Technologies

Lyft Now Lets You Favorite and Block Drivers. Here’s How It Works

The app’s new Safety Hub lets you favorite the drivers you like and gives them preference when you request your next ride.

Lyft has a new feature that can help take the awkwardness out of riding with strangers. On Thursday, the ride-sharing company announced that you’ll be able to favorite or block a driver in the app after a ride.

It’s good news if you enjoyed your ride and wouldn’t mind having that driver give you a ride again. And, if you’re like me, it gives you a chance to be more comfortable with who you’re riding with from the airport or dinner.

Here’s how it works and what drivers can also expect to see on their end with the new feature.

Read more: Lyft Silver Lets Older Adults Hail a Ride With Live Human Support

How to favorite a Lyft driver

When your ride is over, Lyft will let you favorite a driver at the bottom of the same screen where you can leave ratings and a tip. You’ll click the checkmark next to Favorite this driver and Lyft will try to pair you with one of your favorite drivers on future rides.

Lyft’s new feature isn’t the first of its kind. Uber has a favorite driver feature that works similarly but you may still be paired with the closest driver to your pick-up spot.

«Our goal with letting you favorite drivers is to find new ways to reward the driver community for providing an excellent ride,» according to Lyft’s blog post.

What the Lyft driver will see

When you favorite a driver, the driver will be alerted. For future rides, the driver will receive a mobile notification when your ride request pops up and they’ll have the option to claim it. Keep in mind that doesn’t mean you can request a specific driver.

Blocking a driver and Lyft’s new Safety Hub

Aside from the new favoriting feature, Lyft also announced Thursday that you’ll be able to block a driver in the Lyft app’s new Safety Hub who you prefer not to ride with again.

The Safety Hub also includes features like audio recordings, PIN verifications and scheduling a check-in with loved ones.

The hub is currently only available for riders but Lyft plans to add one for drivers in the future.

Technologies

Starlink Restored After Hours-Long Outage Took Down Elon Musk’s Satellite Internet Service

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 25 #509

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 25 No. 509.

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 mix of easy words to find and unscramble and one whopping long one. But if you know the theme, that word is easy to decipher. 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: Step to it!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Boogie shoes.

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:

HOGS, RICE, RICER, MUSE, CHAT, CHATS, GRAM, PANT, COAT, COATS, PARS, CARS, LASS, CLASS, CLASSY

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:

MUSIC, COSTUME, RECITAL, TEACHER, CHOREOGRAPHY

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is DANCECLASS. To find it, start with the D that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind up and over.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 25, #305

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 25, No. 305.

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 tested my breadth of sports knowledge. The blue category pays tribute to one of the greatest players of all time. See if you can figure it out. We’ve got hints and the answers in case you get stuck.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: Rink-related.

Green group hint: The lower end of the Golden State.

Blue group hint: NFL G.O.A.T.

Purple group hint: You can also do this to your hair.