Technology

If you've been struggling to find the AdultFriendFinder app, there's a good reason: there isn't one. As one of the OGs of online dating, with a history that spans more than 20 years, AFF prefers to keep things decidedly old-school. But most AFF users can still access the platform and its content on mobile devices. They do this through the AFF site’s mobile version, which works with either Safari or Google Chrome, though the most committed AFF users have figured out a clever workaround that mimics the app experience.

What to know how you can do this too? Keep reading to find out more.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdultFriendFinder AdultFriendFinder   Learn More Why doesn’t Adult Friend Finder have an app?

Both Apple and Google strictly police the kinds of content they allow on their respective app stores. NSFW is a big no-no. And as Adult Friend Finder allows on-site nudity in profiles, chat forums, and live broadcasts (let's be honest: it's everywhere on AFF) — the site is barred from having an official app for the two most-used mobile platforms.

SEE ALSO: The best hookup apps for 2026: I swiped until my thumb hurt

Unfortunately, these rules apply even if you don’t have nudity on your profile or have turned on all the filters that restrict the display of adult content when using AFF, so there isn’t even a censored version of the app available and likely never will be. It's non-negotiable, unfortunately. This is why users have sought an alternative method for using AFF on mobile devices.

What’s the best alternative?

If you really want to mimic the experience of using an app on your phone, you can simply create a home screen shortcut to the Adult Friend Finder site. And if you have cookies enabled, you can also stay logged in each time, which saves you from having to re-enter your login credentials.

SEE ALSO: The best sexting apps for discreet and NSFW chats

To create a homescreen shortcut on your iPhone or iPad, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to AdultFriendFinder.com in your Safari mobile browser (no third-party browser will work)

2. Tap the ellipsis icon in the bottom right corner of your Safari app, and then tap the Share icon at the top of the pop-up menu

3. Scroll towards the bottom of the option list and select "Add to Home Screen"

4. You will be prompted to assign a name to the icon before you can hit "Add"

For Android users, the steps are slightly different:

1. Navigate to AdultFriendFinder.com in your Chrome mobile browser (no third-party browser will work)

2. Tap the menu icon in the upper right corner of your Chrome app, and then tap "Add to Home Screen"

3. You will be prompted to assign a name to the icon before you can hit "Add"

How secure is this home screen icon approach?

This method of accessing Adult Friend Finder is functionally no different than opening Chrome or Safari first, so it's no less safe than using the actual site, but there are a few things to consider:

• If you share your phone or tablet with someone else, they will be able to see the AFF icon and possibly even access your account just by clicking on the app

• If you prefer to keep your Adult Friend Finder use hidden, consider hiding the icon within a sub-folder or within a password-protected folder

• To ensure your login credentials aren't saved, create the icon itself using your mobile browser's incognito or private browsing function

National Chicken Wing Day lands on July 29.

Major chains across the country are dropping limited-time deals, BOGO promos, and wing discounts to celebrate this special day. Whether you take your wings bone-in, boneless, drenched in extra-spicy sauce, or coated in lemon pepper, this is officially your excuse to indulge in your passion.

These are our favorite National Chicken Wing Day deals in 2026:

7-Eleven

Get 10 wings delivered for $8 with the app. This offer is valid until Aug. 25.

Bad Daddy’s

Score $0.99 wings in classic Buffalo or sweet-and-spicy Thai chili on July 29 for dine-in guests. To qualify, you need to make a minimum order of six wings, with a limit of 18 wings per person.

Buffalo’s Cafe

Get $19.99 all-you-can-eat wings for dine-in guests on July 29.

Buffalo Wild Wings

Grab a free order of wings (bone-in or boneless) with any $15 dine-in purchase on July 29.

Dave & Buster’s

Score $0.50 boneless wings and $1 bone-in wings all day.

Hooters

Dine-in guests can get 10 wings (bone-in or boneless) for $7.29 with any beverage purchase on July 29.

Hurricane Grill & Wings

Get $0.99 bone-in or boneless wings all day on July 29 for dine-in guests.

