Mashable

Meta announced today (Sept. 25) that it would be expanding its youth safety feature, Teen Accounts, to Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram users around the world — a move that will place hundreds of millions of teens under the company's default safety restrictions. 

The tech giant has spent the last year overhauling Teen Accounts, including placing limitations on communication and account discovery, filtering explicit content, and shutting down the option to go Live for users under the age of 16. 

Meta has labelled Teen Accounts a "significant step to help keep teens safe" and a tool that brings parents "more peace of mind." But some child safety experts feel the feature is an even emptier promise than previously thought. 

SEE ALSO: Colleges are giving students ChatGPT. Is it safe?

A new report also released today accuses Meta's Teen Accounts and related safety features of "abjectly failing" to keep users safe. The report, titled "Teen Accounts, Broken Promises" found that many of the features core to the Teen Account ecosystem — including Sensitive Content Controls, tools that prevent inappropriate contact, and screentime features — did not work as advertised. The analysis was conducted by Cybersecurity for Democracy and Meta whistleblower Arturo Béjar and based out of New York University and Northeastern University. The report was published in partnership with child advocacy groups based in the U.S. and UK, including Fairplay, Molly Rose Foundation, and ParentsSOS.

"We hope this report serves as a wake-up call to parents who may think recent high-profile safety announcements from Meta mean that children are safe on Instagram," the report reads. "Our testing reveals that the claims are untrue and the purported safety features are substantially illusory."

Meta safety tools don't stand up to real-world pressure, expert says 

Researchers based their tests on 47 out of 53 safety features listed by Meta and that are visible by users. Thirty of the tested tools — that's 64 percent — were given a red rating, which indicates that the feature was discontinued or entirely ineffective. Nine of the tools were found to reduce harm but came with limitations (yellow). Only eight of the 47 tested safety features were found to be working effectively to prevent harm (green), according to researchers.

For example, early tests showed adult accounts were still able to message teen users, despite Meta's measures to prevent unwanted contact, and teens could message adults that didn't follow them. Similarly, DMs with explicit bullying were able to slip past messaging restrictions. Teen Accounts were still recommended sexual and violent content, and content featuring self-harm. Researchers found there weren't effective ways to report sexual messages or content.

The research relied on realistic user scenario testing to simulate how predators, parents, and teens themselves actually use platforms, explained Cybersecurity for Democracy co-director Laura Edelson. "For many of the risk scenarios that we are talking about, the teen is seeking out the risky content. That is a normal thing that any parent of a teen knows is, frankly, developmentally appropriate. This is why we parents parent, why we set up guardrails," said Edelson. But Meta's approach to addressing this behavioral tendency is ineffective and misinformed, she told Mashable in a press briefing. 

"If a teen needs to experience extortion in order to report, the damage is already done," added Béjar. He compared Meta's role as that of a car manufacturer, tasked with making a vehicle that's equipped with robust safety measures like airbags and brakes that do what they're supposed to do. Parents and their teens are the drivers, but "the car is not safe enough to get in."

"What Meta tells the public is often very different from what their own internal research shows," alleged Josh Golin, executive director of nonprofit kids advocacy organization Fairplay. "[Meta] has a history of misrepresenting the truth."

In statement to the press, Meta wrote: 

“This report repeatedly misrepresents our efforts to empower parents and protect teens, misstating how our safety tools work and how millions of parents and teens are using them today. Teen accounts lead the industry because they provide automatic safety protections and straightforward parental controls.

The reality is teens who were placed into these protections saw less sensitive content, experienced less unwanted contact, and spent less time on Instagram at night. Parents also have robust tools at their fingertips, from limiting usage to monitoring interactions. We’ll continue improving our tools, and we welcome constructive feedback – but this report is not that.”

Maurine Molak of David’s Legacy Foundation and ParentsSOS and Ian Russell of the Molly Rose Foundation signed on to the report as well — both of their children died by suicide following extensive cyberbullying. Parents around the world have expressed alarm at the growing role of technology, including AI chatbots, in teen mental health. 

Advocates debate the role of federal regulators

In April, Meta announced it was shifting its youth safety focus to bolstering Teen Accounts, following a year of federal scrutiny over its role in the youth mental health crisis. "We're going to be increasingly using Teen Accounts as an umbrella, moving all of our [youth safety] settings into it" said Tara Hopkins, global director of public policy at Instagram, told Mashable at the time. 

Many tech companies have leaned on the importance of parent and teen education as they simultaneously launch platform features, offering training and information hubs for parents to sift through. Experts have criticized these as placing an undue burden on parents, rather than tech companies themselves. Hopkins previously explained to Mashable that Meta's automatic tools, including AI age verification, are designed to take that pressure off of parents and caregivers. But "parents aren’t asking for a pass, they are just asking for the product to be made safer," Molak said. 

Child safety nonprofits like Common Sense Media had long criticized the company's slow-to-launch safety measures, calling Teen Accounts a "splashy announcement" made to cast themselves in a better light before Congress. After the roll out of Teen Accounts, other studies by safety watchdogs found that teens were still exposed to sexual content. Meta later removed over 600,000 accounts linked to predatory behavior. Most recently, Meta made interim changes to Teen Accounts that limit their access to the company's AI avatars, following reports they could engage in "romantic or sensual" conversations with teen users. 

While child safety advocates agree on the pressing need for better safety measures online, many disagree on the extent of federal oversight. Some of the report's authors, for example, are calling for the passing of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), legislation that has become a divisive symbol of free speech and content moderation. The report also recommends the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general evoke the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and Section V of the FTC Act to pressure the company into action. UK-based participants urge leaders to strengthen the 2023 Online Safety Act. 

Just two weeks ago, Meta whistleblower Cayce Savage called for outside regulators to step in and evaluate Meta during a testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

"More research into social media user safety tools is urgently needed. Our findings show that many protections are ineffective, easy to circumvent, or have been quietly abandoned," the report authors write. "User safety tools can be so much better than they are, and Meta’s users deserve a better, safer product than Meta is currently delivering to them."

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. Here is a list of international resources.

UPDATE: Sep. 25, 2025, 3:34 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Josh Golin's name.

Huge news for anyone who likes fast, long-lasting computers (which should be most people): Qualcomm announced new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips on Wednesday at its 2025 Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii. The upgraded Snapdragon X2 Elite and the all-new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme are set to supercharge next-generation Windows laptops starting next year.

What's the big deal? You may recall that Qualcomm made a splash in mid-2024 when it released its first-gen Snapdragon X series chips, the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus. They were all-new ARM-based alternatives to Intel and AMD's well-established x86 options that wound up delivering impressive processing power and power efficiency. (The Snapdragon X chip, a third variant for budget-friendly laptops, arrived in early 2025.)

SEE ALSO: Google and Qualcomm execs confirm Android for PC is coming: 'I've seen it, it is incredible'

The original X Elite chip, in particular, fuels some of the best Windows laptops we've tested over the past year, offering all-day battery life without sacrificing zippy performance in thin-and-light machines. It's even managed to compete with the M-series silicon in Apple's MacBooks, which had been leaving Windows laptops in the dust for some years.

For reference, Mashable's current favorite Windows laptop, the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 with an X Elite chip under its hood, is just as fast as the overachieving M4 MacBook Air. What's more, the Surface Laptop 7 lasted almost 23 hours on a single charge in our battery life benchmark — that's two hours longer than the 16-inch, M4 Pro-powered MacBook Pro, our reigning battery life champ among Apple laptops.

Two newer Intel-based Windows laptops have scored higher than the Surface Laptop 7 in our performance benchmark, but neither lasted more than 12 hours at a time.

The Snapdragon X Elite-powered Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, our top Windows laptop, has speed and stamina for days. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Succinctly put, the first-gen Snapdragon X chips have set a massive precedent for their successors — and Qualcomm claims they'll live up to the hype.

