Technologies

Play Katamari Damacy and 5 More Games on Apple Arcade Now

Subscribers can also play Space Invaders and RollerCoaster Tycoon.

More than 20 years after the release of the award-winning game Katamari Damacy, Apple brought the colorful and quirky series to Apple Arcade, along with five other games.

Apple Arcade is filled with familiar and classic games, alongside exclusive titles, that you can play for $7 per month (£7, AU$10). You can find many of these games in the App Store, but they have paywalls and ads that might hinder your gaming experience.

With an Apple Arcade subscription, you can play each game without paywalls and ads, a feature usually denoted by «Plus» in the name. Here are all the games Apple Arcade subscribers can play now. You can also check out the games Apple added in March.

Katamari Damacy Rolling Live

Developer: Bandai Namco

After Katamari Damacy’s release in 2004, the game launched a series of sequels and ports to other consoles, VR headsets and other devices. This Katamari game is the newest addition to the series, and it launched exclusively on Apple Arcade. In this game you’re still rolling objects scattered across Earth to create stars, but this time your adventure is being streamed by the King of All Cosmos, who gives you challenges as your star grows. Plus, as you complete challenges and grow your fanbase, you’ll unlock new dynamic stages.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve

Developer: Taito Corporation

Space Invaders is another classic game series, and Apple brought the latest entry to Apple Arcade. The game begins with the same mechanics as the classic 2D shooter many people know and love, but evolves into a fast paced shooter. You’ll unlock more powerful ships and weapons as you advance through the game, but you’ll need good reflexes to keep the ships flying and take down invaders.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic Plus

Developer: Atari

This version of RollerCoaster Tycoon combines the original game and the sequel, as well as three expansion packs to help you build the amusement park of your dreams. You’ll construct new rides piece by piece on your own or with premade designs, expand your park, and balance the needs and desires of your park customers. Or you can see how high you can shoot a coaster full of patrons into the air. We won’t judge.

Puffies

Developer: Lykke Studios

This puzzle game reimagines classic jigsaws with puffy, 3D-looking stickers. There’s no overarching image to view in these puzzles, but every single puzzle features a pack of stickers that fits together on one sheet of paper. Play the game every day and unlock daily challenges and grow your sticker collection.

The Game of Life 2 Plus

Developer: Marmalade Game Studio

Subscribers can play this award-winning game and experience the board game in a whole new way. This version features different choices and paths than the original Life. You’ll still move around the board via a spinner, but in this version you can pick a career as a dolphin trainer, customize your character piece and explore space in the Lunar Age expansion. The choice is yours.

Sesame Street Mecha Builders Plus

Developer: StoryToys

Join Mecha Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby in this STEM-focused learning adventure. This game combines mini-games and other activities with science, math and creativity. You’ll embark on exciting missions where you’ll practice coding, create music and mix colors in a fun environment. I was admittedly very disappointed when I learned this game was not Big Bird and the gang building giant mechs to defend Sesame Street. Maybe one day.

You can access these games, and others, on Apple Arcade now for $7 per month or $50 annually. You can also try Apple Arcade for free for one month with your first sign-up, or you can get a three-month free trial when you buy a new Apple device. To access Apple Arcade, open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad, and tap the joystick in the menu bar.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 5, #1477

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 5, No. 1,477.

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 is a pretty tough one. I grew up on a farm, so I know the word, but I didn’t put it together right away, even though the letters are common ones. 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 is are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter B.

Wordle hint No. 4: Down on the farm

Today’s Wordle answer describes a piece of farm equipment.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a machine for making paper, hay, or cotton into bales.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is BALER.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 4, No. 1476 was CURVE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 30, No. 1472: BLINK

July 1, No. 1473: MOLDY

July 2, No. 1474: INCUR

July 3, No. 1475: POPPY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 5, #489

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 5, No. 489.

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.

The theme of today’s NYT Strands puzzle isn’t terribly tough, but at least one of the words is unusual and really, really long to unscramble. 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: Every second counts.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Does anybody really know what time it is?

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:

DIAL, SOLE, MOLE, MOLES, SHAKE, CHEEP, ROLE, HOME, LOCK, MEAT, TAME, TAMES, ROLES, ROON, TRON

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:

CLOCK, WATCH, SUNDIAL, HOURGLASS, CHRONOMETER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is TIMEKEEPERS. To find it, look for the T that’s four letters down on the far left, and wind across.

Technologies

Microsoft Is Eliminating Passwords in August: Here’s What You Need to Do to Prepare

Microsoft Authenticator has already stopped autofilling passwords, but the biggest change comes next month.

In June, Microsoft Authenticator stopped letting users create new passwords. In July, it turned off the autofill password function. And in August, the login app will stop supporting passwords entirely, moving to more secure passkeys, such as a PIN, fingerprint or facial recognition.

Attila Tomaschek, CNET’s software senior writer and digital security expert, says that passkeys are a safer alternative to the risky password habits practiced by 49% of US adults, according to a recent survey by CNET.

«Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks,» Tomaschek said.

Using the same password for several accounts or adding personal hints can be a convenient way to remember your login. But that puts you at a big risk for scammers, identity theft and fraud. Here’s more on Microsoft’s plan for eliminating passwords and how to make the switch to passkeys before August.

When will Microsoft Authenticator stop supporting passwords?

Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition like Windows Hello, or other biometric data like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you’re logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your accounts. In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator, but here’s a timeline of other changes you can expect from Microsoft.

July 2025: You won’t be able to use the autofill password function.
August 2025: You’ll no longer be able to use saved passwords.

If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. «Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts,» Tomaschek said.

Why are passkeys a better alternative to passwords?

So what exactly is a passkey? It’s a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That’s generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack.

Passkeys aren’t stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they’re stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager.

How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. «If you have a password and ‘one-time code’ set up on your account, we’ll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you’re signed in, you’ll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your passkey,» according to the blog post.

To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select «Set up a passkey.» You’ll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you’re logged in, you can set up the passkey.