Samsung Galaxy Phones Have a Secret Wifi Menu Packed With Useful Options

Having spent more than two decades writing about gadgets and tech in general, it's not often that I come across a feature that I've never seen or heard of before—but Samsung has surprised me. It turns out the device maker has hidden a rather useful wifi menu in its One UI software that gives you a whole bunch of useful options. It's definitely new to me, and it might be new to you, too.

I'm indebted to the fine folks at Android Authority for spotting it; they, in turn, discovered it via a thread on Reddit, which embedded a TikTok video.The feature is called Connectivity Labs, and it seems to have been added at some point in 2023. You'll find it under the Intelligent Wi-Fi settings that Samsung makes available for the networks you connect to.

How to enable Connectivity Labs

Here's how to enable it: Open Settings on your Galaxy phone, then tap Connections > Wi-Fi. Tap the three dots up in the top right corner, then choose Intelligent Wi-Fi. You'll see some handy options here for switching wifi networks, connecting to hotspots, detecting suspicious networks, and prioritizing real time data.

The Connectivity Labs screen is packed with options. Credit: Lifehacker

To find the hidden menu, you need to tap Intelligent Wi-Fi at the bottom of the screen seven times to enable Connectivity Labs (when you get close, you'll see a message telling you that the feature is about to be enabled). That then gives you an extra Connectivity Labs menu option on this screen. The menu button describes the feature as being "for internal test purposes."

What you can do with Connectivity Labs

Tab Connectivity Labs and you'll first see a stack of statistics about your phone's wifi connection over the last week, including how much data you've used, how much time you've been connected, and even which wifi bands and standards you've been using (this can help you make sure you're getting full use of your new Wi-Fi 7 tri-band router).

Further down you'll find a range of options and toggle switches. One setting of note is Switching to mobile data faster, which should mean your phone is quicker to ditch a shaky wifi network for cellular data, and may be preferable if you've got an unlimited data plan for your handset.

Then there's Auto reconnect to carrier Wi-Fi, which apparently fully automates the process of connecting to public wifi spots provided by your carrier. Whether you want this to happen or not is really going to be down to personal preference and how you want your phone to work, but it's helpful to have the option.

Tap Customize Wi-Fi list settings and you're able to make improvements to the list of available wifi networks you see on your phone. You can change the signal strength threshold that determines whether or not a wifi network is shown as available, for example, and set up more filters to control which networks you see (maybe you only want to see secured, 5 GHz networks, for example).

You can check the strength of the wifi around your home. Credit: Lifehacker

Choose Wi-Fi developer options for even more stats, including a Nearby Wi-Fi information screen that ranks the networks around you based on the quality of their signal strength, from worst to best. This can be useful for troubleshooting problems and for making sure devices are connected to the network with the best signal.

Speaking of checking signal strength, if you open the Home Wi-Fi inspection option from the Connectivity Labs page, you get taken step by step through the process of seeing how good the wifi is at various points around your home. You pick the network you want to analyze, then wander around with your phone to check its strength at various points. Again, it's handy for figuring out why your laptop might be losing connection in the bedroom, or finding the best spot to install your new security camera.

Taken together, all of the tools in Connectivity Labs are so useful, it's something of a surprise that Samsung has placed them in a hidden menu you can't see by default. I'mglad to have discovered it.

I Tried Five VR Meditation Apps, and One Was Clearly the Best

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There are a surprising number of meditation apps available in virtual reality, and I am their target demographic. I want to make progress down the Noble Eightfold Path, and/or experience the reduction in stress and other benefits that come from meditation. On the other hand, I find meditation tedious, and I think I can get the same relaxation benefits from sitting in a dark room and listening to Hawkwind anyway. But maybe VR is the answer? I checked out a bunch of VR meditation apps to see whether they might be helpful, and rated each on a scale from 1 (wandering ego trapped in the prison of the self) to 5 (liberation from the cycle of suffering and rebirth).

