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SAVE $30: As of Aug. 26, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select is on sale for $19.99 at Amazon. That's a 60% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Stick 4K Select $19.99 at Amazon
$49.99 Save $30.00   Get Deal

Amazon has recently raised the list price of several of its devices, including the Fire TV Stick 4K Select. This popular model just jumped from $39.99 to $49.99. That's a $10 increase on one of Amazon's most affordable streaming sticks.

Thankfully, if you're looking to buy, it's currently on sale for just $19.99. This deal is for the latest 2026 release, which includes upgrades such as a new, modern design and more streamlined recommendations from Alexa+.

SEE ALSO: Kindles just got more expensive, but the Kobo Clara Colour is on sale for under $160

The Fire TV Stick 4K Select can stream content in 4K Ultra HD with HDR10+, making sure that movies and shows look sharper and more detailed. Getting started is straightforward, too. Plug it into your TV, connect it to WiFi, and you're ready to go.

For streaming, you can access all the main services like Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, and Disney+. It isn't limited to watching shows and movies, either: if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you can use Xbox Cloud Gaming to play supported Game Pass games straight through your TV.

If you're looking to save on the Fire TV Stick Select, this limited-time deal is not one to skip.

TL;DR: Disney, the NFL, Champion, and Fanatics just revealed all 32 team-character pairings for their new apparel collection — including the Eagles as Doctor Doom and the Packers as Chewbacca — with tees, crewnecks, and fleece now available online.

Disney just completed one of its biggest crossovers yet.

Disney Consumer Products, the NFL, Champion, and Fanatics revealed the final wave of team-character pairings in the Disney x Champion NFL Collection, completing a lineup that matches all 32 NFL teams with characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. The collection includes tees, crewnecks, and fleece for every team, and it's available now online and at select retailers nationwide.

Credit: Champion / Disney / Fanatics / NFL

Here's every team's match, broken down by division:

AFC East

• Buffalo Bills: Beast — strong, a little wild, fiercely loyal underneath it all

• Miami Dolphins: King Triton — royalty of the sea, fitting for a franchise with real staying power

• New England Patriots: Captain America — the embodiment of legacy and leadership

• New York Jets: Buzz Lightyear — fast, high-flying, and full of confidence

AFC North

• Baltimore Ravens: Diaval and Maleficent — dark, calculated, and hard to shake

• Cincinnati Bengals: Shere Khan — all stripes and swagger

• Cleveland Browns: Pluto — loyal and always down for a scrap, just like the Dawg Pound

• Pittsburgh Steelers: Pete — tough, no-nonsense, and built for physical football

AFC South

• Houston Texans: Jessie — fearless and gritty, with that classic Texas spirit

• Indianapolis Colts: Horace Horsecollar — a steady, hardworking Midwest workhorse

• Jacksonville Jaguars: Pepita — a spirit guide whose courage matches the team's identity

• Tennessee Titans: Thanos — locked in, relentless, and impossible to look away from

AFC West

• Denver Broncos: Maximus — tough and pioneering, always pushing forward

• Kansas City Chiefs: Big Bad Wolf — impossible to ignore, just like Chiefs Kingdom

• Las Vegas Raiders: Darth Vader — all mystique and menace

• Los Angeles Chargers: Hercules and Pegasus — legendary strength paired with serious flair

NFC East

• Dallas Cowboys: Woody — classic cowboy charm with real staying power

• New York Giants: Wreck-It Ralph — big, tough, but with heart underneath

• Philadelphia Eagles: Doctor Doom — commanding and hard to beat, cape and all

• Washington Commanders: Hamm — a nod to "The Hogs" and their grounded strength

NFC North

• Chicago Bears: Baloo — laid-back, fun-loving, and right at home in Chicago

• Detroit Lions: Simba — pride, strength, and a team on a mission

• Green Bay Packers: Chewbacca — loyal through the cold, no matter the conditions

• Minnesota Vikings: Thor — an obvious pick for a fan base that already yells "SKOL"

NFC South

• Atlanta Falcons: The Millennium Falcon — a fan favorite that's built a following through every twist and turn

• Carolina Panthers: Bagheera — disciplined and sharp, matching the team's black-and-blue identity

• New Orleans Saints: Louis — full of New Orleans energy and enthusiasm

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Captain Hook — expressive, unmistakable, and leaning fully into the pirate theme

NFC West

• Arizona Cardinals: Jafar and Iago — a fittingly dramatic desert duo

• Los Angeles Rams: Sulley — big presence, big city, big championship energy

• San Francisco 49ers: Stinky Pete the Prospector — a nod to the team's Gold Rush roots

• Seattle Seahawks: The "Mine, Mine, Mine" Seagulls — a playful callback to the team's loud, dedicated fan base

The full lineup is out now. Disney says the collection is part of a bigger push tied to Disney and ESPN's "Year of the Super Bowl," building toward ESPN's first-ever Super Bowl broadcast on Feb. 14, 2027.

Shop the full Disney x Champion NFL Collection at NFLShop, Fanatics, and Disney Store.

