Technologies

2nd Android 14 Developer Preview Adds More App Customization

Developers get a sneak peek at personalization controls, more ways to adapt apps to large screens, and more.

Google on Wednesday released the second Android 14 Developer Preview, giving app developers a sneak peek at changes coming to Android software.

The second developer preview adds new ways for developers to adapt apps to large screens on tablets and foldables, including adding stylus support. There’s also a new way to set regional preferences throughout apps, letting users choose to have their temperatures in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit and their weeks start on Monday instead of Sunday if they prefer.

Users now have control over which photos are shared with apps via Photo Picker, which lets them choose select photos to give the app access to, in addition to sharing access to all images or none of them. There are also more ways for developers to notify users and limit how active other applications are in the background, along with tweaks to privacy and security controls.

Google launched the first Android 14 developer preview in early February, with a handful of incremental changes across the operating system, including smarter font scaling for better accessibility, passkey authentication support, the ability to set different languages on different apps, and tweaks to ensure apps are downloading files on Wi-Fi only instead of using mobile data.

The second developer preview can be used only on Google Pixel phones — specifically, the Pixel 4a 5G or newer — but later developer previews may be open to other Android handsets. Google will continue getting feedback until closing developer previews in late March, with plans to release an Android 14 beta in April.

Technologies

Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con Issues? It Might Just Be Your HDMI Cable

Make sure to use the Switch 2 cable included with the new gaming console.

As the Switch 2 continues to sell in the millions for Nintendo, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there’d be some issues with the console. It appears, however, that one problem Switch 2 owners are facing is actually just a matter of using the wrong cable.

Reddit users have posted about their Joy-Cons disconnecting when they’re playing on their Switch 2 while it’s docked, an issue spotted earlier by IGN. It does appear that, luckily, the issue can be resolved by using the included HDMI cable for the Switch 2 rather than an older, slower one — including the cable that came with the original Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo laid out the solution on its support page for when the Joy-Con 2 starts disconnecting from the console:

Confirm that you’re using an «Ultra High Speed» HDMI cable to connect the dock to the TV. If it’s not Ultra High Speed, your console won’t perform as expected when docked.
If you’re using a different cable than the one that came with the console, it should have printed on the cable that it’s «Ultra High Speed.»
The HDMI cable that came with the Nintendo Switch is not «Ultra High Speed» and should not be used with the Nintendo Switch 2 dock.

Nintendo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the source of this issue.

Since the Switch 2 launch, many gamers have come to realize that Nintendo’s new console is very picky about what cables are connected to it. This goes for the HDMI cable as well as the power cable.

While the new and old Switch share the same name, they don’t share the same components. The Switch 2 is a huge upgrade in graphics power over the 2017 console, which means it needs the appropriate power supply. Not providing the Switch 2 with sufficient power could likely cause some issues, especially if the system has to do a lot of work to run a game.

Technologies

Nearly 500 Starlink Satellites Have Incinerated in Earth’s Atmosphere So Far This Year

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 3, #487

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 3, No. 487.

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

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one, and it made me a bit hungry. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Beyond vanilla

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: We all scream…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

CREST, CHAT, REST, PEES, CHAR, BORE, CORE, SIMP, TORE, SECT, FEST, MIST, CAMP, CHEST

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: