Technologies

Google tries to explain its search business as antitrust scrutiny rises

The tech giant faces several major competition lawsuits.

Google on Monday unveiled a revamped website explaining how its iconic search engine works, a move that comes as the tech giant faces increased antitrust scrutiny over the dominance of its juggernaut business.

The website has sections on how Google operates targeted ads, which marketers buy and which are based on a user’s personal data, and the tweaks the company makes to the search engine that affect what information people see.

«The website gives you a window into what happens from the moment you start typing in the search bar to the moment you get your search results,» Danny Sullivan, Google’s executive tasked with communicating the nuances of search to the public, said in a blog post. «It gives an overview of the technology and work that goes into organizing the world’s information, understanding what you’re looking for and then connecting you with the most relevant, helpful information.»

The overhauled website, which is called How Search Works and was first launched in 2016, comes as Google faces several major antitrust lawsuits, including a landmark case by the US Department of Justice, and two complaints from bipartisan coalitions of states. Regulators and prosecutors are investigating everything from Google’s app store to broader business practices around its Android operating system, the most dominant mobile software in the world.

But lawmakers have especially zeroed in on Google’s dominance in web search, and on digital advertising. The company processes around 90% of all online searches in the US. That stranglehold on the market is the foundation of Google’s massive advertising business, which generates almost all of the company’s more than $180 billion in annual sales.

Google has also been criticized over how it displays search results. The company takes content from publishers and other websites, which has led to accusations it hurts competitors. The content is used in prepared answers in Google’s search engine, instead of just providing the list of links the company surfaced in its early days.

On the How Search Works website, Google says its approach has «evolved» over the years.

Technologies

Skip Your iPhone’s Lockscreen: Here’s the Hidden Flashlight Trick You Need to Know

A couple of taps can really make a difference on your iPhone.

Not long ago, your iPhone’s lockscreen would only allow two app shortcuts that you couldn’t change: camera controls and a flashlight toggle. However, iOS 18.2 allows you to customize these shortcuts to almost anything you might want. This small but impactful change is one of many ways iOS 18 supercharges customization for iPhone and iPad users. But what if you still want an easy-to-access way to toggle your flashlight without unlocking your phone?

Apple introduced an accessibility feature in iOS 14 that, once enabled, allows you to perform actions by just tapping on the back of your phone. The feature is called Tap Back and it remains a sleeper feature that’s sneakily hidden away in your settings menu. Enabling Tap Back essentially allows you to create a button on the back of your iPhone to perform an action without needing to take up any space.

Once you have Tap Back enabled, it doesn’t take long to see how much of a game-changer it can be with its added convenience. Below, we’ll show you how to set it up so a couple of taps on the back of your iPhone will let you launch just about anything you want.

For more, check out what’s in the latest iOS 18.4 release.

How to set up Back Tap on iPhone

Whether you want to link Back Tap with your flashlight, camera or launch a different iPhone app, the path through your iPhone settings begins the same way.

On your compatible iPhone (iPhone 8 or later), launch the Settings application and go to Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Now you have the option to launch your action (in this case, your flashlight) with either two or three taps. Although two taps is obviously faster, I would suggest three taps because if you fidget with your phone, it’s easy to accidentally trigger the accessibility feature.

Once you choose a tap option, select the Flashlight option — or a different action if you prefer. You’ll see over 30 options to choose from, including system options like Siri or taking a screenshot, to accessibility-specific functions like opening a magnifier or turning on real-time live captions. You can also set up Back Tap to open the Control Center, go back home, mute your audio, turn the volume up and down and run any shortcuts you’ve downloaded or created.

You’ll know you’ve successfully selected your choice when a blue checkmark appears to the right of the action. You could actually set up two shortcuts this way — one that’s triggered by two taps and one that’s triggered by three taps to the iPhone’s back cover.

Once you exit the Settings application, you can try out the newly enabled Back Tap feature by tapping the back of your iPhone — in my case, to turn on the flashlight. To turn off the flashlight, you can tap on the back of your iPhone as well, but you can also just turn it off from your lock screen if that’s easier.

For more great iPhone tips, here’s how to keep your iPhone screen from dimming all the time and canceling all those subscriptions you don’t want or need.

Technologies

All the Nintendo Games You Can Update to Switch 2 for Free

Bad news: Mario Kart World will cost $80. Good news: These classic games will get free revamped versions for Switch 2.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 launch event on Wednesday has upset some fans for one key reason: pricing. The new console will be released on June 5 at a starting price of $450, and it will have new games, like Mario Kart World, Kirby Air Riders and Donkey Kong Bananza. But those games could cost as much as $80 (and that’s before factoring in possible tariffs).

Fortunately, Nintendo has also announced that some Nintendo Switch games will get free updates to improve playability on the upcoming console.

«By connecting your Nintendo Switch 2 to the internet, you can download free updates that may improve performance or add support for features such as GameShare in select games,» the company posted.

Here are all the Nintendo Switch games that can get a free update for the Switch 2.

Nintendo also announced that other Switch games will have upgraded versions of the base game, called Switch 2 Editions. These games, which include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, may offer improved graphics, unique ways to play the game with the Switch 2 hardware, and other features.

You can buy a digital or physical copy of these games if you’re purchasing them for the first time. But Switch 2 Edition games are not free if you already own the Switch version of one of these games, so you’ll have to buy an upgrade pack to play the updated version.

It’s unclear how much Switch 2 Editions of games and upgrade packs will cost, and it’s also unclear how upgrade packs will work with physical versions of Switch games.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will also be backward compatible with certain games. While we don’t know all the Switch games that will be playable on the Switch 2, we know some Switch games have startup (PDF) or in-game (PDF) compatibility issues with the upcoming console.

For more on the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, here’s what we know about the upcoming console and what to know about games like Mario Kart World and Duskbloods.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, April 4

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 4.

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.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword about knocked me out. I struggled with 1-Across, «Elphaba’s broom in ‘Wicked’ or Aladdin’s lamp in ‘Aladdin,’ thinking it was a word like «magic» but with one less letter. And I was also stumped by 4-Down, «kibble nibblers,» which I thought for sure was «dogs» or «pups.» Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? 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 at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Elphaba’s broom in «Wicked» or Aladdin’s lamp in «Aladdin»
Answer: PROP

5A clue: Thorough investigation
Answer: PROBE

6A clue: Metaphor for an unquestioning rule-follower
Answer: ROBOT

7A clue: Harvard and Yale, for two
Answer: IVIES

8A clue: ___ Wearhouse (department store chain)
Answer: MENS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Definitively determine
Answer: PROVE

2D clue: Herald of spring
Answer: ROBIN

3D clue: Orchestral reeds
Answer: OBOES

4D clue: Kibble nibblers
Answer: PETS

5D clue: Fastidiously proper
Answer: PRIM

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.