Apple has lowered the price on its Polishing Cloth. Previously priced at $19, the plain off-white microfibre cloth could now be yours for just $9. Alternatively, you could just get an off-brand one that does the exact same thing for a fraction of the price.

SEE ALSO: Apple announces new $899 M6 Mac mini and $5,499 M5 Ultra Mac Studio

Introduced in 2021, the Apple Polishing Cloth was advertised as being "made with soft, nonabrasive material" that "cleans any Apple display, including nano-texture glass, safely and effectively." The tech giant also included a list of compatible Apple products in the cloth's Apple Store listing, stretching all the way back to the 4th generation iPod Shuffle released in 2010.

Of course, the Apple Polishing Cloth was cross-compatible with a much wider range of unlisted devices from other brands. Because, again, it is just a polishing cloth. iFixit even did a teardown of the $19 cloth, discovering that it is really just two pieces of fabric glued together.

"The polishing cloth makes clear that when it comes to innovating new ways to get people to overpay for something, Apple is still leading the pack," former Mashable reporter Jack Morse wrote at the time.

Now the multi-trillion dollar company has made its Polishing Cloth more affordable, slashing its price by over 50 percent. The cloth's Apple Store description appears largely unchanged, barring an updated compatibility list to account for new and retired products. However, the Apple Polishing Cloth is now $10 cheaper, down from $19 to a comparatively more affordable $9.

Even so, that's still $9 for a basic microfibre cleaning cloth. If you aren't concerned with having an Apple-branded cloth to polish your Apple-branded phone while checking your Apple-branded watch, you can easily pick up a bulk pack of microfibre cloths for less. 

The Apple Polishing Cloth's price reduction might be enticing to those eager to shell out their hard-earned cash for absolutely anything Apple-branded. Within days of unveiling the cloth in October 2021, Apple pushed back its delivery window by over three weeks, with backorders stretching into January before the end of the month. For everyone else, you're probably better off saving your cash.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

It's 2026, and times are good for getting what you want, when you want it, at the tap of a phone screen. That's right, there's a whole world of consumer brilliance behind an endless selection of apps. You can get almost anything you desire via your smartphone: Your weekly shopping, your favorite pizza, your high-end tech, even — our personal favorite — a red-hot hookup.

In fact, it's become the standard way to meet a date or potential partner. Online dating replaced the process of chatting someone up in a bar years ago, with the phenomenon of dating websites now going back decades. Some of these sites started up in the 1990s, in fact, though most of the modern-day dating action happens via apps. And as with all technology, the world of online and app-based dating continues to evolve.

According to the top sex-perts at Lovehoney — the popular sex toy brand and retailer that sells everything from lingerie and lubricants to dildos and tech-based toys — we're living in horny-but-wholesome times. Lovehoney has named 2026 "The Year of Pleasure."

But it's not about frivolous flings and one-night stands. It may be a surprise to some dating app users, but the humble one-night stand is on the decline. Wannabe daters are apparently searching for "purposeful pleasure" and "meaningful connections" instead of quick-and-easy sex.

People are still hooking up. Sex itself is still very much a No. 1 activity. But daters are on the hunt for hookups of substance — flings that actually mean something. We're becoming increasingly selective about who we hookup with and why. That's why it's important to use the right dating app. Each one offers something a little different, so the type of connections will vary from app to app.

To help you get started, we’ve looked at the top apps and taken advice from sex and relationship experts.

What to know before you swipe

Before you start downloading apps and sending a "hey" to anyone who catches your eye, it’s best to know just how to approach online dating. Our advice is to be 100 percent up front about who you are and what you’re looking for. And if you're interested purely in hooking up, maybe pass on more mainstream dating apps — apps such as eharmony that focus on romance and long-term relationships. The best hookup apps make chatting quick and easy (messaging, video calls, all that good stuff), and even the best free apps have ironclad safety features like profile verification.

Our main advice, though, is to stick to apps that are specifically designed for hookups and casual fun. Or even apps that are made to satisfy your kink (trust us, whatever that kink is, the likes of AdultFriendFinder have you covered). It can be freeing, not to mention productive, to be open about your desires. The ways in which we understand sex and relationships are changing all the time — just look at fast-growing "heteroflexible" sexuality, for instance. Hookup apps will allow you to explore any and all curiosities — but without any judgment or social anxiety.

SEE ALSO: The best sexting apps for discreet NSFW chats

It doesn’t matter what you’re looking for. It could be the chance to explore a new sexual frontier or a friends-with-benefits situation. And just because the one-night stand is in decline, it's still fun — just ensure it's safe and on your terms.

Whatever it is, we can help make it happen with this guide to the best hookup apps. Our selections are based on Mashable’s own real-world testing, expert input, and general dating app experience. We’ve broken down each of these hookup apps by features and function, and we've offered an option for every type of dater and every dating desire.

