Technologies

If You Want Your iPhone Battery to Last Longer, Turn Off These 3 Settings ASAP

Which is more important: Lock screen widgets, or better battery life?

The longer you’ve had your iPhone, the more you’ll notice that the battery doesn’t last the way it did when it was fresh out of the box. Over time phone batteries gradually degrade, robbing them of their ability to hold a charge. That doesn’t mean that you need to constantly charge your phone, or keep it in Low Power Mode though. By tweaking a few settings you can help your battery to last longer, even if it’s a few years old.

Whether you’re using your phone to get directions, stream music or send that one last text, the last thing you want is for it to shut down at the worst possible moment. Instead of scrambling for a charger or switching on Low Power Mode every few hours, take a minute to check your iPhone settings. Turning off a few power-draining features could be the fix your battery desperately needs-and it only takes seconds to do.

You can also keep an eye on your Battery Health menu — it’ll tell you your battery health percentage (80% or higher is considered good), as well as show you how many times you’ve cycled your battery and whether or not your battery is «normal.»

We’ll explain three iOS features that put a strain on your iPhone’s battery to varying degrees, and show how you can turn them off to help preserve battery life. Here’s what you need to know.

Turn off widgets on your iPhone lock screen

All the widgets on your lock screen force your apps to automatically run in the background, constantly fetching data to update the information the widgets display, like sports scores or the weather. Because these apps are constantly running in the background due to your widgets, that means they continuously drain power.

If you want to help preserve some battery on iOS 18, the best thing to do is simply avoid widgets on your lock screen (and home screen). The easiest way to do this is to switch to another lock screen profile: Press your finger down on your existing lock screen and then swipe around to choose one that doesn’t have any widgets.

If you want to just remove the widgets from your existing lock screen, press down on your lock screen, hit Customize, choose the Lock Screen option, tap on the widget box and then hit the «—« button on each widget to remove them.

Reduce the motion of your iPhone UI

Your iPhone user interface has some fun, sleek animations. There’s the fluid motion of opening and closing apps, and the burst of color that appears when you activate Siri with Apple Intelligence, just to name a couple. These visual tricks help bring the slab of metal and glass in your hand to life. Unfortunately, they can also reduce your phone’s battery life.

If you want subtler animations across iOS, you can enable the Reduce Motion setting. To do this, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and toggle on Reduce Motion.

Switch off your iPhone’s keyboard vibration

Surprisingly, the keyboard on the iPhone has never had the ability to vibrate as you type, an addition called «haptic feedback» that was added to iPhones with iOS 16. Instead of just hearing click-clack sounds, haptic feedback gives each key a vibration, providing a more immersive experience as you type. According to Apple, the very same feature may also affect battery life.

According to this Apple support page about the keyboard, haptic feedback «might affect the battery life of your iPhone.» No specifics are given as to how much battery life the keyboard feature drains, but if you want to conserve battery, it’s best to keep this feature disabled.

Fortunately, it is not enabled by default. If you’ve enabled it yourself, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback and toggle off Haptic to turn off haptic feedback for your keyboard.

For more tips on iOS, read about how to access your Control Center more easily and why you might want to only charge your iPhone to 95%.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Aug. 6

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 6

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

I struggled with a few of today’s Mini Crossword clues. 3-Down, with the clue «Fab!» really stumped me. I eventually got it, thanks to the other clues filling in some letters. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in The Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Stylish
Answer: HIP

4A clue: Something a beach umbrella provides
Answer: SHADE

6A clue: ___ Banks, North Carolina
Answer: OUTER

7A clue: Unlikely to keep you up at night, in a way
Answer: DECAF

8A clue: The eruption of Mount St. Helens released 520 million tons of it
Answer: ASH

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Come out of one’s shell
Answer: HATCH

2D clue: Bright ___
Answer: IDEA

3D clue: «Fab!»
Answer: PERF

4D clue: Starry or Squirt
Answer: SODA

5D clue: Color tones
Answer: HUES

Technologies

Samsung Acknowledges Its ‘Upcoming’ Tri-Fold Phone on Earnings Call

It’s reportedly «preparing to introduce» the unique form factor later this year.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 may have just come out, but it appears the company is already teasing its next foldable phone that takes things to a whole other level.

In an earnings call last week, which Seeking Alpha shared, Samsung noted it’s pushing forward with its triple-screen foldable, which has been rumored for months. It also acknowledged the imminent arrival of its Project Moohan mixed reality headset, which it’s developing with Google. Samsung reportedly said it’s «preparing to introduce» the products this year.

«We will drive sales of our premium mobile AI devices, including our newly launched foldables and aim to lead the market by expanding our ecosystem through innovative form factors like the upcoming Tri-Fold device and our first XR headset,» the company reportedly said on the call.

A representative for Samsung didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

Last month, Android Authority reported that a Samsung executive said the new foldable is «ready to go.» That person reportedly told the publication: «We’ve had a tri-fold for some time, designed and everything. So it’s not a new concept to us. What we’re debating is the viability. When I say the viability, is there really a demand for this form factor?»

It’s an interesting consideration, as there arguably hasn’t been overwhelming demand for thinner phones, and yet Samsung still debuted the slim Galaxy S25 Edge in May — and then carried over that sleek design to the Z Fold 7. But it’s possible that, as Samsung said when it debuted its latest book-style foldable, «feeling is believing,» and people might be keen to get their hands on a phone that feels more innovative than many other devices currently on the market.

Android Authority cites a South Korean publication that says the rumored tri-fold will have a 10-inch OLED display, a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and a triple camera system with a 200-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera — just like the Z Fold 7. It could also have a 10-megapixel selfie camera. Rumors suggest it could cost around $3,000. It could first launch in China and South Korea before the company determines whether to extend availability elsewhere.

Like thin phones, tri-folds are having a moment. Last month, Chinese company Tecno showed off its tri-fold concept, the Phantom Ultimate G Fold. There’s also the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate, which is available now outside the US.

In a press conference during Samsung Unpacked in July, Roh Tae-moon, the acting head of Samsung Electronics’ Device Experience Division, reportedly confirmed plans for the company to launch a tri-fold phone by the end of this year. The device has been dubbed the «Galaxy G Fold,» though Samsung seemingly hasn’t confirmed anything about that naming.

«We are now focusing on perfecting the product and its usability, but we have not decided its name,» The Korea Times quoted Roh. «As the product nears completion, we are planning to make a final decision soon.»

We’ll see if Samsung ends up dropping more teasers in the coming months, like it did in the lead-up to the Z Fold 7.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 6, #787

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 6, #787.

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.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has one of those purple categories at which the New York Times’ editors are experts. They love to add letters to related words to make other words, and it can be tough to see that connection — which is the point of the puzzle. 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: Maybe a nametag.

Green group hint: Joking around.

Blue group hint: Think Ali or Tyson.

Purple group hint: Think Schwarzenegger.