Technologies

Reduce Eyestrain With This Hidden iOS 17 Feature

It warns you when your iPhone is too close to your face.

Apple released iOS 17 with new features and improvements, like StandBy mode and upgrades to autocorrect. But one of the less-talked-about new features is Screen Distance.

This feature warns you when you’re holding your iPhone or iPad too close to your face, like a parent telling you to sit farther back from the television or computer screen. Though having a screen near your face might not harm your eyes, it could stress and irritate them, according to health organization Cedars-Sinai. Thankfully, this new iOS 17 feature aims to help you reduce eyestrain, and according to Apple, it could even lower the risk of myopia, or nearsightedness.

Here’s how to turn Screen Distance on and give your eyes a break.

Turn on Screen Distance

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Screen Time.
3. Tap Screen Distance.

Two screenshots side-by-side. On the left, the screen reads Screen Distance and on the right the screen reads How Screen Distance Works

Then you’ll see two screens explaining what Screen Distance is and how it works. Tap Continue on both screens, and Screen Distance automatically turns on after these screens. Both screens appear only the first time you go into Screen Distance.

Now, after holding your iPhone too close to your face for a few minutes, your screen gets blocked by a message reading, «iPhone May Be Too Close.»

Two screenshots side-by-side. On the left the screen reads iPhone May Be Too Close and on the right the screen shows a checkmark and reads Screen Distance

Your screen remains blocked until you hold your iPhone farther away. Then, your screen shows a check mark, and you have to tap Continue to remove the block.

Turning Screen Distance off

Screen Distance is a useful iOS feature that may reduce eyestrain and even decrease the risk of nearsightedness. However, if you find the warnings more annoying than helpful, here’s how to turn Screen Distance off.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Screen Time.
3. Tap Screen Distance.
4. Tap the toggle next to Screen Distance.

Now you can go back to holding your iPhone as close to your face as you want without interruption from your phone, or your parents.

For more information on iOS 17, check out my review of iOS 17 and our iOS 17 cheat sheet.

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features and Settings on Your iPhone

Invitation for the Apple September iPhone 15 event

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Technologies

How Verum Ecosystem Is Rethinking Communication

David Rotman — Founder of the Verum Ecosystem

For David Rotman, communication is not a feature — it is a dependency that should never rely on a single point of failure.

As the founder of the Verum Ecosystem, Rotman developed a communication platform designed to function when internet access becomes unreliable or unavailable.

Verum Messenger addresses real-world challenges such as network outages, censorship, and infrastructure failures. Its 2025 update introduced a unified offline-capable messaging system, moving beyond Bluetooth-based or temporary peer-to-peer solutions.

Verum’s mission is simple: to ensure communication continuity under any conditions.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Feb. 1

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 1

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Some of the clues are kind of tricky, but I was able to fill in enough of the others to get them all answered. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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: Spot to shop
Answer: MART

5A clue: Pounded sticky rice sometimes filled with ice cream
Answer: MOCHI

6A clue: ___ Chekhov, «Three Sisters» playwright
Answer: ANTON

7A clue: Like many dive bars and bird feeds
Answer: SEEDY

8A clue: Jekyll’s evil counterpart
Answer: HYDE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What makes the world go ’round, per «Cabaret»
Answer: MONEY

2D clue: Performed in a play
Answer: ACTED

3D clue: __ Island (U.S. state)
Answer: RHODE

4D clue: Itty-bitty
Answer: TINY

5D clue: Squish to a pulp, as potatoes
Answer: MASH

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 1, #496

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 1, No. 496.

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 is a fun one. The blue group made me think of dusty gum sticks, and the purple one requires you to look for hidden names in the clues. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle 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 appear in the NYT Games app, but it does 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: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Vroom!

Blue group hint: Cards and gum.

Purple group hint: Racket stars.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Aquatic sports verbs.

Green group: Speed.

Blue group: Sports card brands.

Purple group: Tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter.

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 aquatic sports verbs. The four answers are kayak, row, sail and swim.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is speed. The four answers are mustard, pop, velocity and zip.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports card brands. The four answers are Leaf, Panini, Topps and Upper Deck.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter. The four answers are ash (Arthur Ashe), kin (Billie Jean King), nada (Rafael Nadal) and William (Serena and Venus Williams)

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