These are the best hookup apps for 2026.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you're a fan of UT-Austin.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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: Injury-prone

• Green: Cycling

• Blue: Go Longhorns

• Purple: Could be spelled like a sports team

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Vulnerable Spot

• Green: Famous Cycling Races

• Blue: Associated with the University of Texas

• Purple: Starts with an NFL Team, in Singular Form

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 #702 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Vulnerable Spot: ACHILLES' HEEL, DEFECT, FLAW, WEAKNESS

• Famous Cycling Races: GIRO D'ITALIA, IL LOMBARDIA, TOUR DE FRANCE, VUELTA A ESPANA

• Associated with the University of Texas: AUSTIN, BEVO, BURNT ORANGE, HOOK 'EM

• Starts with an NFL Team, in Singular Form: COLT MCCOY, LIONEL MESSI, RAMBLERS, SAINT JOSEPH'S

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 catalog.

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 August 26, 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 August 26, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for August 26 Pips

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

Less Than (1): Everything in this space must be less than 1. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally.

Number (28): Everything in this space must add up to 28. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 0-6, placed horizontally; 5-1, placed vertically; 2-5, placed vertically.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 5-1, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for August 26 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed vertically.

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

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 3-1, placed vertically.

Number (11): Everything in this space must add up to 11. The answer is 6-5, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed vertically.

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

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

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

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for August 26 Pips

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

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 2-4, placed horizontally; 2-3, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally; 6-0, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 3-5, placed horizontally; 3-0, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 6-0, placed vertically; 0-0, placed horizontally; 3-0, placed vertically.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally; 5-5, placed vertically.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 2-0, placed horizontally.

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

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 0-1, placed vertically.

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

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically; 1-4, placed horizontally.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 6-4, placed vertically; 4-4, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed horizontally.

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 gifted.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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 August 26, 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: Abracadabra

• Green: Aptitude

• Blue: Signified by a letter

• Purple: Opens the door

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: "There you have it!"

• Green: Knack

• Blue: What "P" might stand for

• Purple: Key ___

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 #1172 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• "There you have it!": BEHOLD, PRESTO, SHAZAM, VOILÀ

• Knack: FORTE, GIFT, STRENGTH, TALENT

• What "P" might stand for: PAGE, PARK, PHOSPHORUS, PIANO

• Key ___: CHAIN, LARGO, LIME, SIGNATURE

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

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

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 for a workaholic.

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 August 26, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: All in a day's work

The words are adjectives related to an occupation.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe responsibilities.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Part of the Job.

NYT Strands word list for August 26

• Errand

• Assignment

• Part of the Job

• Duty

• Task

• Chore

• Project

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

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.

Looking for spoiler-free NYT Connections hints or just wondering why Connections is trending today? We've got what you need to understand the clues for today's puzzle without spoiling any of the answers.

Of course, Mashable has also provided daily hints and answers for Connections, Wordle, and Strands for years, so we can help you if that's also what you need.

While we are focused more on meanings than hints in this story, sometimes learning that many of the words have completely unrelated meanings is a clue in and of itself. Connections frequently includes clues that involve words within words and other visual clues.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for August 26, 2026 Park meaning

To stop driving a vehicle, or a green space for people to enjoy.

Lime meaning

A type of fruit.

Forte meaning

Area of expertise.

Largo meaning

A musical term.

Presto meaning

A musical term, or a word a magician might say.

Signature meaning

A music-related term, or when someone signs their name.

Page meaning

A single sheet of paper within a book.

Gift meaning

Something given to another, usually for a special occasion.

Phosphorous meaning

A chemical element.

Behold meaning

To look upon, sometimes used as an exclamation.

Chain meaning

An object, often metal, connected by a series of links.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Voilà meaning

A French expression that essentially means "here it is."

Talent meaning

Referring to skill and ability.

Shazam meaning

Something a magician might say.

Strength meaning

Related to characteristics that allow someone or something to lift or withstand.

Piano meaning

An instrument that is played by pressing keys.

Have you learned the meanings and still want the things? Check out the hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle.

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

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

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 Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you have a farm.

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 August 26, 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 August 26, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A castrated rooster.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter C.

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...

CAPON

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.

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

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.

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.

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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

Hurled.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

THREW

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Doomed

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 26, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

GONER

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Belief.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 26, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Meanings for each word for Aug. 26, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

FAITH

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Member of the Catholic Church.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

FRIAR

Final Hurdle hint

A tooth.

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

MOLAR

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

TL;DR: Babbel helps you learn a new language naturally, and lifetime access is just $159 with code LEARN.

Opens in a new window Credit: Babbel Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) $159
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Lessons sync across devices, so you can start on your computer and finish on your phone. There’s also an offline mode if you want to download lessons in advance. You can move at your own pace, revisit review sessions, and switch between beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels based on your comfort level.

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Dolly Parton, the country music legend who somehow felt less like a distant superstar and more like someone America collectively knew, has died, her family announced. She was 80.

Parton's nephew Bryan Seaver announced her death in a video posted to her official social media accounts on Aug. 25. He said Parton died peacefully in Nashville and that "Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus." A cause of death was not announced. A small, private service will be held for her immediate family.