First, an expert weighs in

I know a lot about VR, but less about meditation, so I talked it out with Shawna Thibodeau, a meditation teacher and spiritual mentor. She explained that there are different schools of meditation, and her description of "concentrative meditation" sounds a lot like what the VR experiences I've tried are going for. "With concentrative meditation, we're focusing our attention on what's called an anchor, like the breath," Thibodeau said. "When you focus your attention on something other than your thoughts, you start to gain awareness into your thoughts. And then, with every time that you come back to your anchor, you're training your mind to come into the present moment."

But there's a strong obstacle between the VR meditation applications I've seen and most traditional forms of meditation: visuals. If you're starting transcendental meditation, say, step 2 (right after "sit in a comfortable position") is "close your eyes." But Reality doesn't Virtual with your eyes closed. According to Thibodeau, visualization/manifestation meditations might be better suited to the virtual world:

"What we're doing there is shifting the state of energy that we're sitting in...the state of energy we're sitting in actually influences reality," Thibodeau explained. "If you're sitting in a state of abundance or expansion, that energy will start to influence your outer reality, and you can actually see changes in your outer world. Synchronicities can come to you, new opportunities, and your life can actually start to shift in a really interesting and kind of magical way."

I asked Thibodeau to visualize a VR meditation app that used that kind of practice, and she said: "There'd have to be a visual that basically helps you get into that elevated state, right? So I don't know, maybe they could show you like winning the lottery, and then it prompts you to be like, 'how does this make you feel? Get into that state.'"

Leaving aside the efficacy of meditating for manifestation, it does seem better suited to the virtual world than traditional meditation, but it also seems like virtual reality (and video games) already put people in a state where they are fully engrossed in an experience they presumably want to manifest: most video games are power fantasies. Whether that power manifests in the real world is a bigger question.

Tripp

Tripp might be the most well-known of the relaxation/meditation platforms in VR. It encompasses a ton of experiences designed to get users to practice mindfulness, improve focus, or enter a state of “calm,” There are guided meditations, visual breathing trainers, psychedelic “focus journeys,” and trippy abstract visuals that pulse and swirl, all wrapped in a new-age-meets-techbro aesthetic that's heavy on implied drugs. Some of the experiences are directly inspired by psychedelic experiences—there's a series called "Machine Elves" that is clearly based on DMT visuals, and the app itself nods toward that vibe in its marketing, with references to “inner space,” “expanded states,” and “digital psychedelics.” A lot of people love Tripp, but it felt overwhelming to me. The sessions were slick, but it left me “zen-adjacent” at best. It's meant to be calming, but it amplified my inner critic. It's like taking drugs without feeling like you're taking drugs, if that makes sense. It's pricey too: Monthly subscriptions are $9.99.

Best for: psychedelic seekers who are afraid to drop acid

Enlighten-o-meter score: 2.5 out of 5

Meditate

Credit: Stephen Johnson - Guided Meditation VR

In contrast to Tripp and in keeping with its no-nonsense title, Meditate doesn't offer a ton of gimmicks. It features five 10-minute "experiences" designed to deliver mental clarity, calm the mind, and "renew your body through healing sound frequencies." In practice, this involves a soothing voice telling you to chill and just sit there, droning "music" (I really can't stand the music that is synonymous with spiritually colored relaxation) and graphics of caves, volcanoes, and other natural things that look like they're out of Minecraft. It's relaxing, I guess, but mostly because "relaxing" and "boring" are practically roommates. But, hey, it's only $1.99, so you can try it out fairly cheaply.

Best for: budget-conscious newbs

Enlighten-o-meter score: 2 out of 5

Liminal

Liminal is way more ambitious than Meditate and features graphics that are fully Xbox360-level. It offers a ton of different interactive and non-interactive VR "experiences" grouped into rough categories. It seems like "awe" and "energy" are the most popular and feature some cool tech demos/mini-games, but I was interested in "calm," where the meditative mini-games are. The ones I tried weren't particularly groundbreaking. One was supposed to hypnotize me, but didn't. The other featured that droney "spiritual" music and a reverb-drenched woman's voice telling me to breathe more slowly while I looked at digital birds.