Native Grill & Wings

Get $0.49 bone-in wings with any drink purchase on July 29. Valid for dine-in, takeout, or orders placed directly through the Native Grill & Wings app or website.

Pilot

On July 29, customers who order on the Pilot app can get five jumbo wings for $5.

Pizza Hut

Get a buy-one-get-one-free offer on wings at participating Pizza Hut locations with the code BOGOWINGS. This deal is valid when ordering online or in the Pizza Hut app.

Raise the Roost

Grab $1 single chicken tenders or traditional bone-in wings from July 27-30 at participating locations.

Red Robin

Anyone who purchases a limited-edition Jason Kelce collaboration T-shirt online at GarageBeer.com while supplies last will receive a free Red Robin gift card for an 8-count order of bone-in chicken wings.

Sonny's BBQ

Loyalty members get a free 6-count of Sauced & Tossed wings with any entrée purchase.

Speedy Cafe

Speedy Rewards members can grab special promotional pricing on 5-piece or 8-piece boneless wing orders through Aug. 25.

TGI Fridays

Order Matchday Wing Bites starting at $8.99 (six bone-in or eight boneless wings with fries and dip) or upgrade to the Matchday Goal Line Platter starting at $16.99 (eight wings, three chicken fingers, and golden onion rings).

The Greene Turtle

Get the $19.99 all-you-can-eat wing-and-fries special (valid for both bone-in and boneless wings, upon request).

Wings and Rings

Take 40% off all wings on July 28-29 for dine-in and online orders.

Wingstop

Club Wingstop members can unlock daily sweepstakes for concert tickets, $500 Ticketmaster gift cards, and VIP festival packages until July 31.

Zaxbys

On July 29, get 10 wings for $10.

TL;DR: Unblock Pornhub for free with a VPN. The best services for unblocking porn sites from Australia is ExpressVPN.

The world of porn continues to be impacted by age-verification laws. Back in early 2025, more than a third of U.S. states introduced age verification laws for online adult content. Pornhub hit back by blocking users from those locations. A similar situation took place France and the UK, and now Australians are facing the same set of challenges.

The porn blocks arrived just days before new online safety codes came into effect, requiring organisations to verify the ages of users. It's the same story we've seen before, with the same straightforward workaround.

SEE ALSO: T-Mobile is giving away the Apple iPhone 17 for free — here's how to claim

If you want to unblock porn sites like Pornhub for free from Australia, we have all the information you need.

How to unblock Pornhub for free in Australia

VPNs are tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other locations. This process bypasses geo-restrictions so you can access sites like Pornhub from anywhere in the world.

Unblock Pornhub from Australia by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in a location that supports access to Pornhub

4. Visit Pornhub

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN Shop Now

The best VPNs for unblocking porn sites are not free, but most do offer free-trial peiods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock porn sites like Pornhub without spending anything. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you the opportunity to temporarily retain access to Pornhub before recovering your investment. The situation may have changed before the free-trial period comes to an end.

If you want to retain permanent access to sites like Pornhub, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for bypassing content restrictions is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for Pornhub?

ExpressVPN is the top choices for unblocking porn sites like Pornhub, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in locations all around the world

• Easy-to-use apps available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policies so your data is always secure

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• Multiple simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantees

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Unblock Pornhub for free in Australia with ExpressVPN.

DJI’s Osmo Pocket 3 has become a must-have tool for content creators over the last few years. The handheld gimbal camera gained significant attention for being easy to operate and portable while also offering great stabilisation and subject tracking, enabling creators to film smooth footage with minimal fuss while on the go.

Now, DJI has released its follow-up: the Osmo Pocket 4. Building on the Pocket 3's success, the Pocket 4 makes several changes intended to improve the camera's operation and performance. But is it enough to make it worth upgrading from the Osmo Pocket 3 to the 4?

DJI Osmo Pocket 4: Build Left: The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 in its protective case. Right: The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 with its gimbal clamp attached. Credit: A. Yeo

The DJI Osmo Pocket 4's form factor remains almost identical to the Pocket 3 at first glance. Even so, there are a few notable changes.