"With superior performance, multi-day battery life and groundbreaking AI, these new processors are the fastest, most powerful and efficient processors for Windows PCs," a company press release reads.

To quickly cover some more granular spec details, Qualcomm says its X2 Elite series chips will pack up to 18 CPU cores, or six more than the standard X Elite and up to 10 more than the X Plus. The beefy X2 Elite Extreme, which is geared toward intensive workloads involving agentic AI experiences, huge datasets, and multimedia editing, supposedly offers "up to 75% faster CPU performance than competition at ISO power" (i.e., when compared to another chip with the same amount of juice).

When stacked up against the previous-gen X series chips, the X2 Elite Extreme is said to boast up to 50 percent faster CPU performance at ISO power, while the X2 Elite will be up to 31 percent faster. Both new chips will consume 43 percent less power than their predecessors, Qualcomm says.

SEE ALSO: What is a Copilot+ PC? Everything to know about these AI laptops.

The X2 Elite series chips will also have new Adreno GPU architecture with 2.3 times better power efficiency compared to the OG chips, plus a neural processing unit (NPU) with 80 TOPS (trillions of operations per second, an AI performance metric). That should make for some of the most capable Copilot+ PCs ever.

Qualcomm said laptops featuring the X2 Elite chips are slated to arrive in the first half of 2026, so keep an eye out if you're due for an upgrade soon.

Get paid to record your phone calls and hand them over to third parties? It may seem a bit dystopian, but this app has quickly risen to the top of the App Store charts.

Neon Mobile is a new app for iOS and Android devices that's quickly growing in popularity, at least according to the mobile app charts. On Apple's App Store, Neon is currently sitting at number 2 for free Social Networking apps and is in the number 4 position in the top rankings of all free apps in the App Store.

But, what is Neon and why are so many people downloading it? Here's what you need to know.

What is Neon?

It's simple: Neon records users' phone calls and then pays them for it.

Why does Neon want to record your phone calls? That's simple too: To collect your data to sell to third-parties. 

Neon is quite open about what they're using it for too. On Neon's website, the app makers say that they sell your anonymized data to "companies training AI." Neon says it removes all personal information so there's nothing identifiable being handed over to these AI companies.

Neon's pitch to users is also pretty straightforward. 

"Telecom companies are profiting off your data, and we think you deserve a cut," Neon's website says.

According to Neon, the app only records the Neon users' side of the call. The person that the Neon user calls is not recorded, unless they are also a Neon user too.

Neon pays users 15 cents per minute when they talk to a non-Neon user and pays 30 cents per minute when talking to another Neon user. Neon users can make a maximum of $30 per day from calls and an unlimited amount of money from referring people to Neon. Each referral pays $30.

To hit that $30 per day maximum for making calls, a user would need to talk to Neon users for 100 minutes per day or talk with non-Neon users for 200 minutes per day.

Is Neon legit?

Neon appears to have raised money from Upfront Ventures, according to Neon founder Alex Kiam. As TechCrunch points out, the company seems to be run out of a New York City apartment. This alone isn't a reason to be skeptical. Many startups have been run out of small living spaces before.

However, there are some red flags. Neon Mobile doesn't provide much information about the company on its website. In fact, Alex Kiam simply refers to himself as "Alex" on the site.

The company also simply promises to keep your private and identifiable information safe on a "trust us" basis. However, there's not many details surrounding Neon or their processes to keep that information anonymous that enables that trust.

The reviews for Neon on the App Store and Google Play store are also mixed, with users reporting problems using the app or receiving their payout. It's unclear, however, if those are issues being experienced by just a few individual users or if it's more widespread.

TechCrunch also noticed that Neon's privacy policy and terms has users giving away much more than they might have thought they were when signing up for the app. For example, Neon grants itself the following rights to your content:

…worldwide, exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, royalty-free, fully paid right and license (with the right to sublicense through multiple tiers) to sell, use, host, store, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform (including by means of a digital audio transmission), communicate to the public, reproduce, modify for the purpose of formatting for display, create derivative works as authorized in these Terms, and distribute your Recordings, in whole or in part, in any media formats and through any media channels, in each instance whether now known or hereafter developed.

Neon also carves out exceptions for its guarantees to users regarding any beta features due to the fact that they might contain bugs.

In addition, Neon is offering conflicting payout information. On the App Store, Neon's description claims that the company pays 45 cents per recording phone call minute and $25 per referral. This runs counter to the 30 cents per minute payment the $30 per referral as detailed on its website.

Users should proceed with caution regarding Neon until more is known about the company. And, even then, the company's purpose is to sell your recorded phone calls to companies for AI training. Users should consider if that's worth the price they're being paid.

Editor's note: Currently, many DJI products are unavailable in the United States through official retailers, but they can still be purchased via third-party sellers on platforms like Amazon.

You know the saying that people eat with their eyes first? I'm convinced most people watch videos with their ears first. Without good quality audio, even the most visually stunning video can fall flat.

Admittedly, finding the right mic can be a lot harder than picking out a content-worthy camera (which, for most people, can be found right on their phone). Then there's the fact that a portable mic can run you anywhere from $10 to well over $400, making it challenging to know where to invest. However, after testing out the DJI Mic Mini for weeks and watching it in action with Mashable's social media team, I'm convinced it's one of the best upgrades for content creators.

DJI Mic Mini $109 at Amazon
$169 Save $60 Shop Now What makes the DJI Mic Mini different

DJI has made a name for itself in the creator space thanks to gadgets like the Osmo Pocket 3, but if you pay a little extra attention, you'll notice how many creators on TikTok use the brand's pocket mics. DJI's mic selection includes the newly-released DJI Mic 3, the Mic Mini, and the Mic 2, though the latter will be phased out following the release of the Mic 3.

The DJI Mic Mini setup, in its charging case. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

While all three mics have their pros, at the time of writing, the Mic Mini is one of the best sellers in the musical instruments category on Amazon. (The other two mics don't even show up in the top 50 listings.)

What makes it so popular? For starters, it retails for $169, compared to the $349 Mic 2 and $329 Mic 3. In the past few weeks, it's even been hovering around a $109 price point. With that price discrepancy, there is somewhat of a tradeoff in performance: the Mic Mini doesn't have the 32-bit depth of the more expensive models (meaning it captures less of an audio range), nor can it capture recordings internally.

However, for under $170 ($110 if you can grab it on sale), here's what you get:

• Two transmitters (mics) and one receiver

• Up to 48 hours of battery life with the charging case

• A USB-C phone adapter for the receiver

• Level metrics visible on the receiver to ensure audio isn't peaking

• Two clip magnets, four windscreens for the mics

• Companion app with features like noise cancellation, mono/stereo recording, and clipping control

• Carrying case

Who should get the DJI Mic Mini

If you need any degree of portability with your mic setup, the DJI Mic Mini offers a lot of versatility, and for a great value. That makes it a solid option for making vlogs and TikToks, and for anyone who feels less than confident with their tech skills — once I plugged the receiver into my phone, the mics connected easily and started working with the camera app automatically. It's also possible to use the DJI Mimo app to track the audio levels on your phone and adjust some mic settings, but not necessary if you prefer the mic to plug and play.

The DJI Mismo app allows for audio level monitoring and settings adjustment. Credit: DJI / Screenshot Credit: DJI / Screenshot How the DJI Mic Mini sounds

During my testing period, I tried my best to put the Mic Mini through the wringer, bringing it to a park near a busy street on a windy day, as well as recording myself while my boyfriend played piano in the next room over (with just one closed door separating us).