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Almost immediately, social media filled with the usual markers of collective grief: favorite songs, old interviews, movie scenes, personal stories, and declarations that this particular loss felt different. But people were not only mourning the woman who gave the world "Jolene," "9 to 5," and "I Will Always Love You." They were mourning Dolly herself — the rhinestones, the one-liners, the enormous hair, the even bigger heart, and the uncanny ability to make millions of strangers feel as if she were rooting for them personally.

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Parton was one of the rare celebrities whose fame never appeared to place much distance between her and everyone else. She spoke openly about growing up poor in a one-room cabin in Tennessee. She joked about her wigs, her body, and the money it took to achieve her famously over-the-top look. She could deliver a perfectly constructed punchline, then turn around and say something so sincere that it caught people off guard.

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Best of all, her humor made it clear that the "dumb blonde" persona was always a performance, and that she was the person most in on the joke: "I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb," she famously said. "And I also know that I’m not blonde."

The combination of glamour, intelligence, warmth, and self-awareness made her beloved far beyond the country music world. People who had never bought one of her albums still knew Dolly, somehow, someway.

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Parton was musician Miley Cyrus' godmother, and according to Cyrus, "Dolly's been like a mother to me." She guided Cyrus through every stage of her career, and the two performed together many times, including on "Jolene" and a soaring New Year's Eve medley of "Wrecking Ball” and “I Will Always Love You.”

Cyrus once recalled Parton sending her a fax that read, "How much do I love you? As much as my heart can hold and as far as my arms can reach."

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Parton has spent much of her career championing younger female artists, like Cyrus. She joined Kesha on a recording of "Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You)," and Kesha later called Parton a "guiding light" and said that working with her changed the way she judged her own music. Parton also sang with Bebe Rexha on the 2023 ballad "Seasons" and Sabrina Carpenter for a country-inflected version of "Please, Please, Please." Back in January, she brought Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire together for a new recording of "Light of a Clear Blue Morning", with proceeds benefiting pediatric cancer research.

She also never prohibited other women from reinterpreting her music. Beyoncé put her own spin on "Jolene." The White Stripes turned it into garage rock. Whitney Houston transformed "I Will Always Love You" into a global phenomenon. Parton seemed genuinely delighted whenever someone found a new way into one of her songs; after all, she always saw herself as a songwriter first and foremost.

"At the end of the day, I hope that I will be remembered as a good songwriter," Parton once wrote. "The songs are my legacy

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Parton reportedly wrote thousands of songs during her life, often drawing from the people, poverty, faith, and complicated emotions of her childhood in the Smoky Mountains: "My Tennessee Mountain Home" captured the place that continued to ground her after she became famous. "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" turned her own hard-won independence into an anthem about believing better days were coming. And in "The Bargain Store," she transformed a secondhand shop into a tender metaphor for a heart that had been hurt but still had something to give.

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The numbers behind that legacy are staggering. Parton sold more than 100 million records worldwide, landed 25 songs at No. 1 on Billboard's country chart, and placed 47 albums in the country Top 10. She earned 10 competitive Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, and two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

And music was only one part of what she built. Parton starred in movies including 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Steel Magnolias; wrote the score for the Broadway adaptation of 9 to 5; and co-founded the production company behind projects including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Father of the Bride. She also turned Dollywood into one of Tennessee’s best-known attractions and, in 2025, received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for using her success to help others.

Her care for people took forms more tangible than a song to play over and over again. Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 because her father could not read or write. What began as a program for children in her Tennessee home county grew into an international effort, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, that has sent hundreds of millions of free books to children.

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She also donated $1 million to research at Vanderbilt University, which helped fund the development of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. She also supported communities affected by wildfires, funded scholarships, and invested in her home state through Dollywood. For Parton, generosity was not a carefully managed addition to her image, but part of what she did with the power that image gave her.

"Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." - Iconic quote from the late Dolly Parton

Parton's husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died in March 2025. She later postponed and ultimately canceled a planned Las Vegas residency while dealing with health problems. Yet just four days before her death, she was still talking about what she wanted to create next.

"I’ve dreamed myself into a corner, and I still have so many things I want to achieve," she told People on Aug. 21.

Dolly was never simply preserving a legacy. She was always writing another song, planning another project, making another joke, or finding another way to help.

Those wishing to honor Parton are urged by her family to share a message by tagging @DollyParton on social media or leaving one on her official website. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Food photos are supposed to make you hungry, but the ones currently haunting social media look more likely to crawl off the menu than end up on a plate.

Over the weekend, tech reporter Sam Biddle shared a deli sign featuring what appears to be a dozen glossy, shrimp-shaped bagels sitting on a pile of noodles. Other dishes on the menu included perfectly round piles of pasta, strangely smooth sandwiches, and ingredients that seemed to melt into one another.

"The death of folk graphic design in favor of AI slop across our country's delis is leading to some incredibly Lovecraftian food horrors," Biddle wrote on X.

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The post struck a nerve. Soon, users were flooding the replies and quote posts with their own equally cursed sightings of apparent AI-generated food ads in delis, restaurants, food trucks, fairs, and even their mailboxes.