Right out of the box, the most immediately visible difference is the Pocket 4's redesigned gimbal protection. The Pocket 3 had a hard protective cover that cradled almost the entire camera on one side, protecting both the screen and the gimbal. Unfortunately, this cover was bulky and irritating to carry around, and it made the Pocket 3 too large to fit alongside accessories in its carrying bag.

SEE ALSO: The Mashable 101: The creators defining the internet in 2026

The Pocket 4 does away with this protective cover, swapping it out for a small gimbal clamp instead. This clamp slides between the gimbal's moving parts to hold it secure, and easily fits in a jacket pocket when not in use. Paired with a new soft fabric carrying pouch that can fit the entire camera to protect the screen, it's a noticeably more elegant solution. 

Portability was already one of the Pocket 3's standout features, but the Pocket 4's changes make bringing it on outings practically a no-brainer. It may not hold up as well if you whack your camera against a wall, but it's a welcome upgrade for most reasonable use cases.

DJI has added two new buttons for easier control on the fly. Credit: A. Yeo

Turning to the camera itself, the Pocket 4's build is slightly larger than its predecessor, though this is only apparent when comparing them side by side. The single-lens gimbal camera still sports a rotatable two-inch touchscreen on its handle (though brighter at 1000 nits compared to the Pocket 3's 700) and has a USB-C port on the bottom for charging and file transfer. 

Where the Pocket 4 differs is in the addition of two new buttons underneath its screen, which only become accessible when it's twisted into landscape mode. One of these is a dedicated zoom button, which will go to 2x zoom with one press or 4x with two. The other button is customisable, but by default will switch the joystick to control the zoom or the gimbal with one press. This is a welcome addition as it makes the Pocket 4 less fiddly to operate on the fly, the Pocket 3 having managed such functions via its touchscreen.

DJI's fill light accessory easily attaches to the Osmo Pocket 4 via a magnet. Credit: A. Yeo

Another notable change is the addition of a magnetic accessory mount point on the Pocket 4. This is compatible with DJI's new pocket-sized fill light accessory, which easily attaches to offer three brightness and temperature settings.

To the casual user, this may seem like an unnecessary addition, particularly as DJI has also significantly upgraded the Pocket 4's low-light performance (more on that later). Still, Mashable saw a significant improvement in our test footage when we used the fill light. The light helped the Pocket 4 capture more detail, distinguishing subjects from their background and ensuring they were well-lit without blowing them out. While it's too small to light a whole scene, it's a handy boost to ensure you capture your subject in dim conditions, and pulls from the Pocket 4's battery, so you never need to charge it.

DJI Osmo Pocket 4: Settings and performance The improvements become apparent once you get hands-on. Credit: A. Yeo

When comparing the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and 4's specifications, the upgrades seem small on paper. The sensors are the same size, the gimbals' ranges of motion are identical, and they share a maximum video resolution of 4K at 60fps. The Pocket 4 can take 8K photos as opposed to topping out at 4K, but the overwhelming majority of Osmo Pocket users will be more focused on its video performance. Here, the Pocket 4 actually cuts a few video settings that were available on the Pocket 3, no longer allowing filming in 2.7K resolution or a 1:1 aspect ratio. 

SEE ALSO: The three best DJI products every creator could use in their tool kit

Even so, it's a relatively minor trade-off considering the Pocket 4's improved storage capacity. While both the Pocket 3 and 4 use microSD cards, the former relied entirely on them as it had no built-in storage. In contrast, the Pocket 4 has 107GB of built-in memory in addition to accepting microSD cards. This is no doubt a contributor to the Pocket 4 being a little over 10 grams heavier than its predecessor, but that's still an excellent exchange for the amount of space you get (especially with the global memory shortage driving SD card prices up).

More changes under the hood include the Pocket 4's larger battery, with DJI stating that the Pocket 4 can run for a maximum of 240 minutes at its lowest video settings compared to the Pocket 3's 166 minutes. While the Pocket 3 had enough power to see most people through a day of vlogging (especially when paired with its battery handle accessory), no one has ever complained about more juice.