SEE ALSO: DJI has a new mini drone coming soon — and you can't have it

The Mic Mini impressed me in both situations, showing its prowess over the $20 miniature mics you can grab on Amazon. With and without the noise-cancelling feature, the mic picked up my voice while barely picking up the sound of wind — birds and car engines were lost in many cases. To my surprise, the mic also somehow avoided picking up the piano playing, despite the fact that I was recording about 20 feet away from my partner.

The receiver (usually plugged into a device) allows you to see which mics are active and adjust the audio gain in increments of six from -12dB to 12db. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

It also shone in even noisier settings. During Mashable's trip to VidCon, we used the DJI Mic Mini when interviewing the inaugural Hall of Fame inductees — despite being surrounded by other outlets conducting interviews and in an echoey convention center hall, the audio came through crisp and clear.

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DJI Mic Mini vs. Mic 2

So who might not be jazzed with this mic? Anyone who's looking for something especially professional-grade might prefer either of DJI's more expensive offerings. Don't get me wrong, the Mic Mini sounds great enough to use as a full-time content creator, but its limited size means you can't save audio internally like the Mic 2 and 3.

Beyond that, the audio won't sound quite as good as the more expensive mics due to its more limited 24-bit depth, and there's no option to connect it to a lavalier mic as there is with the Mic 2, which can be useful for applications where you want to hide the mic as much as possible. It's still great for a lot of situations, it's just not a perfect catch-all.

Outside of pocket mics, if you generally record audio in a stationary position, like at a desk for a livestream or recording setup for a podcast, you might prefer to invest in a USB or XLR microphone.

Lightning port owners, beware

As happy as I am to sing the DJI Mic Mini's praises, I do have a warning for anyone out there who still has a Lightning port on their phone. The Mic Mini only comes with a USB-C phone adapter for the receiver. This means you have to purchase the DJI Lightning port adapter, which is an additional $19 and is often sold out. As an iPhone 14 owner, I couldn't use the mics until DJI sent me an adapter to test out.

Again, there's no internal storage on this mic — without a plugged-in receiver, the audio you're recording on the mics won't transmit to your device, even if they're connected via Bluetooth, making them technically useless. While I did read some Reddit posts about workarounds with third-party apps, this mic is $169, so it would be annoying not to use it as the plug-and-play mic it's intended to be.

SAVE $50: As of Sept. 25, get the Ninja Slushi for $299.99, down from its usual price of $349.99, at Best Buy via Best Buy Drops. That's a discount of 14%. This discount is only available via the Best Buy app.

Opens in a new window Credit: Best Buy Ninja Slushi $299.99 at Best Buy
$349.99 Save $50 Get Deal

Do you love frozen treats? Do you find an excuse to get a slushie every time you go out? Stop spending all your extra money on frozen goodies when out and about and just make them at home with the Ninja Slushi, which you can snag for a great price right now.

As of Sept. 25, get the Ninja Slushi for $299.99, down from its usual price of $349.99, at Best Buy via Best Buy Drops. That's a discount of 14%. This discount is only available via the Best Buy app.

SEE ALSO: The coolest kitchen gear and gadgets we'll always recommend

To participate in Best Buy Drops deals, you need to download the Best Buy app, as this sale price won't appear on the Best Buy website proper. Head to the Ninja Slushi store page, and just add the item to your cart. You'll see when the Drop is live on the app as there will be a status bar with a percentage showing what's already been claimed of Best Buy's inventory. Once a Drop is gone, you're out of luck. But at the time of writing, there appear to be plenty of Slushi machines in stock.

This frozen drink maker is all about whipping up frozen drinks at home, with no ice needed. With just one touch, you can have a variety of drinks ready to go in about an hour, whether that means juice, soda, coffee, milk, or whatever it is your heart desires. It has 5 preset settings, simple temperature control, and plenty of ways to customize how your drink will come out. Plus, it can keep your drinks frozen for up to 12 hours.

Mashable's Senior Shopping Reporter Leah Stodart praised the Ninja Slushi for whipping up frozen treats in less than an hour, calling it a "guaranteed hit" in homes with kids who will drink their healthier fruit juice when it "basically feels like a Slurpee". She also praised its straightforward buttons and indicator lights as well as how quiet it is when in operation.

If making frozen drinks at home sounds like fun, this is a Drop you'll want to pounce on while it's still available.

This week marks nearly 120 years since the 1906  Atlanta Race Massacre, when white mobs laid waste to Black‑owned businesses and lives. At SXSW this spring, I experienced that history through a phone‑based augmented‑reality installation. Standing on a downtown sidewalk, I watched a true-to-life hologram of an actor portraying Black journalist Jesse Max Barber describe the violence as it occurred. The smoke and fear felt immediate, in a way no book or film could convey. It reminded me that immersive media, used with care, can turn cold facts into felt experience.

We’re rightfully wary of technology. Algorithms feed us outrage; screens swallow our evenings. Critics warn that headsets will lure us into isolation. (WALL‑E, anyone?) That risk is real. 

But by focusing only on the dangers, are we missing the other side of the story? Immersive tools can also cut through the noise, slow us down, and connect us to truths we cannot grasp on a flat screen.

Evidence for that power is growing. Researchers found that participants who navigated a 360‑degree video simulating violent intergroup conflict became less likely to demonize the opposing side and more open to compromise. The Messy Truth, a virtual-reality series that places viewers in scenarios like racial profiling, was shown at the Conservative Political Action Conference; police officers who experienced being a Black teenager pulled over by a cop said they saw the world differently. 

These projects hint at how immersive media might help us reclaim attention and rebuild connection in an age of lies and fragmentation. When you inhabit someone else’s perspective, or even something’s perspective — a kid with ADHD, a farmer in the Himalayas, or a spore in a mycelial network — abstract issues become personal. At a time when climate change is reduced to statistics and racism to slogans, the chance to feel another life for a few minutes can seed empathy and action. I’ve been surprised at how often these experiences slow me down. They’re not adrenaline rides. They’re invitations to linger and listen.

For immersive media to meet its promise, we need more than experiments. We need institutions, artists, and community groups to build with these tools — and to do so thoughtfully. That’s why I cofounded Agog, a philanthropic institute dedicated to using emerging media to cultivate empathy and connection, and inspire action. Projects like Kinfolk Tech, which uses AR to surface hidden Black and Brown histories in public spaces and prompts 91 percent of users to learn something new when engaging with the app, and Electric South’s New Dimensions Lab, which supports African creators making nonfiction XR, show what’s possible. Yet most nonprofits still view XR as costly or difficult to wield. Meanwhile, tech giants are racing ahead. Meta’s Ray‑Ban Display glasses — smart frames with an AI‑powered screen that debut next week — signal that mainstream spatial computing is near. Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” design language, which uses translucent layers and parallax on phones and tablets, trains us for interfaces that live in three dimensions. If the mission-based world doesn’t join this conversation, the commercial players will set the terms.

SEE ALSO: Despite awkward demos, Meta Ray-Ban Display early testers say it's the real deal

I get the skepticism. Immersive media could be used to manipulate, to addict, to surveil. It could lull us into passivity or feed unhealthy impulses. The antidote is intention. We must ask: Does this experience reconnect us to reality or replace it? Does it foster empathy, or does it sensationalize suffering? Does it create new ways in, or push people to the margins? For example, new features in smart glasses, like real-time captions for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or instant text-to-speech for those with visual impairments, can expand participation. That’s momentum we can build on.

As the National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum reopens in Atlanta, and features the 1906 Race Massacre AR experience this weekend, we have a choice. We can treat immersive tech as another entertainment toy, or we can harness it to reclaim attention, relay truth, slow us down, and build connections across divides. I remain agog at the possibilities. With curiosity and care, we can ensure that immersive media doesn’t usher in a dystopia, but helps us imagine and build a better reality.

Chip Giller, along with Wendy Schmidt, is co-founder of Agog: The Immersive Media Institute, a philanthropic organization that helps people use emerging media like virtual and augmented reality to create human connection, cultivate empathy, and inspire action toward a brighter future for all.

