​The days of being haunted by a cringeworthy email address created a decade ago are finally coming to an end. For years, the conventional wisdom was that once you picked a Gmail handle, you were stuck with it for life or forced to start over from scratch with a brand-new account. However, a major shift in how Google manages identities now allows you to refresh your primary username without losing years of archived messages and linked services.. This feature has been anticipated for a long time, and we’ve known it’s been in the works for months now. Now, according to Google, anyone using a Google Account in the US should soon have the ability to change their username — and you might be able to do it now.. If you’re itching to change your email address, though, there are a few things you need to know. Most of your data and Google features will carry over, but there may be some hiccups along the way.. When you change your Gmail, it adds the old username as an alternate address. That should ensure that even though your account displays the new username, you’ll still receive all emails sent to the previous address.. Data saved to your Google Account will also be unaffected by the new Gmail username. You’ll have uninterrupted access to emails, photos and messages sent to you as well as anything saved to your Google Drive. You can also use the new email address to continue signing into Google services like Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Google Play or Google Drive.. Though most of the kinks were ironed out before launch, you might still hit a few snags when you change your Google username.. If you’re a Chromebook user, you’ll need to take special steps. Since your Gmail is linked to your device sign-in, third-party sign-ins that use their Google Account will still only recognize the old account username, and Chrome Remote Desktop connections may not immediately work with a new Gmail address.. A Google representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.. The first thing you’ll need to do is access the Personal Info tab in your Google Account settings. From here, you’ll find an Email button — this button can be used to access your Google Account email settings.. After you navigate those menus, you should see a bright blue “Change Google Account email” button. You can choose a new username directly after clicking that button — just make sure it’s a good one, since you can only change your username once a year.. If you follow Google’s instructions but see a message saying the option to change your username isn’t available for your account, don’t panic. The tech giant has made it clear that this feature is being rolled out gradually, so you’ll just have to wait a little longer.. As someone who has carried my childhood username into early adulthood, I’m thrilled to slip out of this ball and chain without having to move my login details to a new email address.. Here’s to a new era of Gmail, where our email addresses grow up and mature alongside us.  

​As Apple prepares for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where we expect the company to announce iOS 27, it’s a good idea to take a look back on iOS 26. Apple released that update in September 2025, and it brought a load of new features to your iPhone, including call screening and other hidden features. The update also gave your iPhone Liquid Glass, the first major design shift on the device since Apple released iOS 7 in 2013.. Since the release of iOS 26, Apple released more iOS updates, which include more features, changes and improvements to your iPhone.. Those updates have also made it easy to change features on your iPhone, including the Liquid Glass design.. We put together this guide to help you navigate and use the latest features in iOS 26. This page will also help you keep track of the subsequent iOS 26 updates.. Featured Deal. Get the all-new iPhone 17 Pro on us!. Trade in your eligible phone in any condition and enjoy up to $1,100 off with an Experience Beyond or Go5G Next plan.. Don’t miss your chance to upgrade to the ultimate Pro-power, performance, and style, now within reach.. Get the iPhone 17 Pro at T-Mobile. iOS 26 updates. Apple Could Bring End-to-End Encrypted RCS Messaging to Your iPhone With iOS 26.5. What You Should Know About iOS 26.4.1. iOS 26.4 Brings New Emoji, Video Podcasts and More to Your iPhone. iOS 26.3.1 (a): What You Should Know About Apple’s First Security Background Improvement. Apple Brings Studio Display Support to Your iPhone With iOS 26.3.1. iOS 26.3 Brings Additional Privacy Controls and More to Your iPhone. Protect Your iPhone From Potential Attacks by Downloading iOS 26.2. iOS 26.1 Is Here, and It Brings These Features to Your iPhone. What Bugs iOS 26.0.1 Fixes on Your iPhone. Using iOS 26. Getting started with iOS 26. Check back here for more updates on iOS 26 and how to use the new features in the OS.. Watch this: iPhone in Space: The Many Apple Products That Left Earth  