As such, with the exception of its expanded storage capacity, the Pocket 4's specifications don't look like a significant upgrade from the Pocket 3. It's when you get hands-on with the Pocket 4 and can see its image quality that the improvements quickly become apparent.

DJI Osmo Pocket 4: Image quality and gimbal The Osmo Pocket 4's gimbal is noticeably more responsive than the Pocket 3. Credit: A. Yeo

While the Pocket 3 offered decent low-light performance, the Pocket 4 is an unquestionable advancement. The Pocket 4 has doubled the former's ISO range across photo, video, and slow-motion filming, resulting in images with noticeably more detail and less noise. 

As such, the Pocket 4 is able to capture dim environments with greater contrast, its dark scenes appearing richer and more dynamic when compared to footage from the Pocket 3. While the Pocket 4 did capture less detail in shadows when both cameras filmed the same dim scene, overall its image looked more true-to-life than the Pocket 3, which seemed artificially brightened and slightly flat in comparison.

Though the Pocket 4 can lose details in shadows when there is greater lighting variation, its ability to capture detail in generally dark environments is impressive. It handles transitioning between light and dark environments better as well, with smoother automatic exposure adjustment that's less obvious than in the Pocket 3. Subjects in shadow are well exposed, without overblowing the background. The Pocket 4 captures noticeably more detail in shadow when filming in brighter environments as well.

In fact, the Pocket 4's footage generally appears more true-to-life than the Pocket 3. While both cameras allow you to manually adjust their white balance, the Pocket 4 performs better out of the box, providing more accurate skin tones in a range of conditions. In low light shooting, the Pocket 3's footage even seems washed out when compared to the Pocket 4's richer and more saturated colours.

A screenshot of a video taken with the DJI Osmo Pocket 4. Detail isn't lost in shadow despite the brighter environment. Credit: A. Yeo

Featured Video For You DJI Osmo Pocket 4 review: The beloved content creators' camera gets an upgrade

Interestingly, the Pocket 4 doesn't offer High Dynamic Range (HDR) video, while the Pocket 3 supports 10-bit HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) video, an open-source HDR format. Despite this, the Pocket 4's image quality is a definite upgrade overall.

When it comes to controls, the Pocket 4's gimbal is more responsive than the Pocket 3, offering faster and smoother movement that makes the latter feel practically sluggish in comparison. Mashable's testing found its subject tracking has improved as well, with the Pocket 4 capable of following subjects in scenarios where the Pocket 3 lost them. This appeared to happen more in low light, which makes sense considering the Pocket 4's improved low-light capabilities.

Should you buy the DJI Osmo Pocket 4? The battery handle accessory can help extend the Osmo Pocket 4's runtime. Credit: A. Yeo

Unfortunately, getting your hands on DJI products in the U.S. is more difficult than it once was. The U.S. government's hostile stance toward the company has significantly hindered its business in the country, leaving people unable to buy the Osmo Pocket 4 through the company's U.S. website. As such, those in the U.S. who want an Osmo Pocket 4 will need to go through an unofficial third party to get one.

While there's no official U.S. pricing for DJI's Osmo Pocket 4, the Standard Combo bundle will set you back $AU769 in Australia. This includes a USB-C charging cable, gimbal clamp, wrist strap, carrying pouch, and a handle with a 1/4-inch thread. Upgrading to the $AU959 Creator Combo adds the detachable fill light as well as a magnetic charging cable, wide-angle lens, mini tripod, carrying bag, and a DJI Mic 3 transmitter with accessories. Meanwhile, the top-end $AU1058 Creator Combo Plus includes all this plus a Battery Handle, which DJI states can extend the Pocket 4's operating time by 150 minutes. That's a total of 390 minutes of recording time, or six and a half hours.

It's a noticeable upgrade compared to DJI's beloved Osmo Pocket 3. Credit: A. Yeo

Whether the Pocket 4 is worth hunting down depends on your needs. If you already have the Osmo Pocket 3, you may see little point in upgrading. Starting at $AU679 for the most basic bundle, the Pocket 3 remains an impressive, easy-to-operate gimbal camera that will serve many content creators' needs.