This column reflects the opinions of the writer.

When AI slop started making the rounds on Spotify — bands like The Velvet Sundown for instance — users urged Spotify to do something about it. They wanted a label showing that the music on their Discover Weekly and recommendations was actually created by AI. Some users even went so far as to say they should "boycott Spotify" until a label was made.

On Thursday, Spotify said it would start doing just that, saying in a press release that "aggressively protecting against the worst parts of Gen AI is essential to enabling its potential for artists and producers." The platform is integrating a new spam filtering system, AI disclosures, and "improved enforcement of impersonation violations" like deepfakes.

Spotify worked with DDEX, or the Digital Data Exchange, which is a standards-setting organization in the music industry, to require a "new industry standard for AI disclosures in music credits." This is because, as Spotify says, many artists responsibly use AI tools while creating music, so adding a simple "AI" or "Not AI" label doesn't actually solve the issue of listeners wanting to know if they're listening to AI music.

"This standard gives artists and rights holders a way to clearly indicate where and how AI played a role in the creation of a track—whether that’s AI-generated vocals, instrumentation, or post-production," Spotify wrote in its press release. "This change is about strengthening trust across the platform. It’s not about punishing artists who use AI responsibly or down-ranking tracks for disclosing information about how they were made."

"At its best, AI is unlocking incredible new ways for artists to create music and for listeners to discover it. At its worst, AI can be used by bad actors and content farms to confuse or deceive listeners, push 'slop' into the ecosystem, and interfere with authentic artists working to build their careers," Spotify's press release read. "That kind of harmful AI content degrades the user experience for listeners and often attempts to divert royalties to bad actors."

The new impersonation policy Spotify released specifically details how it plans to give artists stronger protections against AI voice clones. Spotify plans to attack spam music — like "mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other forms of slop" — by rolling out a new system that "will identify uploaders and tracks engaging in these tactics, tag them, and stop recommending them." They're going to start conservatively so they don't accidentally punish the wrong people, and then add more signals as the system ramps up.

"These updates are the latest in a series of changes we’re making to support a more trustworthy music ecosystem for artists, for rightsholders, and for listeners. We’ll keep them coming as the tech evolves, so stay tuned," Spotify wrote.

Amid reports that Apple's new iPhone 17 Pro is particularly prone to scratches on its backside, the company has issued a response.

Apple told 9to5Mac that the scratches that people are (as far as I can tell) largely seeing on store display units of the iPhone 17 Pro are not scratches at all. Per Apple's response to 9to5Mac, this is actually "material transfer" that is occurring via the use of worn down MagSafe stands in retail stores. This can apparently affect older iPhone models, too. Apple says these "scratches" are removable by cleaning, though we can't explicitly confirm that at this time.

SEE ALSO: Review: The new iPhone Air is the sexiest iPhone I've ever tested

Mashable has reached out to Apple to confirm this for ourselves, but the company has not responded at the time of publication.

Whether or not the scratches are actually scratches, they do seem to be real. One Mashable employee reported seeing scratches on the blue and orange iPhone 17 Pro models at an Apple Store. Most reports indicate the scratches are around where the MagSafe stand would touch the phone, which would lend some credence to what Apple is saying. However, again, there's no guarantee that what Apple said is actually the explicit truth.

Whatever the reason may be, it might be prudent to put a case on your iPhone 17 Pro.

For years, reading manga online legally has meant juggling multiple subscriptions across a confusing mess of publisher-specific apps — or resorting to sketchy fan-scan sites just to keep up. But now, Crunchyroll is stepping in to make things simpler. (And to, hopefully, save you some cash.)

The anime giant announced today that Crunchyroll Manga, a new premium add-on for manga readers, will launch Oct. 9, 2025, on iOS and Android in the U.S. and Canada, with a web version to follow on Oct. 15.

SEE ALSO: 'Gachiakuta' might be the most original shōnen anime in years

The new service offers an ad-free experience with hundreds of titles from major publishers, including VIZ Media, Square Enix, Yen Press, AlphaPolis, and more — all in one place.

Launch titles span genres and hype levels, including One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Delicious in Dungeon, The Summer Hikaru Died, The Apothecary Diaries, My Dress-Up Darling, and several digital-firsts never published online before. (Though, the press release also notes that these launch titles are subject to change.)

A sneak peek at Crunchyroll Manga. Credit: Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll Manga will be a standalone app, powered by Japan's Link-U Group, and separate from Crunchyroll's anime streaming service.

As for pricing, if you already have Crunchyroll's Ultimate Fan plan ($15.99/month), it will be available to you at no extra cost.

If you're on a lower-tier plan, listen up — the Manga add-on costs extra:

• Fan + Manga runs $11.99/month, combining the $7.99 Fan tier with a $4 manga add-on.

• Mega Fan + Manga bumps up to $15.49/month, with the add-on discounted to $3.50.

Crunchyroll says all subscription tiers will get unlimited, ad-free reading across mobile, tablet, and web. Features include offline downloads, light and dark modes, full two-page spreads, and the ability to build a personalized reading list with curated recommendations.

With more publishers like Shueisha and J-Novel Club joining post-launch, the platform could become a one-stop shop for digital manga — no shady pop-ups required.

Enter a world of dreams and nightmares in the upcoming In Your Dreams, from Netflix Animation.

SEE ALSO: The best Netflix movies of 2025 now streaming

In Your Dreams is the debut feature from Pixar alum Alex Woo, who's worked on films like Ratatouille and WALL-E. Woo co-wrote the film with Erik Benson, also a Pixar alum. Based on the trailer, it looks like the pair have used their Pixar experience to create a fantastical adventure that explores childhood anxieties about parental separation.

In Your Dreams introduces siblings Stevie (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Elliot (voiced by Elias Janssen). Practical Stevie is a stalwart perfectionist, while amateur magician Elliot is more of a go-with-the-flow type guy. The pair rarely get along, but when their parents' (voiced by Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti) marriage hits a rough patch, they'll have to find a solution to keep their family together.

Enter The Legend of the Sandman, a magical book that claims that the Sandman (voiced by Omid Djalili) can make their deepest wish a reality. To find him, Stevie and Elliot must journey through their own personal dreamscapes and make it past Nightmara (voiced by Gia Carides), the creator of all nightmares. Along the way, they'll cross paths with talking breakfast foods, evil Whac-a-Mole machines, and Elliot's long-lost favorite stuffed animal, Baloney Tony (voiced by Craig Robinson). He's a beaten-up toy giraffe with a penchant for throwing baloney and letting off laser farts. Basically, he's Elliot's dream come true — and Stevie's nightmare.

To witness Baloney Tony in all his glory, and to see the rest of the dreams that await Stevie and Elliot on their quest, check out the full trailer above.

In Your Dreams hits Netflix Nov. 14.

Hinge is the dating app that's "designed to be deleted." The app, which was acquired by Match Group in 2018, promises a more relationship-finding focus for its members — hence the tagline.

While Hinge is owned by the same parent company as Tinder and OkCupid, it's emerged as a popular contender in the space. This year, Hinge has shown growth in direct revenue and paying users, whereas for Tinder, they've decreased. Despite Tinder trying to shed its hookup reputation, it seems that Hinge doesn't have that issue.

SEE ALSO: Cuffing season is upon us: Best dating apps for serious relationships

"Hinge's intentional app design makes it easier for daters to express themselves and more quickly connect with people they’re compatible with through detailed profiles built around Prompts (short questions that allow people to showcase who they are)," a Hinge spokesperson told Mashable last year for an article about dating app fatigue. "And it's working. Currently, we're setting up a date every two seconds."

How does Hinge work?