​Alexa, the digital assistant from Amazon, has ben around for many years now, and it’s the go-to option for a lot of people. It is also one of the more capable smart assistants out there, and works with a ton of smart home accessories and gadgets. In fact, there are over 200 voice commands for all sorts of things, like controlling your lights, adjusting the thermostat or seeing who’s at the front door. Alexa can even assist in the kitchen with timers and measurement conversions or give your family game night a digital twist.. Amazon’s third-gen Echo Dot with Clock was our previous favorite Alexa speaker, but since the 2020 product line, the flagship fourth-generation Echo speaker has got the nod. At $100, the spheroidal speaker is more expensive than the $50 fourth-generation Amazon Echo Dot, although the improvements in sound quality and some intriguing smart home features justify the additional cost.. Read full review Jump to details. Pros. Improved sound quality and powerful bass. Better smart home connectivity. Easy and quality stereo pairing. Cons. A bulky design. No revolutionary upgrades from competition. The Ring Stick Up Cam Battery is a great camera for a lot of reasons, but thanks to its reasonable price and tight integration with Amazon Echo devices — it’s an easy pick here. Plus, because a rechargeable battery powers it, you can place it anywhere you want — inside or out — and not have to worry about a power outlet.. Read full review Jump to details. Pros. Affordable. Works indoors and outside. Uses rechargeable battery. Cons. Does not support Apple HomeKit. Some features require a subscription. In Amazon’s Echo Show 8, you get an 8-inch screen with the best resolution of any Echo Show yet, a camera shutter and all the smarts of previous Amazon smart displays. The Echo Show 8 has a built-in Alexa speaker. That means you can use this smart display to ask your Alexa digital assistant to do your bidding, whether that be asking it to play music, relay the weather or just tell you a joke.. Read full review Jump to details. Pros. Solid sound quality, good screen resolution. Price tag makes it one of the best midrange smart displays on the market. Physical camera shutter. Cons. The interface isn’t as smooth or easy to use as on Google’s Nest Hubs. You can’t call up YouTube videos by voice. August’s Wi-Fi Smart Lock is a great smart lock. It retrofits to most standard deadbolts, so you don’t have to deal with a complicated installation. The built-in Wi-Fi makes it possible to access and control your smart lock remotely via the Android or iOS app without needing an August Connect module. As its spot on this list indicates, it’s an Alexa-compatible device, too — that means you can lock and unlock your door from an Alexa-enabled smart speaker using your voice.. Read full review Jump to details. Pros. Small, sleek design. Built-in Wi-Fi. Cons. Expensive price. Shorter battery life. Amazon’s $80 Smart Thermostat is hard to beat in terms of val  

​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 real challenge. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so 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: It’s a little unclear.. If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: You may have to squint.. 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:. DUET, FOAL, TOLE, DATE, FAME, DOLE, BLUR, TOOL, META, DEBS, DOFF, LOOT, MAID. 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:. HAZY, BLURRY, SOFT, FADED, MUTED, CLOUDY, BEDIMMED. Today’s Strands spangram. The completed NYT Strands puzzle for April 14, 2026. NYT/Screenshot by CNET. Today’s Strands spangram is OUTOFFOCUS. To find it, start with the O that’s the first letter on the top row, and wind down.. Toughest Strands puzzles. Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.. #1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.. #2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.. #3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.  

​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 is rather tricky. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.. The Times 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 the 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: Surfing the web.. Green group hint: Think Muhammad Ali.. Blue group hint: You might try to do this with a pinball machine.. Purple group hint: Not imprisoned.. Answers for today’s Connections groups. Yellow group: Things stored by a browser.. Green group: Boxing terms.. Blue group: Tilt.. Purple group: Free ____.. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words. What are today’s Connections answers?. The completed NYT Connections puzzle for April 14, 2026. NYT/Screenshot by CNET. The yellow words in today’s Connections. The theme is things stored by a browser. The four answers are bookmark, cache, cookie and history.. The green words in today’s Connections. The theme is boxing terms. The four answers are bell, gloves, ring and round.. The blue words in today’s Connections. The theme is tilt. The four answers are lean, list, pitch and tip.. The purple words in today’s Connections. The theme is free ____. The four answers are lance, mason, style and way.. Toughest Connections puzzles. We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.. #5: Included “things you can set,” such as mood, record, table and volleyball.. #4: Included “one in a dozen,” such as egg, juror, month and rose.. #3: Included “streets on screen,” such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.. #2: Included “power ___” such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.. #1: Included “things that can run,” such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.