However, if you don't already have a Pocket 3 and are tossing up between the two models, the Pocket 4 and its accessories provide enough upgrades that shelling out for the latest model feels worth it. With more physical controls, improved tracking, a smoother gimbal, and better low-light performance, the Pocket 4 is even easier to use than its already popular predecessor. You just have to get your hands on it to really feel and appreciate the changes.

Even so, serious filmmakers may want to delay slamming down their credit card. DJI announced the Osmo Pocket 4P in May, an even more upgraded version of its handheld gimbal camera that's designed for cinematic productions and will offer HDR video. If that's of interest to you, it may be worth holding off a little bit longer to see what the 4P has to offer.

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 $645 at Amazon
$699 Save $54   Shop Now at Amazon

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Gross.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

NASTY

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Runny.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 29, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

LEAKY

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Colorful bird.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 29 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 29, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

MACAW

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Pole.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

SHAFT

Final Hurdle hint

Energetic.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

HYPER

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

American Airlines flights were briefly grounded on Thursday, with a nationwide ground stop preventing them from taking off. The company has now issued a statement attributing the disruption to an IT issue.

The ground stop was issued at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT, and appears to have impacted all American Airlines flights within the U.S. at the time. The company has over 1000 planes in its fleet, and is the biggest airline in the U.S. by capacity.

Fortunately, the issue was quickly resolved, with American Airlines stating that flights had resumed less than an hour after the ground stop began. According to the airline, an IT issue was to blame. 

"A technology issue briefly impacted connectivity for some of our systems on Tuesday evening," the official American Airlines X account posted at 7:21 p.m. ET / 4:21 p.m. PT on Tuesday evening. "Systems are coming back online now and flights are departing again. We put a temporary ground stop in place while our teams worked to resolve the issue. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."

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Exactly what said technology issue was has not been disclosed, however it does not appear to have posed a danger to ongoing flights. A ground stop is a standard measure used to manage aircraft traffic, and can be issued for incidents such as severe weather, significant equipment outages, or to prevent gridlock at an airport. As of writing, there are multiple ground stops at airports across the U.S. due to thunderstorms.

Even so, a nationwide ground stop is less common. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) states that ground stops are one of the most restrictive traffic management methods, and that alternatives must first be considered before one is issued.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you've ever watched football.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Type of matchup

• Green: Poker

• Blue: Canadian sports

• Purple: Sounds like music

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Contest

• Green: Stages in a Texas Hold'Em Hand

• Blue: Pro Teams in Montreal

• Purple: Start with a Music Genre

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #674 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Contest: COMPETITION, FIXTURE, GAME, MATCH

• Stages in a Texas Hold'Em Hand: FLOP, RIVER, SHOWDOWN, TURN

• Pro Teams in Montreal: ALOUETTES, CANADIENS, CF MONTREAL, VICTOIRE

• Start with a Music Genre: COUNTRY CLUB, POPOVICH, RAPIDS, ROCKY

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 29, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for July 29, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for July 29 Pips

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 4-3, placed vertically.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 0-3, placed vertically; 4-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 6-2, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 5-2, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for July 29 Pips

Number (1): Everything in this purple space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this light blue space must add up to 1. The answer is 5-1, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this red space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed vertically.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically; 5-5, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 4-4, placed vertically; 5-0, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically; 5-0, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for July 29 Pips

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed horizontally.

Number (11): Everything in this space must add up to 11. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 1-0, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically; 3-3, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 1-2, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 3-4, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 1-4, placed horizontally; 5-6, placed vertically.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 4-6, placed vertically.