Hinge is free to sign up and get started. Like every other dating app, there are premium features at a cost. (More on that below.) Unlike Tinder, Hinge doesn't have a swipe model. You can see one profile at a time and "like" an aspect of it — a photo, or an answer to a prompt — instead of "swiping right." 

How to use Hinge

Speaking of prompts, they're a feature that is very popular on Hinge and one of its defining characteristics (despite the fact that other apps have introduced prompts due to how popular they are on Hinge. This is a phenomenon of dating apps becoming more and more alike as they struggle to maintain their user bases.)

Hinge profiles are built around prompts; these are questions or phrases written by Hinge designed to get your creative juices flowing — and tell more about yourself than a black box "bio" section would. Some of Hinge's top prompts (based on how frequently they lead to conversation) are:

• I go crazy for… 

• My simple pleasures…

• The way to win me over is… 

Earlier this year, famed relationship psychotherapist Esther Perel created prompts with Hinge, including "In my friend group, I'm the one who…" and "Something my pet thinks about me." 

Hinge also recently introduced AI prompt feedback to help users craft better answers to prompts — because everyone who's been on Hinge recognizes the dull one-word response to a question that requires a bit more thought.

You can also share private details only with matches with a feature called Match Note.

On Hinge, free users are limited to eight likes per day. Hinge also limits the number of unanswered messages anyone, both paid and free users, can have at one time.

In 2020, Hinge launched Roses, its version of the Tinder Super Like (aka, an indication that you like them before you match). You can send someone a Rose on the Standouts feature, which is an algorithmically-driven set of potential curated matches for you. Users get one free Rose a week (and don't accumulate), but they're also available for purchase in packs of 3, 12, or 50.

A meme online is that Hinge keeps the best profiles in "Rose Jail" — though there's no real proof of that.

Hinge also has a Boost feature, which makes you more visible to potential users for one hour. Superboost does the same for 24 hours. You have to pay for Boosts.

Hinge+ and Hinge X

Hinge has two paid tiers: Hinge+ and HingeX. 

With Hinge+, users get:

• Unlimited likes

• Ability to view all incoming likes at once

• Advance filtering preferences — the ability to filter users by traits like height, family plans, whether they drink or smoke, and more

With HingeX, users get the above, as well as:

• Enhanced recommendations 

• Skipping the line (Always-on Boost)

• Priority likes (similar to Roses)

The prices of these, according to the most recent information Mashable has as of publication:

• One month of Hinge+: $32.99

• Three months of Hinge+: $64.99 ($21.66 per month)

• Six months of Hinge+: $99.99 ($16.66 per month)

• One month of HingeX: $49.99

• Three months of HingeX: $99.99 ($33.33 per month)

• Six months of HingeX: $149.99 ($24.99 per month)

Is Hinge a good dating app?

Hinge is represented on Mashable's lists for best dating apps for women, best dating apps for men, best overall dating apps of 2025, and more. It's not just us; with increasing paid users, users are getting value out of Hinge.

In addition to photos and prompts, users can also add voice notes to their profiles and they're able to video chat with other users. Hinge is also pretty inclusive, with the ability to choose from a variety of gender identities and sexualities on the platform. 

As previously stated, Hinge is owned by Match Group, which has been in the news a lot recently for different reasons. In Aug. 2025, Match agreed to pay a settlement to the Federal Trade Commission for fake advertisements. In Sept. 2025, two U.S. senators sent a letter to the Match Group CEO asking for evidence of what the company is doing to stop romance scams on the platform.

So if you want an "indie" app, per se, Hinge isn't the one. But to truly know what Hinge is like, you'll have to try it for yourself.

Tech company Nothing is spinning off its budget brand, CMF, into its own company.

Nothing CEO Carl Pei announced the move on X, saying he plans to turn CMF into an India-based consumer tech brand.

Pei wrote on X that Nothing plans "to establish CMF as a subsidiary headquartered in India - building it into the country’s first truly global consumer tech brand." It would be "built from India, to the world," he wrote.

SEE ALSO: Nothing's new Phone 3a and 3a Pro are the coolest-looking phones you can get

The CEO wrote that the company planned to partner with local manufacturer Optiemus, investing more than $100 million to set-up CMF's new operations. Pei also claimed the venture would create at least 1,800 jobs.

CMF's products are decidedly budget friendly. Perusing through Nothing's website, you can find CMF phones for under $300, smartwatches for around $100, and earbuds for about $70. That's certainly a different business plan in a world where a new cellphone can routinely run you more than $1,000.

Pandora is in major trouble in the new trailer for James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash.

SEE ALSO: 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' trailer: James Cameron sets Pandora ablaze in stunning first look

The latest trailer for the third film in the Avatar franchise gives viewers our best look yet at the film's new antagonists: the Na'vi Mangkwan clan, also known as the Ash People. As their leader Varang (Oona Chaplin) explains, the Mangkwan once lived in a forest, just like Avatar's Omatikaya. A volcano reduced their village to ash, and while the Mangkwan called for help from the Pandoran deity Eywa, none came. That has led them to revere fire as "the only pure thing in this world."

Now, the Mangkwan want to spread their fire across all of Pandora. They'll join forces with the sinister Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and the humans who wish to keep stripping Pandora of its resources. How will Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their family protect their home from such a large threat?

The human-Mangkwan alliance isn't the only problem Pandora is facing, though. The trailer reveals that, through some miracle, human Spider (Jack Champion) can now live on Pandora without wearing a mask. If every human could breathe Pandora's air, that would only speed up their destruction of the moon further.

That's a lot of doom and gloom for one trailer, but luckily, every second of it is a visual marvel. New alien creatures! The return of Toruk Makto! Battles in forests, the ocean, and the sky! Feast your eyes on the whole sneak peek above.

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters Dec. 19.

Editor's note: This review of Ghost of Yōtei contains bloody images.

Sony and the PlayStation brand have hit a few rough patches in the last year or so. Aside from the standout success of Helldivers 2, PS5’s high-profile multiplayer projects have stumbled — from the cancellation of Concord to the shelving of The Last of Us live-service game. But single-player titles remain PlayStation’s strong suit, with hits like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Astro Bot, and Death Stranding 2 keeping the console top of mind for gamers.

Ghost of Yōtei continues that trend. As the sequel to Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Tsushima, it’s grander, bolder, and brighter. Its story of revenge and redemption makes it one of the most heartfelt experiences this year; its combat options have been expanded to give players even more bloody ways to kill enemies, and it features one of the best open worlds in recent memory.

The game takes place once again in ancient Japan, specifically Ezo, more than 300 years after the events of Tsushima. Thankfully, Yōtei’s story is completely separate from the first game, so newcomers can jump in without needing to play the original. Yōtei follows a new protagonist, Atsu, who returns home after wandering around doing odd jobs and mercenary work to stay alive. Sixteen years earlier, her family was slaughtered by the Yōtei Six, a group of rogue samurai who strike fear into Ezo’s citizens. Atsu was pinned to a giant tree in the middle of the family home and left for dead as it burned.

Somehow, Atsu survived and has adopted the persona of the onryō, a vengeful spirit from Japanese folklore. Stories of the spirit spread across Ezo, fueling Atsu’s legend and notoriety. Now, she’s out for revenge against the Yōtei Six and their leader, Lord Saitō. It’s a chilling, dark setup that immediately grabs your attention. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. As Atsu meets new allies across Ezo, her tunnel vision begins to widen. While her quest for vengeance is justified, she’s forced to confront the consequences it could have for her newfound family. Atsu’s development feels natural, her growth believable, and the character arc layered with nuance.

Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment Teaching an old wolf new tricks

As opposed to Ghost of Tsushima’s samurai protagonist, Jin, Atsu wields a wider variety of melee weapons and isn’t limited to the katana. Over the course of her journey, she gains access to weapons like the yari (spear), kusarigama (a sickle with a chain and weighted end), and odachi (two-handed sword). This variety keeps the moment-to-moment gameplay from becoming stale. To further encourage players to switch things up, there’s a weakness system in place. For example, the kusarigama is especially effective against enemies that hold shields, as the weighted end can break them and leave them open to attacks from the sickle blade on the other end. 

Atsu taking on enemies in combat. Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Dual katanas, on the other hand, are advantageous against enemies with polearms like the yari, as their blistering speed can overwhelm them. This makes every melee weapon in Yōtei feel useful and purposeful, rather than an afterthought like in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which had very similar weapons but lacked the proper attributes to differentiate them.

And unlike Jin, Atsu is not bound by a samurai honor code and can fight dirty. She has access to plenty of long-range weapons, too, such as firearms like the pistol and rifle. These add an extra fun flair that gives Atsu her own unique identity. I loved breaking enemy stances up close with my weapons, then immediately switching to my pistol to deliver a satisfyingly deadly blow. Time slows to a crawl whenever you pull up the menu to switch weapons, encouraging you to constantly juggle between and execute flashy chains and combos.

The Yōtei Six, a group of rogue samurai who strike fear into Ezo’s citizens. Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

The slowdown also helps you manage the frantic nature of Yōtei’s combat. At any given time, half a dozen or more enemies might be swarming you, and being able to pause briefly to plan which weapons to use makes battles feel fluid and responsive. From the start, Atsu also has access to the Onryō’s Howl, which works similarly to Jin’s Ghost Stance from Ghost of Tsushima. When activated, Onryō’s Howl strikes fear into enemies, causing some of them to retreat. The ability can be used once Atsu slays enough enemies without getting hit herself, which rewards careful play and precision.

Atsu’s quickfire tools are also helpful for getting out of sticky situations. For example, her oni’s flame lights her weapons on fire, adding extra damage to her strikes, while her smoke bombs momentarily confuse enemies, opening them up for assassinations. Despite Atsu not being a samurai herself — and not even a ninja — Yōtei will have you feeling like a deadly combination of both.

A direct approach isn’t the only option. Atsu also has plenty of stealth tools, such as the bow and kunai, to quietly take out enemies. This lets her thin enemy numbers one by one, ensuring she isn’t completely overwhelmed if she’s spotted. With so many combat options available, Yōtei is always fun to play and experiment with.

Stealth is also an option for Atsu, allowing her to sneak up on her enemies. Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

That said, the sheer variety of weapons can make the controls feel unwieldy. More than once, I had to check the controller layout to remember how to access a newly unlocked weapon or tool. While there are different control presets available, there’s unfortunately no way to fully customize the layout to your liking.

Exploring Ezo

Ghost of Yotei has one of the best open-world formats out there, and that’s due to how seamlessly its side quests and exploration unfold. As Atsu travels across Ezo, NPC characters will call out to her, signaling that they have a side quest for her to tackle. It’s worth doing them too, as they reward Atsu with new equipment or money to help her on her journey. The side quests aren’t mindless fetch quests either — each one has a story that expands Yotei’s lore and worldbuilding. For example, one quest had Atsu rescuing an imprisoned gambler who maintained a winning streak against Saitō’s lackeys, showing not only their lack of morals but their pettiness, too.

In many role-playing games like Ghost of Yōtei, experience points are usually rewarded for defeating enemies — but that’s not the case here. To actually make Atsu stronger, you’ll need to find Altars of Reflection. Praying at these altars grants a skill point that can be spent to upgrade one of her abilities. She has several skill trees, such as the Melee one, where she can learn new weapon attacks beyond simple strikes. Investing in the Onryō skill tree, meanwhile, allows her to assassinate multiple enemies in succession instead of just one. This system lets you tailor Atsu to your playstyle, which makes her increasingly fun to play with. Tying ability upgrades to Altars of Reflection also incentivizes exploring Ezo, rather than just going straight to the next story quest.

The skill tree in Ghost of Yōtei. Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Open-world games can often feel like exhausting checklists of activities, and Yōtei fits that mold to a degree. But the developers have made the experience as smooth and immersive as possible. Instead of a direct waypoint pointing you to your next objective, there’s a gust of wind that shows you the direction of it instead. If you’re galloping on your horse across Ezo, sometimes a bird will fly near you, and following it leads you to an activity that can increase your parameters. The hot springs increase Atsu’s max HP, while a bamboo cutting mini-game increases her max Spirit. Sure, these are typical open-world activities, but they’re so naturally integrated into the game’s flow that it feels rewarding to stop, check them out, and enjoy the scenic route.

Ghost of Yōtei’s equipment upgrade system is straightforward: collect a set number of materials dropped by enemies to strengthen your weapons. It’s a simple but effective approach that keeps upgrades from feeling like a chore. That said, spotting materials can be surprisingly tricky. Fallen enemies drop items that sparkle, but it’s hard to notice unless you walk right up to their bodies and wait for the prompt to appear.

I was hoping there would be a way to modify this, but there isn’t. Ghost of Yōtei’s accessibility options are a bit disappointing compared to the ones found in other PlayStation first-party titles. For example, The Last of Us games often include a high-contrast mode, which is immensely helpful in spotting pickups as the colors more clearly differentiate what’s interactable compared to the environment. Options like that are absent in Ghost of Yōtei, though the overall suite of accessibility options is still plentiful, with features such as increasing the subtitle font or the size of the guiding wind.

Ghost of Yōtei’s art direction and sound design are superb. The menus are styled with classic Japanese brush strokes, and flipping through them triggers sound effects reminiscent of traditional Japanese wooden instruments. It lends the game a sense of cultural authenticity, despite being historical fiction. The open-world environments are equally gorgeous — from sprawling grasslands to frozen tundras — and look as realistic as games can get.

Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment Is Ghost of Yōtei worth it?

Ghost of Yōtei is an amazing sequel to one of PlayStation’s most impressive PS4-era games. It improves on its predecessor in virtually every way and is a testament to how much of a powerhouse the PS5 is. Loading times are blazingly fast, and performance is nearly flawless — with the exception that, when jumping into a corner, Atsu’s character model can get stuck in the middle of the jumping animation.

This year is stacked with Japanese games featuring ninjas and samurai, including Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, and the aforementioned Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The upcoming Ninja Gaiden 4, which releases next month, is also highly anticipated. But Ghost of Yotei is on a whole other level, and I can confidently say that it’s one of the best games of the year.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment Ghost of Yotei for Playstation 5 $69 at Amazon
Pre-order Here Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut for Playstation 5 $49.99 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal

There's a new OnePlus flagship on the way, and it's got a big leg up over the competition.

On Thursday morning, OnePlus confirmed that the OnePlus 15 is officially on the way, and offered basically only one concrete detail for us to work with: It runs on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile chipset. According to Qualcomm, it will be the first phone in North America, and one of the first in the world, with this chipset. That puts it ahead of the competition from Google and Samsung, at least as it pertains to cutting-edge hardware.

SEE ALSO: New OnePlus flagship phone revealed on Weibo

Aside from that, OnePlus said we'd learn more about the phone "over the coming weeks."

We still don't have any official photos of the device yet, but it was teased earlier this week on Chinese social media. In a photo shared on Weibo, you can see that it has a new square camera bump on the back (as opposed to the circular one on the OnePlus 13), but we'll have to wait to find out more.

OnePlus flagships tend to offer pretty serious value at whatever price they end up settling on, so if you're in need of a new smartphone, maybe keep an eye on this.

TL;DR: Pakistan vs. Bangladesh in the 2025 Asia Cup is available to live stream for free on Tamasha. Access this free streaming service from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

We're only a couple of games away from the 2025 Asia Cup final. India have already booked their place in the showpiece event, but which team will join them? Pakistan take on Bangladesh in their final Super Four fixture — it's winner takes all in this massive matchup.

