Technologies

Want More Jackbox-Like Couch Party Games? Just Open the Netflix App on Any TV

The streaming service just added five party games to its lineup, including competitive Tetris, a Lego mini-game blitz and Pictionary.

At Netflix’s offices in Hollywood, California, I sat on a couch in front of a TV and tried frantically to guess words, build Legos and finish Tetris lines faster than my new rivals seated around me. The streaming service has a new slew of games playable on your TV that just need your smartphone to control, Jackbox-style.

That gives Netflix’s party games a leg up on the competition. While games from the Jackbox Party Pack series along with Mario Party, Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. have dominated the party game genre, they all require consoles or nearby PCs to play on big family room TVs. That’s all fine when you’re at home, but what about at a friend’s apartment or while traveling? It’s a lot easier to access Netflix’s games by logging into its app on whichever TV you’re in front of, scanning a QR code on your phone, and using it as your controller.

Connecting phones to the service takes a little work. iPhone owners will need to download an additional Netflix Game Controller app from Apple’s App Store which will remain connected after scanning a QR code before the first match, while Android phone owners can play through the standard Netflix app but need to scan a QR code each time they start a game.

Netflix has five party games out now with a respectable spread of game types, ensuring one player’s strengths aren’t dominating their friends. In my couch preview time, none of us were roundly beating the others — but there was a good amount of friendly trash talk and squeals of delight or dismay as games went one way or the other.

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My standout favorite was Lego Party, or at least an abridged version of the recently released game of the same name that does away with the Mario Party-esque game board and (smartly) throws players straight into a best-of-five mini-game blitz. Tetris Time Warp is competitive Tetris that you’ve probably played before, but with a fun twist of switching graphics to match different eras of the game — in the middle of a match, mine switched to greenscale like the original Game Boy version.

Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends is the most Jackbox-like game, where a group of players describe an animal with a word — though one is an imposter and tries to fake their way through. Pictionary is just like the classic game I know and love, while Boggle Party gives players a grid of letters in which they try to make as many words as they can in a limited time, which I assumed I’d dominate until stressing about the rapidly dwindling timer shrunk my vocabulary.

There’s another game coming soon, Dead Man’s Party: A Knives Out Game, which will be a murder mystery and social deduction game themed after the third detective film in the Knives Out series that’s due out later this month. While Netflix didn’t specify when the game will be released, Wake Up Dead Man is slated for a Nov. 26 release.

This party package is a departure for Netflix, which had focused on single-player games for kids and adults playable through its app. To be clear, the streaming service is still expanding its library of non-party titles, with a mobile version of Red Dead Redemption coming soon.

Technologies

Apple Launches Creator Studio Package as $13 a Month Subscription

Mac users can still buy the apps individually, but subscribers get access to Final Cut Pro and other Studio tools.

Apple is bundling its pro filmmaking and audio tools including Final Cut Pro with its productivity apps Keynote, Pages and Numbers into a subscription software suite called Apple Creator Studio.

The package, which includes apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and the whiteboard app Freeform. Creator Studio will be available starting Jan. 28 at a cost of $13 per month or $129 per year, or $3 per month or $30 per year for students and educators. Mac users will still have the option to purchase software like Final Cut Pro for a one-time free. The current price for Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store is $300.

While apps such as Keynote and Pages are already free on Apple platforms, it appears that new versions of those apps will receive access to beta features that will roll out first to Creator Studio subscribers. The announcement by Apple alludes to «new AI features and premium content» in some of the apps it otherwise makes available to use for free.

What the Creator Studio bundle comes with

The star of the show in Creator Studio is Final Cut Pro, the video editing software that will now include Transcript Search on both Mac and iPad. There is also a new Beat Detection feature Apple says uses an AI model to analyze a music track and display a beat grid, making it easier to cut video to music rhythms. The software also will include a new Montage Maker on iPad for quick social video creation.

Motion, the 2D and 3D graphics tool, and Compressor also integrate with Final Cut Pro. Apple touted Motion’s Magnetic Mask feature for isolating objects or people without the need for a green screen.

Logic Pro has new features for musicians, including a Synth Player addition to AI Session Players. Chord ID, a new AI feature, can create chord progressions from audio or MIDI recordings. A new Sound Library will have hundreds of royalty-free clips, samples and loops.

A revamped MainStage app gives subscribers access to instrument, voice-professing and guitar rig tools. Pixelmator Pro arrives with new tools and filters, and there will be an iPad version in addition to the Mac tool.

Freeform in the Creator Studio package will add premium content, including curated photos, graphics and illustrations. It will also get new AI features that include image creation.

Technologies

Reddit Outage Resolved: Here’s What Happened

Did you have trouble reading your favorite subreddits today? You weren’t alone.

If you had trouble accessing the news and discussion forum Reddit on Tuesday, you weren’t the only one. However, as of 10:15 a.m. PT, the site appears to be back up and running normally. Reddit’s status monitoring page, RedditStatus.com, notes that «all systems (are) operational» after the brief outage.

But earlier, at 9:30 a.m. PT, RedditStatus.com said the company was «investigating elevated errors across reddit.com and native apps.» RedditStatus.com reported degraded site performance for both desktop web use and native mobile apps.

Earlier on Tuesday, the site-monitoring service DownDetector also reported issues at Reddit, providing additional details. At one point on Tuesday, DownDetector received over 100,000 reports that the site was having problems. At 10:25 am PT, the report numbers fell to under 600. (Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

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«Reddit is currently experiencing a significant internal outage causing widespread service disruptions,» the site said earlier Tuesday. «The impact is categorized as Very High, primarily affecting mobile app access (55%) and website connectivity (39%). While reports are heavily concentrated in major hubs like New York City and Chicago, the lack of ISP correlation suggests a broad, nationwide issue stemming from Reddit’s internal servers rather than external network providers.»

A representative for Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another social media site, X, formerly Twitter, also showed problems on Tuesday, according to DownDetector. Those problems seemed to spike around 6:30 a.m. PT and improve after.

Technologies

This 3-in-1 Charger Is a Must-Have for Travelers, and It Just Hit a Record-Low of $95

Snag it for $45 off and charge your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at the same time.

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you know that outlets are a precious commodity in places like airports and coffee shops. So why waste one on a single device when you can charge up to three at once? Right now, you can grab this seriously sleek Ugreen Magflow three-in-one foldable charger for just $95 at Amazon. That’s a $45 discount and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen. Just don’t wait too long, as this deal could expire at any time.

At just 7.4 ounces, this compact charging station is designed to be taken on the go. But despite its size, it still supports 25-watt MagSafe charging for iPhones, as well as 5-watt wireless charging for AirPods and Apple Watches. The charging stand also tilts up to double as a stand, and it’s equipped with 16 magnets to keep your phone aligned and securely in place. Plus, it’s got built-in protections against overheating, overcharging, short-circuiting and more to prevent damage to your devices.

Why this deal matters

This folding Ugreen charger is great for juicing up your devices on the go, and it’s never been more affordable. Plus, Ugreen makes some of the best MagSafe chargers on the market right now, so don’t miss your chance to grab one at a record-low price.