Number (24): Everything in this space must add up to 24. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 5-6, placed vertically; 4-6, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're a teacher.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for July 29, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Stick together

• Green: Boring

• Blue: Piece of info

• Purple: School visuals

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Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Fasteners

• Green: Nondescript

• Blue: Units of wisdom

• Purple: ___ Boards in a classroom

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1144 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Fasteners: NAIL, RIVET, SCREW, STAPLE

• Nondescript: BASIC, MID, PLAIN, VANILLA

• Units of wisdom: GEM, NUGGET, PEARL, WORD

• ___ Boards in a classroom: BLACK, CHALK, CORK, WHITE

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 29, 2026

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you like handmade goods.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 29, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: A made man

The words are related to figures.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe marionettes.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

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NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Fabricated.

NYT Strands word list for July 29

• Manequin

• Statue

• Dummy

• Fabricated

• Puppet

• Doll

• Figurine

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a plumber.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 29, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for July 29, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Faucet.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter V appears twice.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter V.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

VALVE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Wordle.

The new flagship of the Audi portfolio has arrived. On July 28th, 2026, Audi unveiled the all-new Q9 and the high-performance SQ9, both three-row SUVs. As the largest SUV Audi has ever produced, the Q9 is poised to compete in the lucrative full-size luxury SUV segment, going up against established rivals like the BMW X7, Cadillac Escalade, and Mercedes-Benz GLS.

HBO Max is turning up the heat with an August lineup that leans deep into big-event television. In addition to a mix of unscripted content, subscribers are also in for some movie streaming premieres, a highly anticipated new series, a new season of a returning favorite, and another Hard Knocks training camp, this time with the Seattle Seahawks. Documentary fans also have a gripping new treat, and it looks to be a must-see project, especially for fans of Tiger King.

FREE GIFT: Until July 31, spend $40 or more on Marvel, DC, Batman, or Jurassic World Lego merchandise and get the Spider-Man vs. Anti-Venom Heist ($4.99 value) for free at Lego, in Lego Stores, or via phone orders while stocks last.

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Lego's tucked another freebie into its current promotions — a mini Spider-Man vs. Anti-Venom Heist (30725). Here's the scenario the set recreates: Anti-Venom busts open a street-corner ATM and takes off with the cash, and Spider-Man chases him down on a skateboard to stop him.

Spend $40 or more on Marvel, DC, Batman, or Jurassic World Lego merchandise, and this set comes free with your purchase. Unlike some of Lego's other current offers, this isn't online-only: it's valid at Lego, in Lego Stores, and through Lego Catalog phone orders until July 31, while stocks last.

If you're interested in crossing the $40 threshold, here are some solid options to put you over the line:

• Venom Bust — $49.99

• Spider-Man Prison Transport Chase — $49.99

• Loki vs. Team Iron Man — $49.99

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• Iron Man Mark 3 Collectors' Edition — $129.99

• Batmobile Tumbler — $189.99

• X-Men: The X-Mansion — $329.99

• S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier — $399.99

Same standard fine print applies: Pick a Brick (Standard) orders don't count toward the $40 minimum, you're limited to one free set per household, and if you return your qualifying purchase, the freebie has to be returned with it. It also can't be swapped for another item or cash value, and it's not valid at Legoland Parks, Legoland Discovery Centers, or Lego Certified Stores.

$4.99 of free Spider-Man justice — grab it at Lego while stocks last.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 for a one-time $42.97 through Aug. 9 (reg. $219) and enjoy Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote for years.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime License $42.97
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Subscriptions have their place, but productivity software doesn’t really need to be one of them — especially when it’s something as familiar and widely used as Microsoft Office. Somewhere along the way, there must have been a glitch in the matrix, because buying software turned into renting it forever.

Thankfully, Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 skips that model entirely. Its lifetime license is currently on sale for $42.97 (reg. $219).

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There’s no need to explain why an Office license still matters. Most people have been using Microsoft Office long before cloud apps and browser-based alternatives became the norm. With this deal, you can install the full Office suite on a single device for lifetime use — at home or at work — without worrying about monthly renewals, annual price hikes, or surprise charges down the line.

This license includes all the core apps most people actually rely on: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote. That means drafting documents, crunching numbers, building presentations, managing email, and organizing notes using the full desktop versions of each app.