If you want to watch Pakistan vs. Bangladesh in the 2025 Asia Cup for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Pakistan vs. Bangladesh?

Pakistan vs. Bangladesh in the 2025 Asia Cup starts at 10:30 a.m. ET on Sept. 25. This game takes place at the Dubai International Stadium.

How to watch Pakistan vs. Bangladesh for free

Pakistan vs. Bangladesh in the 2025 Asia Cup is available to live stream for free on Tamasha.

Tamasha is geo-restricted to Pakistan, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Pakistan, meaning you can unblock Tamasha from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Pakistan vs. Bangladesh in the 2025 Asia Cup for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like 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 Pakistan

4. Visit Tamasha

5. Live stream Pakistan vs. Bangladesh for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By taking advantage of these offers, you can watch the 2025 Asia Cup without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you plenty of time to watch the tournament for free.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming services from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live streaming is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for Tamasha?

ExpressVPN is the top choice for live streaming on free sites like Tamasha, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Pakistan

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also 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 $12.95 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2025 Asia Cup for free with ExpressVPN.

Over the past 20 years, the mockumentary format has become synonymous with the sitcom. From the office to parks and rec to modern family to Abbott Elementary, some of the most popular sitcoms have have been mockumentaries. What is it about this genre that attracts people like camera crews to paper companies?

One of the first mainstream mockumentaries is F for Fake, by Orson Wells where he documents the career of Elmyr de Hory a professional art forger, a real person. So it was a mostly fake documentary about a real person forcing the audience to consider for themselves what is truth and what is a lie, and whether it matters. But is every good mockumentary this meta? No.

So we set out to determine what makes a great mockumentary.

"America-First Dating."

These words are plastered on top of a "dating application" website for conservative OnlyFans model Anya Lacey.

19-year-old Lacey, who also has 1.3 million followers on Instagram and over 680,000 on TikTok, isn't afraid to call out her seemingly contradictory existence: She posts nude photos online, but she also wants to be a tradwife — a woman, typically married with children, who adheres to traditional feminine gender roles of domestic labor and subservience to her husband.

SEE ALSO: The OnlyFans creator mansion that's dividing the internet

"You're a tradwife and post [cat emoji] pictures," one of her videos is captioned. "You're a Christian and do Ohh Eff [OnlyFans]."

But to Lacey, doing OnlyFans doesn't mean she's not "traditional."

"It's a new time," Lacey told Mashable in an interview. "We all have phones, we all have social media. And if you can be traditional and at the same time make an income off of showing it to the world and promoting it to the world, all the better to you."

Now, the OnlyFans creator wants a partner husband. Lacey launched her Date Anya last week, and already the site has had over 30,000 visitors and 2,100 completed questionnaires from people who want to date her. Mashable spoke with Lacey about her dating site and her politics at a time when Republicans want to erase porn on the internet.

How Anya Lacey started her OnlyFans

Last year, Lacey started gaining a following on TikTok and hosted TikTok Lives. She'd get DMs about whether she had an OnlyFans, and she started seriously considering it.

"I was like, 'What if I really did this, and not just for funsies, but actually as a business strategy," she told Mashable. "I decided, why not give it a shot?"

She started posting nude photos on OnlyFans in addition to waitressing, but quit waitressing at the end of 2024. She also said she's had other odd jobs, like sales and delivering pizzas.

"I put all my effort into this," Lacey said of her OnlyFans and social media presence. When women come to her for advice on how to do the same, she says, "Unless you're OK with your family, your future children, your grandparents, seeing every part of you — and I mean, every part of you — don't do it."

"When I started, I said, 'I am OK with all that," said Lacey, who lives in Florida. "I'm OK with the consequences that come with that. I'm OK with the workload that comes with that.'"

Lacey said she's always been a hard worker no matter what the job is. Even if someone came to her and offered a billion dollars, she'd still work.

So, why does she want to be a tradwife?

The OnlyFans tradwife

Lacey describes herself as a "red-blooded conservative," and to her, conservative means believing in family, tradition, and "what's right and standing up for it to the fullest." In addition to finding a husband, she also wants to give men and women dating tips, including "Exclusivity before intimacy. Protect your future children."

On the Date Anya site, some of her non-negotiables include monogamy before intimacy, not splitting the bill on a first date, and not having a partner whose life is "dominated by porn." 

But Lacey said that out of all the jobs she's had, nothing has brought her the security and opportunity that OnlyFans has — and she has no plans of stopping. "There's definitely an end date that God has a date for," she said, but she doesn't. 

As a Christian with what she called Judeo-Christian principles, Lacey said there's a "moral reckoning" inside her about doing OnlyFans.

"We all sin to a certain extent, and I think at the end of the day, if I can provide…my future children with the absolute best life possible, and making sure that my husband has that as well, I'm willing to make this temporary sacrifice for this time in order to get those things in the end," she said, "especially when I know on the inside that I do believe in God and I try to live the rest of my life in the most Christian, [God-]fearing way."

She also believes one can be "traditional" in terms of adhering to gender roles, without being conservative.

"There's a lot that goes into it besides just baking sourdough," she said, like having children and listening to your husband even when it's inconvenient. 

When your party wants to ban your job

Lacey recognizes that some fellow conservatives want to ban porn, but she said a lot of people voting for that are the biggest customers. "I think we all know this to a certain extent," she said. "But as I said, we're all sinners."

She believes Christian, God-fearing men in the House and Senate watch pornography, and while they grandstand, porn bans won't happen due to the First Amendment. 

Some Republican lawmakers are trying to make it happen, however. Project 2025, the far-right wishlist for President Trump's second term, calls for an outright porn ban and imprisoning its creators. Since Trump's inauguration in January, Republicans have introduced several bills to do just that: Oklahoma's porn ban, Michigan's porn ban (and ban on erotic ASMR and VPNs…), and an interstate bill to change the definition of obscenity, which experts told Mashable would basically ban porn as well.

These bills have yet to gain momentum to be passed and enacted, but it's not just explicit bans that impact the porn industry. For years, age-verification bills — which require proof of age like a facial recognition scan or government ID — have been enacted in states across the country to access adult content sites. While free speech experts and an initial NYU study suggested that these bills don't work for their intended purpose (to stop minors from viewing this content), they persist. 

Last year, Project 2025 co-writer and director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, reportedly said in a secret recording that these bills would serve to ban porn through the "back door."

Experts have told Mashable that this porn censorship has a high likelihood of creeping into "safe for work" corners of the internet, as it already has in the UK, with non-pornographic entities like video games and Spotify requiring proof of age.

Lacey believes that even if something is immoral doesn't mean it should be illegal.

"Honestly, in my heart of hearts, there is a part of me that believes that pornography is wrong, but there [are] a lot of things that I think are morally wrong but should not be legally wrong," like drinking and smoking, she said.

It doesn't seem that many Republican politicians share this view publicly, but for now, Lacey can still go after her dream of being a tradwife who does OnlyFans.

SAVE OVER $7: As of Sept. 25, the Pokémon TCG White Flare Binder Collection is $46.94 at TCGplayer, compared to $53.99 at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company White Flare Binder Collection $46.94 at TCGplayer
$53.99 Save $7.05 Get Deal

Looking to get in on the Black Bolt and White Flare train as the hype dies down in the wake of Mega Evolution? Well this White Flare Binder Collection is $46.94 at TCGplayer, which is on the money in terms of market value and $7.05 cheaper than Amazon's price. Perfect, right?

White Flare sealed product is normally the cheaper option of the dual Unovan-themed end point of the Scarlet and Violet era, despite it having stunning Black White Rares, Illustration Rares, Secret Art Rares and Pokéball / Masterball rares.