Some shared menus filled with suspiciously perfect cheesesteaks and sandwiches whose ingredients seemed to fuse together. Others posted burgers with porous, honeycomb-like buns and fillings resembling mushrooms or tentacles. "More AI flyer slop menus. They’re popping up everywhere and it seems to be getting worse and worse," one user said.

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The conversation was not limited to restaurants. "Quirky, low-budget signage is being replaced by this grotesque, uncanny monoslop," X user Adam Johnson wrote. "Not the biggest injustice in the world, but a small piece of culture is dying."

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That idea — that something small but distinctly human is being lost — appeared repeatedly throughout the conversation.

Communications executive Jules Mossler acknowledged online why a small business with "razor thin" margins might turn to tools promising cheaper, more professional advertising. But she argued that doing so can erase the handmade details people actually like about local businesses. "We want the sign you and your sister made; the misspellings, the chipped paint," Mossler wrote on X.

"I don’t think people know how to articulate why [these AI images] leave you deeply sad," she added.

The internet is already fed up with AI slop

The restaurant backlash is part of a much larger revolt against the synthetic material flooding the internet. "AI slop" generally refers to low-quality, mass-produced generative AI content created to fill feeds, attract clicks, or make a quick buck. It can take the form of generic LinkedIn posts, fake celebrity photos, impossible animal-rescue videos, nonsensical recipes, or advertisements filled with people and products that never existed.

SEE ALSO: The internet is drowning in AI slop. Here's how we got here.

The term has become so inescapable that Merriam-Webster selected "slop" as its 2025 Word of the Year, defining it as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence."

People are not simply complaining about it anymore. Platforms are beginning to respond to users who want less AI-generated material in their feeds.

Pinterest introduced controls that let people request fewer generative AI images, eventually expanding the setting to its food and drink category. Snapchat announced that fully AI-generated videos would no longer qualify for recommendations on Spotlight. LinkedIn is introducing a "Seems like AI slop" option that allows users to flag posts they consider generic or machine-made. More than 1 million people reportedly used the button within its first few weeks.

That broader exhaustion helps explain why the restaurant menus struck such a nerve. People are already tired of examining every image and video in their feeds for signs that it is fake. They especially do not want to play detective while deciding what to eat for lunch.

AI food looks like food...until it doesn't

Food photography has always involved a certain amount of fakery. Professional stylists carefully arrange ingredients, manipulate lighting, and edit photos to make dishes look more appealing. But an AI-generated food image introduces a different disconnect — and an uncanny effect.

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The effect is apparently strong enough to provoke a physical response. Reddit threads featuring these images are filled with mentions of trypophobia, an aversion to clusters of small holes or bumps. "Gah it gives me trypophobia — kinda ruins my appetite," one commenter wrote beneath photos of an AI-generated restaurant display in San Francisco.

In a separate r/antiai thread, commenters compared the pictured food to mold, bugs, intestines, brain matter, and diseases. "Everything looks like it was grown into position; nothing prepared or assembled," one user wrote, describing it as "more creature or sentient fungus than food."

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Generated text can make matters even worse. According to a Food & Wine column, an apparent AI-created restaurant menu advertised dishes including "Crslay Fried Mussels Pot Ksascte Barno" and "Homemade ice Croams."

AI is also creating problems before food ever reaches a menu. Social media platforms are filling up with generated recipe videos depicting impossible cheese pulls, contradictory instructions, and finished dishes that cannot be recreated.

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Earlier this year, a writer at The Cut spent a week cooking recipes that appeared to use AI. The results included garlic "breadsticks" that became an eggy sheet and zucchini "crackers" that remained soft in the middle while burning around the edges. One of the few recipes that tasted good appeared to have been copied almost word-for-word from a human food blogger.

Looking gross is only part of the problem. Many people participating in the online conversation said that seeing AI-generated food made them less likely to trust the restaurant.

"Please know that if you’re a restaurant that uses AI slop to sell your food, I automatically do not trust you and will not eat at your establishment," one X user wrote.

Others argued that having no pictures would be preferable to showing a synthetic version of what a dish might look like. Another post contrasted a plain, old-fashioned letterboard menu with a glossy AI-generated sign, asking how to explain to small-business owners that the simple menu was "one billion times more appealing."

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Some restaurants are getting doxxed. Grind & Unwind, a new café and bar in San Francisco's Haight neighborhood, got exposed in the subreddit r/sanfrancisco back in July when commenters compared its AI-generated focaccia to a loofah, said a croissant looked like an alien larva, and described the pulled pork and coleslaw as something straight out of The Last of Us.

The restaurant's owners confirmed to SFGATE that the display used AI-generated images and was intended to be temporary.

"It was kind of a stir on Haight Street, which is good and bad, I guess," co-owner Lyndsey Lozano said. "But the response was not what we were expecting."

The online criticism eventually spilled into the real world when the restaurant's awning was vandalized. The owners have since removed the AI display and replaced it with a window showcasing the restaurant's actual pastries.

