data at the bottom of the screen to clear data from all selected fields.

What happens when you clear the cache?

Clearing your cache removes the website data your phone stored locally to prevent having to download that data upon each new visit. The data in your cache builds over time and can end up slowing things down if it becomes too bulky. (My phone had about 150 MB of data stored in Chrome when I checked.) Clearing that data gives sites a fresh start, which may fix some loading errors and speed up your browser. However, clearing your cache also signs you out of pages, so be prepared to sign into everything again.

How often do I need to clear my cache?

Most people don’t need to clear their caches more than once every month or two. That’s generally the point where your browser will build up a cache large enough to start slowing things down. If you frequent a large number of sites, you should err on the side of clearing your cache more often.

For more, check out how to FaceTime between an iPhone and Android, how to download iOS 15 on your iPhone right now, and 5 creative, fun photo projects to try with your phone at home.

Technologies

Google’s Canvas AI Project-Planning Tool Is Now Available to Everyone in the US

The AI workspace offers a dedicated space to organize plans and projects.

Canvas, the AI planning tool from Google Search, has rolled out across the US, the company said Wednesday. Canvas is essentially a project planning tool with a range of uses, including trip planning. You can select the tool directly from the AI Mode screen at the top of the Google Search results page.

The tool is integrated into AI Mode and can be used on both desktop and mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. However, because Canvas opens a second screen beside the main chat window, it’s a little trickier to see on a smartphone. You’ll have to toggle between the screens.

Going anywhere? Maybe college?

Planning trips is one of Canvas’s main functions, with the ability to view and account for flights, hotels and other relevant information in real time.

«Canvas makes it easy to build travel plans customized for your specific needs — bringing together real-time Search data for flights and hotels, details from Google Maps like photos and reviews, and relevant information from sites across the web,» a Google spokesperson told CNET.

Google also notes you can use Canvas as an academic scholarship tracker, which includes dollar amounts and deadlines.

Project planning with AI

Once you’re in the AI Mode screen on Google, you can select the Canvas option from the plus sign that appears on the left side of the box where you type.

Clicking the Canvas button opens the project in a side panel. From there, you can refine the project with the standard chat prompts. You can even look at the underlying code and adjust the Canvas window’s user interface, such as switching to dark mode.

Rose Yao, vice president of product for Google Search, posted a thread on X on Wednesday, sharing a video of a summer camp project for her kids. Canvas created an interactive dashboard that sorts camp options by cost, distance and focus.

«We’re adding support for coding & creative writing tasks, so you can bring even more ideas to life with custom dashboards or interactive tools,» Yao wrote in the post.

Google first announced Canvas for AI Mode in July 2025, and later that year, expanded Canvas’s travel features.

There’s no word yet from Google on when Canvas will expand into other languages and other countries.

Technologies

McDonald’s CEO Burger Video: Ketchup With This Bizarre New Meme

The executive tentatively took a bite of his company’s new «product,» and now even McDonald’s own social media is relishing the mockery.

Corporate executives: They’re absolutely nothing like us. You might be seeing memes and jokes on social media mocking what appears to be some random man’s wimpy bite into a burger. Here’s the big-mouthed backstory.

On Tuesday, McDonald’s launched its Big Arch burger, and a month before that, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski posted an Instagram video tasting it. But instead of digging into the double-patty, sauced-up and sloppy, 1,020-calorie burger, he … well, delicately nibbles at it? Like the late Queen Elizabeth II might have genteely sampled a cucumber sandwich at afternoon tea?

Kempczinski sings the praises of the Big Arch and then takes the world’s tiniest chomp at it, insisting he took «a big bite, for a Big Arch.»

Does he know what «big» means?

Not only that, but the CEO also says, patting the burger container awkwardly, «I love this product.» As if it’s an IKEA desk. This is America, Chris, we say «burger» here.

Kempczinski’s video came out a month before the burger’s release, and some commenters started grilling the big burger boss right away. But with this week’s release of Big Arch, the internet rediscovered the video.

Comedian Cat Sullivan re-creates the CEO’s video with an even stronger reluctance to taste the food, using the word «product» constantly.

Other restaurant chains especially sank their teeth into the joke. Burger King’s official account cracked, «We couldn’t finish it either» and slammed up an Instagram of its president, Tom Curtis, eating a BK Whopper with a lot more, uh, relish.

Wendy’s created a LinkedIn video showing its president, Pete Suerken, making and enjoying a Wendy’s burger, and he even got in a dig at McDonald’s famously often-broken ice cream machines. Suerken helps himself to a Frosty dessert and announces, «Oh, wait! Our machines are always working.»

Other brands piled on the original post.

«Gonna start test driving our cars 1 metre at a time,» posted car company Mini.

«Is the big bite in the room with us?» cracked the Instagram account for WingStop Canada.

«We do love a square,» wrote Wendy’s UK.

But at least the McDonald’s social media account tried to make fun of its own big boss. The company posted a photo of the Big Arch, using the same awkward term for it that the CEO did, with the caption, «Take a bite of our new product.»

The caption from the McDonald’s Instagram account is at least gamely self-aware, reading «can’t believe this got approved.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 6, #529

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 6, No. 529.

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 features another tricky purple category, so be ready for some word-twisting. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle 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 appear in the NYT Games app, but it does 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: Whack!

Green group hint: Surprise!

Blue group hint: Gooooooal!

Purple group hint: Sounds like…