SEE ALSO: Where to buy Pokémon cards in 2025 — avoid overpaying or missing out on new sets

It's simple, trainers want the Victini ex and Zekrom ex Black White rares from Black Bolt more than Reshiram ex and Victini ex from White Flare by a big margin, more on that below. But that doesn't mean White Flare is not the lesser half of an amazing expansion, with it's top chase cards worth nearly $400 at the moment and climbing.

Most valuable Black Bolt and White Flare Pokémon cards Credit: Mashable Photo Composite / The Pokémon Company

It's clear from the top chase cards from Black Bolt and White Flare that the Scarlet and Violet era is one of the most popular yet. Some of these cards are the most valuable amongst the other expansions, but buying them separately will likely save you money over buying endless boosters and hoping for the best.

Here's the top chase cards in Black Bolt and White Flare alongside their secondary market values and where to buy them right now:

1. Victini – 171/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $425
   Market price: $455.32
   Most recent sale: $400

2. Victini – 172/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $395
   Market price: $422.12
   Most recent sale: $420

3. Zekrom ex – 172/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $401.63
   Market price: $388.18
   Most recent sale: $390

4. Reshiram ex – 173/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $349
   Market price: $373.68
   Most recent sale: $385

5. Zekrom ex – 166/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $214.99
   Market price: $212.56
   Most recent sale: $215

6. Reshiram ex – 166/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $194
   Market price: $192.33
   Most recent sale: $179.99

Out of all the phones in Xiaomi’s lineup, I like the “T Pro” series the most. It’s not the company’s flagship – this accolade is reserved for the typically very powerful but bulky “Ultra” variant – but an in-betweener which offers great performance for a reasonable price.

With the Xiaomi 15T Pro, which follows last year’s Xiaomi 14T Pro, the company did exactly what was expected: It upgraded the phone in several key ways while keeping the price at the same level.

Before I continue with the review, I’d like to highlight just how odd a year this will be for Xiaomi’s lineup. The Xiaomi 15T Pro was just launched. But the company’s President of mobile phones Lu Weibing announced that the company will also launch the Xiaomi 17 series this month.

You read that right, the Xiaomi 17 series, which follows the Xiaomi 15 series, meaning that the Xiaomi 16 series will just get skipped (the new name being an obvious nod to Apple’s iPhone 17). And that’s on top of the company cramming in two important phone launches so close to one another.

Fortunately, it’s not necessary to sweat any of these details if you’re in the market for an affordable phone with flagship-level performance, because that’s exactly what the Xiaomi 15T Pro is. With that out of the way, let’s continue with the review.

Xiaomi 15T Pro: Price and specs The triple rear camera now has 5x optical zoom. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Xiaomi 15T Pro is a straightforward evolution of its predecessor, the 14T Pro. It looks similar, but has a larger display, more advanced camera, more powerful chip inside, and a larger battery. Xiaomi basically upgraded the phone in every way that matters. Here’s a quick overview of the specs.

• 6.83-inch AMOLED display with a 44Hz refresh rate

• 50/50/12-megapixel triple rear camera with 5x optical zoom

• MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ chip

• 12GB of RAM

• 256GB/512GB/1TB storage

• 5,500mAh battery with 90W wired and 50W wireless fast charging

Xiaomi 15T Pro: Design and display

Xiaomi didn’t take any chances with the design: It’s still a slab of glass with a punch-hole selfie camera on the front, and a simple polished aluminum surface on the back, with a large camera bump with four black circles which houses three cameras and some sensors. That’s pretty much what the last model looked like, though the unit that XIaomi sent me has a nice, chocolatey Mocha Gold color which makes the phone look fancy.

It's not vastly different from previous model, but it does look and feel nice. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The display, however, has grown in size. It now measures 6.83 inches (roughly the same as Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max) with very thin bezels on the side. It’s bright, beautiful, and very smooth, thanks to the adaptive 144Hz refresh rate. The display is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 7i, which should make it quite durable, and, as is customary for Xiaomi and most other Chinese phone makers, it comes with a pre-applied screen protection.

Oh, and there are two other colors on offer: Black, and Gray. Booooring. Get the chocolate one.

Xiaomi 15T Pro: Performance and AI Battery life is great, and charging is very fast. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

MediaTek’s Dimensity chipsets aren’t what most people have in mind when they think about top mobile chips. This is wrong. The chip inside this phone, the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+, is roughly as powerful as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for most tasks, only lagging slightly in GPU performance. Here, it’s coupled with 12GB of RAM, making my day-to-day usage very smooth.

I played a few games of PUBG, and I never noticed any frame rate drops, even when I maxed out the settings. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but this phone is powerful enough for my needs.

On the AI side, you get Google’s Gemini, a familiar option that’ll do just fine for most folks. You can invoke it with a long press of the power button on the side or by saying “Hey Google,” and immediately start annoying your friends by asking the AI about any topic that comes up in conversation.

Underneath Xiaomi's HyperOS skin you get Android 15, which is annoying, given that Android 16 has been available since June. When buying a new phone, I'd prefer to have the latest version of the underlying OS beneath, but it just wasn't meant to be on this one.

Oh, and also annoyingly, Xiaomi still packs its phones with pre-installed third-party apps. For example, I don't know what WPS Office is, and I'd rather chose my own office suite instead of having this thing already installed on a brand new phone.

Xiaomi 15T Pro: Cameras

Xiaomi's Leica branded camera system is the best when you use the main, 50-megapixel camera. The photos are crisp and detailed in daylight; come dusk, and they get a little fuzzy but they're still surprisingly colorful. If you go wide, however, the quality decreases significantly.

This photo looks brighter and more colorful than it should have, given how dark it really was. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

I was able to use the Xiaomi 15T Pro unit at the same time as Apple's new iPhones, and it was interesting to see whether the more affordable Xiaomi can hang in there with the most powerful Apple phone, the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Go wide, and you'll lose on the details. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The answer is: Sometimes yes, mostly no. The iPhone had better wide shots, sharper night shots, less artificial-looking macro shots. The Xiaomi's telephoto camera hangs in there pretty well, though, especially at 2x magnification.

Left: Xiaomi 15T Pro Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable Right: Xiaomi 15T Pro I've gotten the best results with 2x zoom, but the Leica telephoto camera on this phone goes to 5x optical. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Selfies are pretty great. The 32-megapixel front camera produces detailed, crisp shots, but you'll get the best results in well lit conditions.

I've consistently gotten very detailed selfies with accurate colors. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable Xiaomi 15T Pro: Battery life

On paper, the Xiaomi 15T Pro has a roughly 10 percent bigger battery than the last year’s model. I’ve given it a few very intense days, taking photos, gaming, and streaming videos for hours on end, and it held up amazingly well. This phone will easily last two days between charges.

Charging, both wired and wireless, is pretty fast; I was able to charge the Xiaomi 15T Pro from near-zero to full charge in about 45 minutes, though you'll need a fast charger for that.

Is the Xiaomi 15T Pro worth it? It's a great phone, but it competes against so many new models. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Xiaomi’s 15T Pro strikes me as a no-nonsense purchase. It’s affordable while hitting the sweet spots in almost every way that matters, be it battery life, display quality, or camera performance. In Mocha Gold it actually looks fancy, too. You do have to get used to Xiaomi’s UI and settings (something I haven’t had too many problems with for years now), and it probably isn’t the best choice for hardcore gamers.

Xiaomi's biggest problem here is the fact that the company is also launching an entirely new lineup of Xiaomi 17 phones, making Xiaomi 15T sound obsolete right from the get go. A different launch timing would benefit this model more.

The Xiaomi 15T Pro starts at €799 ($938) in Europe. There's also a cheaper variant, the Xiaomi 15T, that has a less powerful chip, slower charging, and lacks 5x zoom; that one starts at €649 ($762). You can get them at Xiaomi's online store.