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

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Technologies

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 3, #487

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 3, No. 487.

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 fun one, and it made me a bit hungry. 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: Beyond vanilla

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: We all scream…

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:

CREST, CHAT, REST, PEES, CHAR, BORE, CORE, SIMP, TORE, SECT, FEST, MIST, CAMP, CHEST

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:

CHERRY, COFFEE, BROWNIE, PISTACHIO, BUTTERSCOTCH

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is ICECREAM. To find it, look for the I that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for July 3, #753

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for July 3, #753.

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 could be tough. The green category came together quickly for me, but purple, as usual, was tricky. 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 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: Let’s discuss.

Green group hint: Before a trip.

Blue group hint: Sports stars.

Purple group hint: E-I-E-I-O.