Unlike free alternatives or web-based tools, you get access to the complete feature sets, which makes a difference when you’re working on longer documents, detailed spreadsheets, or presentation-heavy projects.

Once you purchase, your license key and download links are delivered instantly, so there’s no waiting around to get started. Microsoft also includes lifetime customer support, which can be helpful if you ever need assistance with installation or troubleshooting.

Instead of committing to yet another recurring subscription, this one-time purchase lets you snag software you’ll likely keep using for years.

Right now, you can grab Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac for $42.97 (reg. $219). That’s proof that the matrix occasionally still gets things right.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

T-Mobile is apologizing for a major nationwide outage on Monday that left many T-Mobile customers across the U.S. without any mobile service for hours.

While we don't yet have an answer on what caused the T-Mobile outage, another question remains: Where was T-Mobile's Starlink service, T-Satellite?

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Way back in 2022, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and T-Mobile announced an exclusive partnership between the two companies that would allow T-Mobile customers to connect to Starlink satellites. T-Mobile finally launched the T-Satellite service for customers last summer, following a testing period at the start of the year.

"T-Satellite connects you where towers can’t," reads T-Mobile's T-Satellite with Starlink product page on its website.

In a recent earnings call last Thursday, just days before the outage, T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan even shared that satellite service won't so much compete with traditional mobile carrier offerings, but be offered as complementary alongside cellular service.

Yet, when cellular service went down on Monday, some users reported online that they struggled to connect to T-Satellite.

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"Why didn't their phones switch to T-Satellite network with Starlink?" asked one social media user in response to Mashable's coverage of the T-Mobile outage.

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"T-Mobile is down, but what I find funny is that they brag about having satellite and you connect automatically when you can't get service from t-mobile, but satellite doesn't connect either," said one user on Musk's social media platform X alongside a crying face emoji.

"My T-Satellite aka Starlink didn't connect, what happened I thought it was supposed to be amazing for exactly this????" complained an X user. Another X user shared, "Mine tried and could not find a sat lol not kidding."

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One crucial issue users may have faced: Starlink connectivity requires a wide, clear view of the open sky. So, while Starlink connections may be available in most urban areas, objects such as roofs, poles, and even trees can obstruct signal strength. This could explain why some customers struggled to connect via satellite while their phones were stuck in SOS Mode during the T-Mobile outage.

Mashable did come across users on X and Reddit who said they successfully connected to T-Satellite during the Monday outage.

T-Mobile's T-Satellite with Starlink service is included at no extra cost on certain T-Mobile plans, such as the $100 per month Experience Beyond plan. If T-Satellite isn't included in a user's service plan, they can add it on for $10 per month.

Starlink's partnership with T-Mobile hasn't met expectations

Recent statements from T-Mobile CEO Gopalan suggest T-Satellite hasn't been widely used by T-Mobile customers.

During an April 2026 earnings call, Gopalan called the company's Starlink partnership "very strong" but admitted that T-Mobile was "seeing a lot less usage than we were originally thinking" regarding its T-Satellite service. Gopalan went on to call it "a great complementary product."

At a conference the next month, in May 2026, Gopalan was more specific with just how low T-Satellite usage has been.

“Just to give you an example, we look at our data in May, and satellite usage is 0.0002% of our total network usage," Gopalan said of its T-Satellite service. "That’s three zeros."

In the previously mentioned earnings call from last week, Gopalan reiterated those numbers and added that “in our busiest summer months, that went to 0.0003%." And, despite that small summer bump, independent data from Speedtest.net parent company Ookla found that T-Satellite usage has largely gone down.

During its launch last year, T-Mobile shared that 1.8 million customers had signed up for the T-Satellite free beta period. The company has not shared subscription numbers for the Starlink service since.

Mashable reached out to T-Mobile to find out more about T-Satellite service and Monday's nationwide outage. We will update this piece if we receive more information.

It happened two times in two weeks: First Sony's PlayStation Network, then Microsoft's Xbox experienced significant outages. Monday's Xbox outage was particularly galling for users, since many Xbox games these days require authentication via the internet before they can even launch.

