Technologies

Stop ads from following you across the web with this iPhone setting

You can boost your privacy and throw ad-trackers off your trail with Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature on iPhone.

We’ve all had the creepy experience where a brief moment of online shoe shopping turns into weeks of being followed around by ads for that same footwear on every site you visit. But there’s a feature on your iPhone that can help you boost your online privacy by giving you the option to easily disable ad tracking within the apps you use. (For more, check out all the new features in the latest iOS 15 release.)

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature gives you more control over which apps can track you on your iPhone, and how. Unless you give an app explicit permission to track you (including those made by Apple), it can’t use your data for targeted ads, share your location data with advertisers or share your advertising ID or any other identifiers with third parties. This change — first unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2020 and rolled out with the iOS 14.5 update — drew support from privacy advocates and criticism from companies such as Facebook, which said it will hurt its ad business.

The move came alongside other efforts from Apple to increase transparency and privacy, which CEO Tim Cook called a «fundamental human right.» With the release of iOS 14.3, users began seeing app «nutrition labels» informing them of the categories of data an app requests before downloading it from the App Store.

Here’s how to use the new App Tracking Transparency feature to control which apps are able to track you.

How to turn off app tracking on new apps

When you download and open a new app, you’ll get a notification that asks if you want to let the app track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites. You’ll also see information about what the app would track. You can tap Ask App not to Track to block that activity or Allow.

You can also opt out of app tracking across every app you download by going to Settings > Privacy > Tracking, and toggling off Allow Apps to Request to Track. This means any app that tries to ask for your permission will be automatically blocked from asking and informed that you have requested not to be tracked. And all apps (other than those you’ve given permission to track in the past) will be blocked from accessing your device’s information used for advertising, according to Apple.

It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean ads will disappear. It just means that you’ll be more likely to see generic ads, not one for that pair of shoes you clicked on one time.

How to turn off app tracking on already-downloaded apps

For apps that you’ve already downloaded and may have tracking permissions set up for, you can still turn those permissions on or off on a per-app basis.

Under Settings, tap an app, and then tap to turn off Allow Tracking. Or go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking, and tap to turn on or off each app you’ll see in the list of apps that have requested permission to track your activity.

All app developers are required to ask for permission for tracking. If Apple learns a developer is tracking users who asked not to be tracked, they will need to either update their tracking practices, or else potentially face rejection from the app store.

Apple believes that privacy features like these are a differentiator for its products. Cook has said that because the company’s business model isn’t built on selling ads, it can focus on privacy.

Even so, it’s important to bear in mind that when you ask apps not to track you, all you’re essentially doing is prohibiting app developers from accessing the identifier for advertisers (IDFA) on your iPhone. Developers use your device’s IDFA to track you for targeted advertising purposes. Denying access to your iPhone’s IDFA doesn’t necessarily mean app developers won’t track you through other means, so it’s critical to be mindful of the apps you use and how you interact with them.

For more, check out browser privacy settings you should change immediately, and CNET’s picks for the best VPNs of 2021.

Technologies

EA’s Upcoming Star Wars Tactics Game Will Be Officially Revealed This Weekend

Star Wars Zero Company, as it’s called, will be shown off at Star Wars Celebration Japan on April 19.

A couple weeks ago, word started to spread about an upcoming Star Wars game developed by Bit Reactor and Respawn. The wait for more details wasn’t very long, as EA formally announced it — Star Wars Zero Company — today in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The upcoming title will be a turn-based, tactical combat game, and if rumors are true, it’ll be similar to XCOM.

For now, details are fairly slim. EA announced the game, but hasn’t released a trailer or any specifics beyond the official game art above, so the final gameplay remains a mystery. However, there is a name and a genre, which is a start.

«Recruit an unconventional team of operatives and deploy them on missions unlike any other in the galaxy far, far away in Star Wars Zero Company,» said the official Star Wars blog. «The newly announced single-player turn-based tactics game will share the first details about the game currently in development with attendees at Star Wars Celebration Japan.»

That means people won’t have to wait too long to learn more details. Star Wars Celebration in Japan is set to start on April 18 and run through April 20. Per EA’s tweet, the full announcement and gameplay reveal will take place on April 19.

In the meantime, fans can sign up with their email to get more details when they become available. In either case, more information will be provided over the coming weekend.

A Star Wars twist on a tactical classic

While EA didn’t provide any gameplay footage, existing rumors show that the game is heavily influenced by XCOM. This is based on screenshots shared by a Bit Reactor employee from 2023. Thus, they likely came from an early build of the game, and the final product may look much different.

For those who haven’t played the series, XCOM is a turn-based tactical combat game where you move your squad around on the map and attack the enemy. Between missions, players return to HQ to purchase upgrades and plan their next mission.

The leaked screenshots have a lot of those same XCOM elements. This one shows the potential travel path of a player-controlled character, and this one shows the attack options once the character has moved. Finally, this GIF shows off the HQ players will supposedly visit between missions to buy gear, upgrade characters and check out the next mission.

It isn’t too surprising that Zero Company would look a lot like the beloved team-based tactical game, as Bit Reactor itself is formed of veterans who worked on Firaxis’ XCOM. In a January 2024 story from PC Gamer, Bit Reactor developers talked about their close collaboration with Respawn, the EA studio that progressed from its Titanfall and Apex Legends first-person shooter roots to release the acclaimed Star War Jedi games (Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor).

But even this year, fans were connecting the dots between Bit Reactor, Respawn and this year’s Star Wars Celebration, with StarWarsNet predicting a reveal at the event in January and IGN reaffirming it in March.

There’s been no word yet as to which platforms the upcoming Zero Company will support. However, the existence of controller buttons in the leaked screenshots indicates that it’ll likely come to both PC and console.

EA and the company should release a full-blown trailer at the event, so people only have to guess for a few more days.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 15, #674

Hints and answers for Connections for April 15, #674.

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 Connections puzzle has an oddly-worded purple category, but it makes sense once you think about it. 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: Stop that.

Green group hint: Deal me in.

Blue group hint: Euripedes.

Purple group hint: Second star to the right, and straight on till morning.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Desist.

Green group: Card games.

Blue group: Elements of Greek drama.

Purple group: Second words of «Peter Pan» characters.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is desist. The four answers are abstain, avoid, cease and refrain.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is card games. The four answers are bridge, hearts, speed and spoons.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is elements of Greek drama. The four answers are chorus, hero, hubris and tragedy.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is second words of «Peter Pan» characters. The four answers are Bell, Darling, Hook and Pan.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for April 15, #1396

Here are hints — and the answer — for today’s Wordle No. 1,396 for April 15.

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

Today’s Wordle puzzle was a tough one. It’s not an especially common word, and the letter placement really threw me off. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.