The debate moved up North: Posters advertising food at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition recently prompted another online conversation over apparent AI use. Images promoting items, including a "KD Smoothie" and a "Cotton Chick Buldak Ramen Taco," drew as much attention for their strange textures and inconsistent ingredients as for the food concepts themselves. Reddit users were already placing bets on how many AI posters they would find around the fair.

Credit: Screenshot: Reddit, r/toronto

Other restaurants appear to be reading the room. As Rachel Karten, writer of Substack Link In Bio, pointed out, small businesses are now going viral by publicly promising not to use AI-generated advertising.

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The Chugwater Soda Fountain in Chugwater, Wyoming, shared a photo of an employee holding a handwritten cardboard sign reading, "We will not be using AI flyers or photos to promote ourselves."

"From-scratch food and from-scratch marketing," the restaurant wrote in the caption. As of Aug. 25, the post had received more than 71,000 likes. GOAT Nantwich, a bar in the UK, joined the trend with its own handwritten note promising: "We will not be using any AI posters to promote ourselves."

The anti-AI declarations are still marketing, of course. But their popularity shows how quickly the use of AI has gone from a convenient shortcut to something businesses may feel the need to disavow.

Restaurants once tried to make every image look as polished as possible. But now, it seems a piece of cardboard and imperfect handwriting can become their biggest selling point.

Ultimately, the internet's request is not particularly complicated: make the food, put it on a plate, and take a picture. Restaurants, it's OK if it doesn't look perfect. At least it won’t look back at us.

Nintendo is releasing a pair of new Switch 2 bundles later this fall, the company announced Tuesday. Both bundles will include a three-month Nintendo Switch Online Individual membership and a download code for a game.

The timing of this announcement is notable: The Switch 2 is getting $50 more expensive on Sept. 1, jumping from $449.99 to $499.99. These new bundles will be two ways of saving a little money on the popular console following its price hike.

Credit: Nintendo

The first bundle features Mario Kart World and launches sometime in "late September," according to a company press release. It will retail for $549.99, which works out to a $37.98 savings versus buying the system, the game, and the Switch Online membership separately.

The second bundle comes with a copy of Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, the latest entry in Nintendo's sports simulation series. It arrives on Oct. 22 — the same day as the game itself — and has a sticker price of $529.99, saving shoppers $27.98. Preorders for the bundle will open "soon," the company said.

Credit: Nintendo

Nintendo used to sell three Switch 2 game bundles (sans memberships) for $499.99, including one with Mario Kart World, but they were out of stock everywhere at the time of writing.

The gaming giant announced its $50 Switch 2 price hike this May "[in] light of changes in market conditions." As Mashable previously reported, that's almost certainly a reference to the global memory shortage stemming from the AI boom, aka "RAMageddon." In recent months, tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Sony have increased their own hardware prices due to the same circumstances.

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Imagine opening Instagram and reaching the bottom of your feed. Or having to press play on every Reel yourself. Stories no longer disappear after 24 hours, beauty filters are restricted, and the algorithm has less control over what you see next.

That version of Instagram may sound almost unrecognizable, but it could become a reality if Meta loses a landmark lawsuit brought by California and 28 other states.

The states accuse Meta of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to keep children and teenagers online while concealing what it knew about the potential harms. Infinite scrolling, autoplaying videos, disappearing Stories, beauty filters, push notifications, visible "likes," and algorithm-driven feeds are all under scrutiny.

SEE ALSO: Which countries have banned social media for kids?

That means this case isn’t only about whether Meta owes an enormous amount of money, but it could determine whether Instagram and Facebook are allowed to keep working the way we know them.

"Hook, hold, harvest, hide."

The trial began Aug. 18 in Oakland, California, and is expected to last six to eight weeks. California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are leading this phase of the case, with support from 25 other coalition members, including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin. During opening statements, California Deputy Attorney General Megan O’Neill summed up Meta’s alleged strategy with four words: "hook, hold, harvest, hide."

According to the states, Meta "hooks" young users with psychologically compelling features, "holds" their attention for as long as possible, "harvests" their data, and then "hides" evidence of the resulting harm from the public.

The lawsuit goes beyond the familiar argument that teenagers simply spend too much time on their phones. In their federal complaint, the states allege Meta deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to exploit young people’s lower impulse control and heightened sensitivity to rewards. They also accuse the company of collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and misleading parents and users about the safety of its platforms.

If the states prevail, Meta may have to do more than write a massive check. The attorneys general are seeking injunctive and monetary relief intended to address Meta’s alleged conduct and break that cycle of compulsive use. That could mean removing or substantially redesigning infinite scroll, autoplay, algorithm-heavy feeds, beauty filters, Stories, and other features accused of keeping young people glued to their screens.

And those changes may not stop at children’s accounts. Maintaining different versions of Instagram and Facebook for different ages and countries would be complicated and expensive, so Meta could end up changing the apps for everyone. Other platforms may follow its lead, too — especially if they think similar lawsuits are headed their way.

"This trial is potentially the end of social media as we know it," Forrester principal analyst Kate Winick told CNBC.