Best for: gamers who want to kind of relax

Enlighten-o-meter score: 3 out of 5 (but mostly for the non-meditation experiences)

Flowborne VR - Biofeedback Breathing Meditation

If you've ever tried to meditate and didn't know if you were breathing from your belly or not, this app will give you the answer! You "play" Flowborne VR by resting a controller on your gut. It tracks how far your belly expands and contracts as you breathe. Deeper breaths from the diaphragm make you move faster through semi-abstract landscapes. In other words, this app gives you a way to track how well you're breathing, and a reason to concentrate on it. Finally I can be the best at breathing! Personally, I don't like thinking about my breathing because it feels like another damn thing i have to worry about, but if breathwork is your thing, and you want to get better at it, this app would do it.

Best for: breathwork nerds

Enlighten-o-meter score: 3 out of 5

Pillow

Pillow doesn't make lofty claims about consciousness-raising, mindfulness, or serenity, but I found it to be a more calming and meaningful experience than any other meditation app I tried. Pillow is played lying on your back in bed, already a more relaxing experience than other apps. Among its five mini-games (called "dreams") is "the Meditator," the best meditation app I tried overall. It uses the same controller-as-breath-monitor as Flowborne VR, but the soundtrack features chill little indie loops instead of weird drones. So much better. Another standout from Pillow: "The Fisherman," an experience that lets you reel in virtual fish from your ceiling. Each fish contains the recorded voice of another user of Pillow answering a question like "What would you most like to do in your life?" or "What moment would you like to relive?" I found that connecting with the thoughts of a fellow human while drifting off to sleep to be way more meaningful/spiritual than being told to stare at outdated graphics and imagine connectedness. It's show, instead of tell, and $9.99 is a small price to pay for such a strangely beautiful experience.

Best for: chill weirdos and insomniacs

Enlighten-o-meter score: 4 out of 5

Here’s Who Needs Android’s New Advanced Security Protection (and Who Probably Doesn’t)

Android users got a whole host of security and privacy upgrades with the release of Android 16, including expanded in-call scam protection, live threat detection for malicious apps, and more. These features are well worth enabling, as they'll help secure your data and your device against theft, malware, and phishing attacks. Google also extended its Advanced Protection Program to include stricter device-level features aimed at reducing the risk of compromise.

Advanced Protection offers the most robust all-around security available on Android under a single setting—an incredibly useful tool for journalists, activists, and anyone with access to sensitive data that could be targeted by threat actors. Those who are especially privacy- and security-minded may also want to enable Advanced Protection, while the average user should weigh how this feature fits with their security needs.

How Advanced Protection works on Android 16

Advanced Protection makes strong security the default on your Android 16 device by enabling certain features and disabling the ability to turn off others. It also includes new protections, like automatically rebooting your device if it remains locked for 72 hours, encrypting your data behind biometrics or your PIN. Additionally, your device won't be able to automatically reconnect to unsecured wifi networks, and USB access will be blocked when your phone is locked.

Advanced Protect automatically enables security features like theft detection, HTTPS on Chrome for all website connections, and scam and spam protection in Messages. All of these can be turned on individually in your device settings, but Advanced Protection does so in one fell swoop. It will also prevent you from turning off Google Play Protect and Android Safe Browsing, which keep you from downloading malicious apps and accessing malicious websites on your device.

The potential downsides of Advanced Protection include limits on side-loading apps—you'll only be able to download from approved sources like the Google Play Store—and the likelihood that some websites will break thanks to the disabling of the JavaScript optimizer on Chrome. (Note that you should be extremely wary of downloading apps from unofficial sources anyway, as these can be vectors for spreading malware.)

Advanced Protection is comparable to Apple's Lockdown Mode for iOS, which blocks certain app and web features as well as setting changes that could be used to spread malware. Even Apple has said that Lockdown Mode is "an extreme, optional protection" aimed at high-risk users who may be personally targeted by cyberattacks, not meant for the average person.

So, should you use Advanced Protection? As the folks over at the Electronic Frontier Foundation write, "there's no harm in giving it a try." It's easy to enable and disable, and you may not notice any impact on your device (while getting the benefit of stronger security measures running in the background). You can always turn it off if it does restrict your day-to-day activities, knowing that it's probably overkill for some users. And you can still have Google Play Protect enabled along with other individual Android 16 security features and follow best practices for protecting your device from cyber threats.

