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Best photo books to give as gifts this holiday season

Here are the top photo-book services for turning your photo albums into the perfect gift or keepsake.

This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2021, our list of ideas, by topic, by recipient and by price, to help you discover the perfect gift.

A photo book full of happy memories is the perfect gift for friends and family — especially this holiday season, where some families might be reuniting for the first time since the pandemic’s onset.

The days of dropping off film canisters at a 24-hour photo counter and carefully arranging the prints in a physical album may be in the past, thanks to the digital era. But for me, nothing can replace cherishing family photos in a book on my lap.

A number of reputable options from photo-book services are available online to help you compile a photo book project that can be mailed right to your door. We tested a few of the best photo-book services to see how easy they are to work with, though we haven’t actually gotten any books made yet, so we can’t compare the quality of the final products.

What should I consider before ordering a photo book?

  • What are the available book sizes?
  • What are the cover and page style options? (Matte, glossy, standard, etc.)
  • Can it be done on mobile, or is the site desktop-only?
  • How long will the photo book take to arrive?
  • Is it easy to upload photos?
  • How much creative freedom do I have with templates?

Here are the best photo-book services to check out online. We’ll update this periodically as new services become available and existing services expand their offerings.

Read more: The best printer for 2021

More options

Apple Photos

Apple no longer has an in-house photo book service, but you can download project expansion apps to create photo books with iOS devices like iPhone and Mac. Open the Photos app and choose File > Create > Book. From there you can download third-party apps Motif, Mimeo Photos, White Wall, Ifolor Designer, Mpix, Fujifilm Prints and Gifts or Wix Photo Albums to start a project. Any app you download will be available through Book when you create a new project in the Photos app.

Costco

Costco requires a paid membership to access its photo center. If you have a membership, you can build three different types of 30- to 100-page photo books with multiple themes, captions and layout designs.

The 12-by-12-inch premium layflat starts at $40 and has a special spine to accommodate bigger photo spreads. The 11.25-by-8.75-inch hardcover photo book starts at $20. Costco also offers a two-pack of 8-by-8-inch softcover photo books starting at $20.

Technologies

Get Your Hands on a PS5 Controller for Just $54 This Black Friday

Level up your gaming setup with this Sony PS5 controller for $21 off at Walmart.

Black Friday officially starts at the end of this week, but it’s already here at retailers like Walmart. That means you don’t need to wait until the rush to grab treats, gifts and gaming accessories like this Sony PlayStation 5 DualSense wireless controller for $21 off.

Walmart’s discount brings the price of this PS5 controller down to just $64. Considering price hikes across gaming gear, buying could help you offset any potential rising costs.

Walmart’s discount applies to all Sony PS5 DualSense wireless controllers. However, the $54 price applies to a few colors only. Other controllers are $59 or $64, depending on the color.

Regardless, you’ll get haptic feedback that immerses you in your chosen game, multi-device connectivity, an integrated speaker and a headset jack that lets you stay connected. Sony improved the sticks and layout in this controller for a more intuitive gaming experience.

Though wireless, you can also connect this controller to a USB-C cable or use Bluetooth for longer gaming stretches.

To get the most out of this controller, check out our list of the best PlayStation Plus deals.

Why this deal matters

Gaming is one of the most involved and investment-heavy hobbies around. That’s why major holiday discounts are some of the best times to upgrade or nab new gear. This Walmart discount lets you score a new wireless controller for as low as $54. That makes now a great time to grab this as a gift for a gamer you love — including yourself.

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Technologies

Shop the Year’s Lowest Prices on iPhones and Androids With 30+ Black Friday Phone Deals

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Technologies

Can Chemicals Turn My Orange iPhone 17 Pink? Here’s What I Found Out

There are reports that some cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro handsets are turning pink. I threw chemicals at my iPhone to see what would happen.

A recent Reddit thread suggests that it’s possible for a cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro to turn vibrant pink. As PCMag’s Eric Zeman noted, it’s likely that the phone has been discolored by cleaning substances that affected the finish, turning it from vibrant orange to a wild hot pink. Sure, this might technically be a fault, but in all honesty I love pink phones and the idea of a hot pink iPhone 17 Pro filled me with joy. So I wanted to see if I could test the theory and see just what color-changing effects various household cleaners might have on my phone.

It’s important to note here that the iPhone 17 Pro I used was bought by CNET for the purposes of testing. Had I paid over $1,000 of my own money I wouldn’t be so reckless in smearing it with chemicals that could potentially irreparably harm it. And you shouldn’t either. If you need to clean your phone, do it safely. Disclaimer aside, let’s dive in.

The chemicals

I bought two chemicals to test this out. Zeman explains that it may be oxidation that caused the color to change and that hydrogen peroxide could do this. I couldn’t find this over the counter in the UK, so I instead bought an «oxy-active» stain remover spray that, among other things, contains «oxygen-based bleaching agents» which sounded ideal. Apple also clearly states «don’t use products containing bleach or hydrogen peroxide» on its support page so, naturally, I bought some thick bleach too.

Oxy application

I started by spraying the oxy cleaner on a microfiber cloth until it was noticeably wet from the liquid and then liberally applied this all over the rear of the iPhone. The Reddit user with the affected phone showed that it only affected the metal parts, not the glass back panel, so I made sure to focus my attention on the sides and camera bar. 

With the phone well and truly doused in chemicals that have no business being anywhere near a phone, I left it to sit and think about what it had done for 30 minutes — after which time I wiped it dry and took a close inspection. Disappointingly, my phone was still factory orange, rather than «what the hell have you done to your phone» pink. Time to move on.

Bleach blast

I opened the bleach and trying hard not to think about my days as a middle school cleaner, applied a liberal blob of the stuff to a cloth and smeared it over the defenceless phone, concentrating again on the metal areas. I definitely should have worn protective gloves for all of this so please make sure you take better care of yourself than I do if you do anything with bleach. 

Again, I gave it a 30-minute settling in period before cleaning it off and inspecting the results. 

The phone remained as orange as ever, looking as box fresh as it was the day before when it was, indeed, box fresh. The orange color hadn’t changed and now almost 24 hours later there’s still no sign of discoloration of any kind. 

Is the pink iPhone 17 real?

I can’t say with any certainty whether the Reddit user’s images of a pink iPhone 17 Pro are real or not. The cuddly human side of me wants to take them at their word, while the journalist in me is sceptical. What I can say with certainty is that putting your orange iPhone into close contact with household cleaning products isn’t going to win you a funky, ultra-rare pink hue that you could sell on eBay for a small fortune. 

It’s possible that using pure peroxide could be the thing that does it, but to be honest, if you’re going out of your way to throw industrial-grade chemicals at your phone then you may as well just directly try and dye it. My goal here was to see how susceptible the orange model is to everyday household cleaners such as kitchen cleaner or bathroom bleach — the sort of things it might naturally come into contact with in routine use. And what I’ve found is that, no, it won’t ruin the nice orange color. But it’s probably still not good for your phone. 

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