Technologies

Are You Paying for Useless App Subscriptions? Cancel Them Right Now

If you forgot about a paid service or never canceled a free trial, you need to know how to find and cancel all those app subscriptions.

Every application you download seems to have some sort of monthly paid subscription. Uber and Uber Eats have Uber One, which gets you free delivery on food and reduced fees on rides, while Twitter Blue offers exclusive features like a blue verification checkmark and the ability to edit tweets on Twitter.

BMW even charges customers in some countries $18 a month to heat the front seats of their own cars. Absurd, right?

And we’re not immune to this service-based economy either. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably paying hundreds of dollars in recurring payments for streaming apps like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Spotify, Hulu and Disney Plus, or more practical things like AppleCare. With so many services, it’s easy to lose track of everything you’re paying for too.

And if you’re trying to cut some costs, you should start with the many subscriptions you might have on your phone.

In this story, we’ll show you how to find all the monthly services you’re paying for on your mobile device, whether it’s via the Apple Store on your iPhone or via Google Play on Android, and how to cancel the ones you no longer want.

If you’re looking to save money in other ways, check out 10 ways to save on streaming services, how to save on TV streaming with these simple tricks and free options to some of your favorite paid services.

Find and cancel your subscriptions on your iPhone

You can find all your monthly subscriptions from the Apple Store in a couple places on your iPhone, but the easiest is through your settings. To do this, launch the Settings application, tap on your name at the top and then hit Subscriptions in the first section. Here you’ll see a list of all the active (and inactive) subscriptions that you’ve signed up for from apps you downloaded from the App Store.

You can also find your subscriptions in the App Store app.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Under Active, you’ll see all the subscriptions you’re currently paying, with the following information: app or service name, short description, next bill date and cost. To cancel an active subscription, tap on the subscription, hit the red Cancel Subscription button at the bottom of the page and then tap Confirm in the pop-up that appears.

You’ll be notified how long you’ll have access to the paid service if you cancel.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

For most subscriptions, you’ll still be able to access the paid services until the end of your billing period. However, some apps won’t let you continue using the service, so you’ll have to read the fine print to see what happens if you cancel. Once it’s canceled, the subscription will remain in the active section, but will show, in red text, when it’s expiring.

Find and cancel your subscriptions on your Android

Unlike iOS, Android runs on devices from various brands, such as Samsung, Google and Motorola, but luckily all these versions of Android all have the Google Play Store, and so finding and canceling your monthly subscriptions is similar no matter what phone you’re using.

To find all your subscriptions, launch the Play Store application, tap your profile picture or first name initial that appears on the top-right and go to Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions. Here you’ll see a list of your active and inactive subscriptions.

Each subscription will feature the date of your next payment.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

If you want to cancel a subscription, tap it and then hit the green Cancel subscription button. The Play Store may ask you to consider other cheaper subscriptions and also to give a reason as to why you’re canceling. Accept any prompts to continue until you see a fully green Cancel subscription button. Hit it and your subscription will be canceled, but you should still have access to it until the end of your billing period.

Skip through any prompts attempting to stop you from canceling.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

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 might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough to unscramble, so 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: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

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:

POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

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:

AZALEA, HEMLOCK, FOXGLOVE, OLEANDER, BELLADONNA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is POISONOUS. To find it, look for the P that is the first letter on the far left of the top row, and wind down and across.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 23, #395

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 395.

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 has one of those crazy purple categories, where you wonder if anyone saw the connection, or if people just put that grouping together because only those four words were left. If you’re struggling 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 show up in the NYT Games app but appears 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: Fan noise.

Green group hint: Strategies for hoops.

Blue group hint: Minor league.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection to hoops.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Sounds from the crowd.

Green group: Basketball offenses.

Blue group: Triple-A baseball teams.

Purple group: Ends with a basketball stat.

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

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is sounds from the crowd. The four answers are boo, cheer, clap and whistle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball offenses. The four answers are motion, pick and roll, Princeton and triangle.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is triple-A baseball teams. The four answers are Aces, Jumbo Shrimp, Sounds and Storm Chasers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with a basketball stat. The four answers are afoul, bassist, counterpoint and sunblock.

Technologies

Amazon’s Delivery Drivers Will Soon Wear AI Smart Glasses to Work

The goal is to streamline the delivery process while keeping drivers safe.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is developing new AI-powered smart glasses to simplify the delivery experience for its drivers. CNET smart glasses expert Scott Stein mentioned this wearable rollout last month, and now the plan is in its final testing stages.

The goal is to simplify package delivery by reducing the need for drivers to look at their phones, the label on the package they’re delivering and their surroundings to find the correct address.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

A heads-up display will activate as soon as the driver parks, pointing out potential hazards and tasks that must be completed. From there, drivers can locate and scan packages, follow turn-by-turn directions and snap a photograph to prove delivery completion without needing to take out their phone.

The company is testing the glasses in select North American markets.

Watch: See our Instagram post with a video showing the glasses

A representative for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

To fight battery drain, the glasses pair with a controller attached to the employee’s delivery vest, allowing them to replace depleted batteries and access operational controls. The glasses will support an employee’s eyeglass prescription. An emergency button will be within reach to ensure the driver’s safety.

Amazon is already planning future versions of the glasses, which will feature «real-time defect detection,» notifying the driver if a package was delivered to the incorrect address. They plan to add features to the glasses to detect if pets are in the yard and adjust to low light.