"An outlandish payout"

Of course, Meta is also facing a staggering financial threat. The company has warned that potential damages could reach approximately $1.4 trillion, although state attorneys have reportedly described roughly $200 billion as a more realistic figure. The larger sum is close to Meta’s total market value, while even the lower estimate would rival the company’s annual revenue.

Meta has denied the allegations. "Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout," company spokesperson Liza Crenshaw told The Guardian.

During opening statements, Meta attorney Paul Schmidt argued that the company has acknowledged people can struggle with social media use and has developed tools intended to help. He also said Meta does not allow children under 13 to create accounts and has disabled more than 1 million accounts belonging to underage users.

The states, however, are attempting to show that Meta knew its existing safeguards were not enough and failed to act when employees raised concerns. One of their most prominent witnesses is Arturo Béjar, a former Meta safety engineer who worked at the company during two separate periods between 2009 and 2021 and said he briefed Zuckerberg more than 100 times.

Béjar testified Aug. 18 and 19 that the issue became personal after his teenage daughter received unwanted sexual advances, explicit images, and misogynistic insults on Instagram. When she tried to report the abuse, he said, the platform’s existing tools were either ineffective or unavailable. Béjar described Meta’s approach to child safety as a "don’t ask, don’t tell strategy."

During his testimony, attorneys showed the jury a 2021 email Béjar sent to Zuckerberg about Meta’s own internal research. The survey, which questioned nearly 240,000 Instagram users, found that more than half of teenage respondents had encountered at least one harmful experience during the previous seven days. Béjar also testified that content connected to those experiences was removed only 0.02 percent of the time. He said he sent the findings directly to Zuckerberg because he had seen the company move quickly when its CEO made something a priority, but Zuckerberg never responded.

Meta has disputed Béjar’s account and unsuccessfully tried to prevent him from testifying. The company later told The Guardian that he had overstated his role at Meta and taken credit for work he did not perform.

The trial is far from over. Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are both expected to take the stand before it wraps up. The jury will weigh the evidence, but its verdict is only advisory; U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will ultimately decide whether Meta is liable and what it may have to pay.

And Meta isn’t the only platform with reason to pay attention. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said YouTube and Snap could face similar cases, meaning any changes forced on Facebook and Instagram may eventually spread across the rest of social media.

And for the first time in years, "You’re all caught up" might actually mean it.

If you’ve ever opened the Instagram Reels editor, selected a pile of videos, and immediately decided that posting might not be worth the trouble, Instagram would like to prevent that particular creative crisis.

On Aug. 25, the platform globally launched First Draft, a new one-tap editing tool that turns several videos into a short, fully edited Reel in under 10 seconds.

The process starts the same way as making any other Reel: You select the videos you want to use from your camera roll. But instead of pressing “Next” and manually cutting them down, you can tap the new "First draft" button.

Credit: Instagram

From there, Instagram's model works through three steps: analyzing the clips, identifying their highlights, and trimming them to reduce the overall length. It then delivers a complete cut that users can preview, continue adjusting, add music to, or move directly to Instagram's usual posting screen.

Credit: Instagram

The cuts can be pretty substantial. In an example shared with Mashable, First Draft condensed four minutes and 54 seconds of footage into a 17-second Reel featuring highlights from several rollerblading videos.

The idea isn’t to let Instagram make every creative decision for you. Instead, First Draft handles some of the repetitive work of finding usable moments and cutting them together, while still giving creators the option to change its selections before posting. Basically, it eliminates some of the "staring at your camera roll and questioning your life" portion of the process.

Credit: Instagram

First Draft is also built directly into Instagram’s existing Reels creation flow, so creators won’t have to move their footage into another app to use it. That separates the tool from Edits, Instagram’s standalone video editor, which offers more advanced features, including a frame-accurate timeline, storyboards, effects, and performance insights.

Instagram said it created First Draft because manual clip trimming can be "tedious and frustrating" for creators. "Instead of staring down a collection of clips and figuring out where to start, creators can use First Draft to quickly get to a starting point and then make the edit their own from there," the company told Mashable. They added that the tool is beneficial for creators with accessibility needs.

Credit: Instagram

The launch is the latest example of Instagram trying to make short-form video production require slightly less production. The platform already offers customizable Reel templates, while Edits includes tools such as automatic enhancements, captions, and AI-powered video effects.

First Draft can analyze your footage, find the highlights, and transform nearly five minutes of video into something short enough for the Reels feed. You’ll still need to decide whether the internet actually needs to see it. Instagram has not yet invented a one-tap solution for that.

Do you get carsick while looking at your smartphone while in a moving vehicle? Google wants to help with that.

Motion Assist is a new feature rolling out to Android 17 devices that aims to reduce motion sickness for users. Google's Pixel phones appear to be the first devices receiving it, with other Android devices to follow. 

As Android Authority reports, the feature was first noticed in a beta release way back in December 2024. Nearly two years later, Google is finally rolling it out.

Motion Assist works much like Apple's own Vehicle Motion Cues released for the iPhone in 2024. Animated dots or other shapes appear along the edges of the display and move in response to the motion of the vehicle.

