Technologies

Meet your kid’s new smart gadget: Your old iPad

New Apple electronics should be on the way, but your old iPad may still come in handy for the little ones. We’ll show you how.

The new iPad Mini 6 may be coming shortly, just in time for the holiday season. You could expect it to have a USB-C port, a Smart Connector for keyboard attachments and other features similar to an iPad Air’s. It’s bound to be on your kid’s wish list (and maybe yours, too).

But what does that mean for your old Apple tablet? Maybe sell it for some extra cash? Or you can keep it around for your kids. Even though the new iPad sounds way better, you can turn that old tablet into a hub, similar to an Echo Show or Google Nest Hub. Repurposing it may be a good way to upgrade your kid’s room with voice commands and automated routines. Interested? We’ll show you how.

We also have ideas for what you can do with your old Android phone (maybe turn it into a security camera). And here are some ideas for your kids heading back to school.

A smart home hub

You don’t need to buy Apple’s HomePod or HomePod Mini to put an Apple smarter speaker in your kids’ room.

You can turn your old iPad into a smart home hub that lets your kids play music, turn on and off the lights and even control the temperature in their room with the tablet.

To turn your iPad into a smart home hub for your kids’ room:

1. On your iPad, go to Settings.

2. Scroll down, tap Home and then toggle on Use this iPad as a Home Hub.

If you want to give your kids control just over the smart-home devices in their room and not everywhere in the house, you can set limits on what they have access to in the Home app.

A baby monitor

Most baby monitors make it easy to check on your little one from your phone or computer. But they aren’t cheap. Turning your old iPad into a baby monitor can be a more affordable way to keep track of your baby.

Baby monitor apps like Cloud Baby Monitor can let you check in on your kid. You can also get motion and noise alerts, just like from popular baby monitors — the Owlet Smart Sock Plus is a popular one. Note that if you’re looking for a monitor that keeps an eye on your baby’s oxygen levels, temperature and sleep quality, an iPad won’t do that for you.

A soothing night-light and sound machine

If your kids are starting to sleep on their own and you want to create a serene sleep haven for them, your old iPad is up to the task. With an app like Baby Night Lite, you can set up a night-light for the kids’ room with a variety of small animals and colors along with a sound machine that comes with a variety of songs and white noise and ambient background sounds. And you can set a timer and create a playlist of peaceful, soothing music or lullabies. For older kids who are beyond lullabies and dancing sheep, an app like Night Light Lite lets you pick from a variety of sounds, such as beach waves and running water, and night-light colors to help them get to sleep.

An extra gaming console

Sony’s PS5 or the Nintendo Switch might be on your kids’ shortlist for holiday gifts, but for fun and variety, it’s hard to beat an iPad paired with Apple Arcade games, such as NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition or The Oregon Trail. And if you have more kids in the home than gaming devices, converting that old iPad into a gaming device may be just the ticket.

Plus, the iPad gives your kids a bigger screen to play multiplayer games on. And you can even add a PlayStation or Xbox wireless controller to the iPad for your kids to play without hogging the TV or your phone.

A learning tool

With the new school year here, if your kids are going to start needing the home computer for their schoolwork, turning an iPad into a dedicated educational tool may be the perfect use for your older Apple tablet. You can even pair it up with a keyboard and a mouse to make the iPad feel more like a computer.

If you’re worried about your kid becoming distracted by messages, games, alerts and social media, you can use Apple’s parental controls to set limits and what they can and can’t do on the device.

To get a running start on the school year, here are a few apps that can help your kids study, keep track of their day and take notes.

If you’re still leaning toward getting a new iPad, here’s our guide to the best iPads available right now and the big differences between them. And here’s what we know about the next Apple event if you’re shopping for more gadgets. Or if you’re thinking about keeping your old iPad, here’s what iOS 15 has in store.

Technologies

New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms.

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide.

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.

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One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers.

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things.

Technologies

Slack Is Transforming Slackbot Into an AI Assistant

Enhancements will make the simple bot act more like an AI chatbot.

Slackbot, the assistant within the team communication platform Slack, is getting AI enhancements and integrations with other AI chatbots to become more agentic, Slack said in a presentation at Dreamforce, a tech conference in San Francisco, on Monday.

Slackbot works as a simple assistant, sending people reminders, notifications or updates about their colleagues. It isn’t conversational in the same way ChatGPT is. With these AI enhancements, Slackbot will soon function more like an AI chatbot, able to do things on a person’s behalf.

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Enterprise users will soon be able to converse with Slackbot, asking it to help with projects or analyze documents. Slack will also integrate with Google Drive, One Drive, and Salesforce. OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and others are bringing their agents into Slack as well. For example, you can ask @Claude to do a web search or scan your workspace to find new insights.

At the moment, the AI version of Slackbot is in beta and limited to 70,000 users. However, it will be released to all users in January 2026. Slack will then roll out the feature broader later this year. Companies can also turn off Slackbot.

A representative for Slack referred reporters to its blog post.

The AI-ification of apps has been a common trend since the release of ChatGPT. Apps like Duolingo, Canva, Phot,oshop, and others have all added AI features to make things easier for users and to attract investor dollars. Slack’s biggest competitor in the space, Microsoft Teams, has been integrating more AI features recently.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 14, #856

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Oct. 14, No. 856.

Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

NYT Connections fans, we’re used to this. The purple category today requires you to remove the starting letter of four words, and spot their connection once you’ve done that. If you need help, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Dazzle, entrance.

Green group hint: Short version.

Blue group hint: Stop!

Purple group hint: Not humans, and remove one letter.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Captivate.

Green group: Summary.

Blue group: Halt.

Purple group: Animals minus starting letter.

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

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is captivate. The four answers are absorb, engage, hold and occupy.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is summary. The four answers are brief, digest, outline and review.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is halt. The four answers are check, curb, staunch and stem.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is animals minus starting letter. The four answers are anther, easel, hark and lama. (Panther, weasel, shark and llama. Yes, «anther» is a real word.)