Technologies

Want to take better iPhone selfies? Use this iOS 14 trick on your front camera

Apple gave the iPhone’s front camera a cool mirroring feature in iOS 14, and it’s easy to turn on.

The latest version of Apple’s iPhone operating system, iOS 14.7, is now available to download (and iOS 15 is just around the corner, likely along with the iPhone 13). No matter what version of the OS you’re running, you’ll find lots of updated camera tools and features, including improvements to Night Mode and burst photos. But one smaller camera feature may make the biggest difference for your selfie needs: a setting called Mirror Front Camera.

Mirror Front Camera comes after the iPhone 11‘s «slofie» slow-motion selfie feature to bring us a subtler — and, dare I say, more useful — selfie tool. (It should be noted that it’s one of many iOS 14 features that’s already been available on Android devices for some time.)

Read on for everything you need to know about the Mirror Front Camera feature, and how to use it to up your selfie game.

What exactly does Mirror Front Camera mean?

You may have already come across this setting in your camera preferences and wondered what it was. When you turn it on and change to your front-facing camera, it will snap a photo that’s your mirror image, instead of flipping it as the camera usually does. Some people find this jarring because the photo you take doesn’t match the image you see in the viewfinder.

Ultimately, it may not change your selfie much, but some people may prefer the more familiar reversed version of your face, like looking in a mirror.

How to use the Mirror Front Camera feature on your iPhone

With iOS 14 installed, the Mirror Front Camera setting is disabled by default. Here’s how to turn it on:

Go to Settings > Camera. Under Composition, toggle Mirror Front Camera on. Head back to your camera app, and turn the camera to face yourself. The image will appear as you see yourself in the mirror, instead of flipped as it usually is.

Here, you can see the side-by-side comparison of a regular selfie and one taken with Mirror Front Camera turned on.

You can follow the same instructions to turn Mirror Front Camera off and go back to the default selfie setting.

For more, check out iOS 14’s best hidden features, every rumor we’ve heard so far about iOS 15 and all the best WatchOS 7.4 features.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, June 28

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for June 28.

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 Saturday, so it’s extra-long, and might take you a while. Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. 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: Detachable parts of a dress form
Answer: ARMS

5A clue: Catering container containing caffeine
Answer: TEARUN

8A clue: Climbing structure offered in pet stores
Answer: CATTREE

9A clue: Gets into town
Answer: ARRIVES

10A clue: Frédéric Chopin or Ray Charles, notably
Answer: PIANIST

11A clue: They don’t hold water
Answer: SIEVES

12A clue: ___-jerk reaction
Answer: KNEE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: With some chance of failure
Answer: ATARISK

2D clue: Prepare for a new job, maybe
Answer: RETRAIN

3D clue: Midday Broadway showing
Answer: MATINEE

4D clue: Goal of a noted reality show set on an island
Answer: SURVIVE

6D clue: Witherspoon who portrayed June Carter in «Walk the Line»
Answer: REESE

7D clue: Lodgings for larks
Answer: NESTS

8D clue: Souvenir from a baseball game
Answer: CAP

Technologies

Facing Billions in DMA Fines, Apple Lets EU iPhone Users Install Apps Outside the App Store

A last-minute rule change lets European iPhone owners download apps from rival stores and developer websites, while introducing new fees that Apple hopes will satisfy regulators in Brussels.

In a scramble to sidestep penalties that could soar into the billions, and with Brussels regulators watching closely, Apple has agreed to let Europeans download iPhone apps from outside its own App Store.

With just hours left before an EU compliance deadline, the company said residents of the 27-nation bloc will soon be able to grab apps from rival marketplaces or straight off a developer’s website. The change rolls out later this year with iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6, and also lets users set a different browser engine and choose a third-party wallet at checkout.

For everyday EU iPhone owners, that means the download button could pop up in more places than just Apple’s storefront. After you select the new setting, iOS shows a one-time permission sheet confirming you’re leaving Apple’s marketplace. The app then passes a quick notarization scan meant to weed out malware. Apple notes that off-store downloads work only inside the EU, and disappear if you stay outside the bloc for more than 30 days.

Cost to developers

Developers do gain fresh distribution freedom, but there’s a price tag. A new two-tier Store Services fee asks for 5% of outside sales in exchange for basic services like app reviews and support in what’s called Tier 1, or 13% for the full bundle of perks, including automatic updates and App Store promotions in Tier 2.

Apple will take a 5% «Core Technology Commission» on any purchase made outside its own payment system. That new cut will phase out the current €0.50-per-download fee and become the sole charge across the EU when a unified pricing model arrives on Jan. 1, 2026.

Apple insists «more than 99%» of devs will pay the same or less under the revamped math.

Why now?

In April, the European Commission fined Apple €500 million ($585 million) for blocking developers from steering users to cheaper payment options, and warned that daily penalties of up to 5% of global revenue could follow if it failed to comply.

Throughout the back-and-forth, Apple has accused the commission of «moving the goalposts» on what counts as compliance, with a spokesperson saying the company has invested «hundreds of thousands of hours» to meet the EU’s evolving demands.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney blasted the 5% tier as a «malicious compliance scheme» that «makes a mockery of fair competition.»

If regulators decide Apple still hasn’t gone far enough, the iPhone maker could face steeper sanctions, or even be forced to separate its App Store business.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for June 27, #1469

Here are hints — and the answer — for today’s Wordle No. 1,469 for June 27. Some players need a new starter word now.

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 isn’t too tough, but somehow, it has a starting letter I never seem to guess. Some posters on Reddit say it was one of their starter words, so now they’re in the market for a new way to begin the game. 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

There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with P.

Wordle hint No. 4: Placement

The two vowels are next to each other.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to something that is not decorated and is simple.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is PLAIN.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 26, No. 1468 was OFFER.

Recent Wordle answers

June 22, No. 1464: THRUM

June 23, No. 1465: ODDLY

June 24, No. 1466: ELITE

June 25, No. 1467: COMFY

Will Wordle run out of words?

When Wordle began, creator Josh Wardle used a list of five-letter words he’d shared with his partner, picking only the words they recognized. While that’s more than 2,000 words, more than half of them have already been used.

Wordle editor Tracy Bennett admitted that the game will eventually have to come to grips with the fact that the word list is not eternal.

«One possibility is that we could recycle old words at some point, like when we get close to the end,» Bennett told a Wordle player on TikTok.

She also said the editors might throw all the words back in and reuse them, or allow plurals, or past tense, something that’s not done now.