"This may help reduce motion sickness when you're in a moving vehicle," reads the prompt on the Motion Assist settings screen.

To access Motion Assist, head to Google Play Settings on your Android device. Tap your profile, select Settings, then tap All services. Motion Assist can be found under Personal & device safety.

Motion Assist lets users customize the color, shape, and opacity of the motion indicators that appear along the edges of the screen. A randomization option automatically varies those settings.

Users can set Motion Assist to turn on automatically when the device detects that they are traveling in a car, bus, train, or other moving vehicle. They can also add a Motion Assist tile to Quick Settings to manually turn the feature on or off.

Google sends a notification when Motion Assist is activated, and tapping the notification allows users to turn the feature off.

Motion Assist is rolling out gradually to Pixel phones running Android 17, so availability may vary even among eligible devices. If you don't see it yet, it may not have reached your phone.

TL;DR: Watch Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga for free on CazéTV. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

If you're looking for La Liga action, Valencia are hosting Real Betis at the Mestalla.

Both teams got off to a mediocre start last weekend, drawing 0-0 in their respective opening games. The Spanish league also saw further draws yesterday, with Osasuna vs. Levante and Málaga vs. Deportivo failing to deliver a decisive winner. Soccer fans are now hoping for something more exciting from Valencia vs. Real Betis — goals would be nice.

If you're interested in watching Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Valencia vs. Real Betis?

Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Aug. 25. This fixture takes place at the Mestalla.

How to watch Valencia vs. Real Betis for free

Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Valencia vs. Real Betis for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Valencia vs. Real Betis for free by following these simple steps:

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

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Brazil

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch Valencia vs. Real Betis for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Valencia vs. Real Betis without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus Premier League action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for La Liga?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on CazéTV, for a number of reasons:

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That was fast: A day after rumors broke about Apple preparing new Mac devices for release, the company announced some updated desktop computers. Today, Apple unveiled a portable Mac mini with the new M6 chip and a hulking Mac Studio with new M5 Ultra silicon — its "most powerful chip ever," according to a press release.

These new processors offer "the next giant leap in performance and AI compute," said Sri Santhanam, Apple’s vice president of Silicon Engineering Group. They also bring some higher prices. (Blame RAMageddon.) The M6 Mac mini starts at $899, or $300 more than its M4 predecessor. The M5 Ultra Mac Studio starts at $5,499. That's $200 more than the M3 Ultra model, and more expensive configurations cost up to $18,299.

Both new Macs are available in a second configuration with other existing chips from the M5 series. Their external designs remain unchanged.

SEE ALSO: A maxed-out Mac Studio with the M5 Ultra will set you back $18,299

Preorders for the refreshed Mac mini and Mac Studio are now live in the Apple Store, though they won't start shipping until Sept. 22.

These announcements come ahead of Apple's annual September hardware event, where the company is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 series, a new foldable iPhone, updated smart home devices, and new Apple Watches.

M6 debuts on the Mac mini Credit: Apple

The new Mac mini, Apple's inaugural M6 device, features the company's first-ever processor built using a 2-nanometer manufacturing process, which crams more switches onto a smaller piece of silicon. (Apple's M3, M4, and M5 chips used 3nm technology.) This translates to "a major leap in performance and power efficiency," Apple said.

The M6 chip has two more CPU and GPU cores than the M5 chip for a total of 12 apiece, plus a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Per Apple, it gives the new Mac mini up to four times faster AI performance up to two times faster graphics than the M4 model. The company recommends it for "everyday users, students, developers, AI hobbyists, and enterprises." It starts at $899 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

SEE ALSO: New Apple HomePods with AI are coming. Everything we know.

The Mac mini is also now configurable with the M5 Pro chip. That model has up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU with up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage. It starts at $1,699 with 24GB of memory and 512GB of storage. Apple plugs it for "pro users" with "demanding workflows like app development, video rendering, scientific simulations, and more."

Both new Mac mini models support 2.5Gb Ethernet, with a 10Gb upgrade available, as well as WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6, the latest wireless technologies.

This year, Mac mini desktops have become a popular choice for people running AI agents, and some M4 models were hard to find in stock.

M5 Ultra beefs up the Mac Studio Credit: Apple

The M5 Ultra marks another Apple innovation: It's the company's first chip with quad-die architecture, made by fusing two dual-die M5 Max chips together. It has up to a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU with up to a whopping 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of unified memory bandwidth. (The M3 Ultra was capped at 32 CPU cores and 96GB of RAM, and it only had 819GB/s of memory bandwidth.)

Compared to its predecessor, the M5 Ultra Mac Studio delivers up to 4.5 times faster AI compute speeds and up to 40 percent faster graphics. Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, called it "the ultimate desktop for on-device AI and the world’s most demanding pro workflows."

The new Mac Studio starts at $5,499 with a 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU, and 36GB of memory plus 512GB of storage. It's also configurable with the M5 Max chip for $2,499 to start. Both support WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac mini (M6, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $899 at the Apple Store
  Pre-order Here Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac Studio (M5 Ultra, 36GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $5,499 at the Apple Store
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