Not only were Xbox users locked out of online features, they couldn't even launch games they had installed on their machines. PSN players are vulnerable too: Sony recently confirmed it will stop manufacturing PlayStation game discs after January 2028.

The outages, in short, were an object lesson in the trade-offs that come with an all-digital sales model — as well as the benefits of keeping physical media alive.

Why are game discs going away?

For most of the history of video game consoles, buying a game meant acquiring a physical object. You bought a disc or cartridge, you inserted it, the console read it, and the game ran. You could resell the disc, lend it, or shelve it indefinitely without worrying about digital rights management.

But discs could also produce noticeable delay or stutter during gameplay, since optical drive read speeds have not scaled up as fast as processing power. So publishers began front-loading install data onto consoles' local hard drives, rather than taking it from a disc in real-time. As game file sizes have grown, publishers have leaned further into upfront installation as the more stable engineering choice.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's potentially last Switch 1 game is absolutely worth your time

But that's not what drove the backlash to Sony's announcement. Many players are concerned about what happens to the whole concept of games ownership once physical media is entirely off the table.

The digital "sharing" economy was supposed to be defined by the phrase "you'll own nothing and be happy." Though coined by a socialist politician as a positive promise in 2016, this quote has since become a meme with a more sinister meaning.

Streaming services have long illustrated the problem. Netflix, Spotify, and their peers technically sell you access to media, revocable at any time a licensing deal lapses or a platform decides a title no longer earns its keep. This is not a new problem, and one of the more chilling examples is one of the oldest: the time in 2009 when Amazon removed George Orwell's dystopia of erased history, Nineteen Eighty-Four, from users' Kindles, due to a rights issue.

Likewise in the games industry, publishers can and have removed purchased digital titles from a user's library over licensing disputes or expired royalty agreements. Game servers are shut down once a title stops generating sufficient revenue to justify the operating cost, rendering online games unplayable.

In addition to ending disc production in 2028, Sony also revealed it would close its PS3 and PS Vita stores in some countries as early as this August. The company promised users "will still be able to download previously purchased content after the closing date," but only for a vague period of time: "the foreseeable future."

What happens when games discs don't work?

If you're seeking out an older discontinued title, there are often used copies to be found, and workarounds are available online for some games that require server connections. Live-service architecture, which Sony has tried (and sometimes failed) to make the norm, removes even that fallback.

Without a functioning server, there's no local copy to fall back on, no disc to reinsert, nothing to do but wait — precisely the position both Xbox and PlayStation users found themselves in recently.

Take The Crew, a decade-old racing game that publisher Ubisoft deciding to sunset in 2024. Because the game required a persistent internet connection even for its single-player mode, players lost the ability to launch it once Ubisoft delisted it from storefronts, revoked existing licenses, and shut down its servers. Ubisoft offered refunds only to those players who'd purchased The Crew in the past 14 days, its standard refund procedure.

The response from gamers was the formation of Stop Killing Games, a campaign founded by YouTuber Ross Scott. The campaign demanded that publishers not render anything a customer already paid for permanently unusable. It has since collected more than a million verified signatures via a European Citizens' Initiative, and helped spur a French consumer lawsuit against Ubisoft.

For now, Sony is still making discs, and won't be taking away games you've already bought. But after 2028, according to Sony's plan, that will change; you'll only ever be able to purchase PlayStation games online. And that could make PSN users vulnerable to the next server crash, legal dispute over licensing, or online game that simply isn't making its money back.

There's a reason we keep going back to documentaries—real life is always way stranger than any writers' room could ever conjure up. July has made that case again (June was pretty solid, too), with some genuinely fascinating docs and series from the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+/Hulu, and Paramount+ that I've watched that have hijacked more than one entire weekend of mine.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has spent decades setting the standard for luxury sedans. It's refined, packed with technology, and carries the kind of prestige that still draws buyers into showrooms.

Since I own a couple of SSDs that have passed the half-decade mark (the older one is pushing its first decade of service), I decided it was time for a quick health check to see if they're still in good working order and worth keeping.