How to enable Advanced Protection

To turn Advanced Protection on for your Android 16 device, open your Settings app and go to Security & privacy > Advanced Protection. Flip the toggle next to Device protection and tap Turn on. You'll then have to restart your device for Advanced Protection to activate and run.

Threads Is Getting Its Own Separate Hidden Words Settings

Threads users will soon have more control over what shows up (or doesn't) in their feeds. According to a Threads post from Instagram head Adam Mosseri, an update to the platform's Hidden Words feature will allow users to customize which content is filtered out separate from their preferences on Instagram.

Hidden Words itself isn't new: Threads users can already mute words, phrases, and emojis from their feeds and automatically filter out comments containing offensive language. However, this was a global setting that applied to both Threads and Instagram, so you weren't able to have separate lists of content to hide or customize those filters on Threads.

Threads is also testing a "mark spoiler" content label to hide spoilers in posts—unless a user taps to reveal the text or image—as well as DMs. It also isn't the only platform to increase user control over what content they see: TikTok recently expanded its settings that allow users to better personalize their For You feeds, including AI-powered keyword filtering.

How to customize Hidden Words on Threads

To edit Hidden Words, open the Threads app, tap your profile icon in the bottom navigation bar, then open the Settings menu from the top-right corner. Go to Content preferences > Hidden Words. You can toggle Hide common offensive words in replies off or on, which will move replies to a hidden section under your posts (anyone can still tap to show them).

Under that, you can tap + New filter to hide posts with certain words, phrases, or emojis from your feed as well as replies containing filtered content. Threads has new options to customize filters, such as hiding posts shared by anyone or only profiles you don't follow as well a 30-day "snooze" for filtered content you don't want to permanently hide. Related words can be batched under a single custom filter (spider and spiders, for example).

Note that the new feature may not be available on your device just yet, so keep an eye out for app updates.

You Can Set Price Alerts for Prime Day so You Don’t Overspend

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If you're an impulse buyer, you know that shopping events like Amazon's upcoming Prime Day can be bad. Even though we know Amazon is using all kinds of manipulation techniques to get us to buy things we don’t need, it still works, so this year, try setting your own prices and only choosing things you already want to buy before the big Prime Day sale. (It's July 8 through July 11 this year, in case you need to prepare yourself.)

How to “set your own prices” on Amazon

You can’t make Amazon lower its prices at your whim, but you can set up an alert system to let you know if anything you want to buy dips in price enough for it to make sense for you to purchase it. Below is a step-by-step guide to setting your own personal maximum price for any item sold by Amazon:

• Identify the items you’d like to purchase and throw them into your Amazon wishlist. Make sure your wishlist is set to “public.”

• Visit the Amazon price-tracking website CamelCamelCamel and make a free account. There are other price-tracking apps and websites that, more or less, do the same thing—Slick Deals, Honey, Keepa, etc.—so check out this overview of the best price-tracking tools if you want to compare them. Spoiler alert, though: CamelCamelCamel wins.

• Click “import wishlist.” (You’ll have to copy and paste the URL from your Amazon wishlist.)

• Once you’ve done that, CamelCamelCamel lets you add specific maximum prices (or percentage drops) for everything in your wishlist. Enter the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each item in your list, and then you can tell it to send you an email when any item’s price drops to your set spending limit.

• Ignore all the Prime Big Deal Days hype and wait for the email alert letting you know that your chosen items have become cheap enough for you to buy.

• Spend the day feeling smug and agree with yourself that you actually are the smartest person alive. Don’t even look at Amazon’s website. Seriously. Well, maybe just for a second. This time you’ll have the willpower to avoid buying another chocolate fountain or a self-stirring mug with “SELF STIRRING MUG” written on the side, right? Right?

More ideas for imposing limits on your spending

If you want to take tech-based shopping guardrails beyond the basic "time to buy" alert system described above, here are some ideas.

• Block ads: If you're the type of person who responds to online ads, you can block a ton of them with a simple tool or app. Here's our overview of the best ad-blocking software.

• Track your expenses: Whether you do it with pencil and paper or use an app, seeing how much you're spending can be a powerful motivation to be more thrifty. Budgeting over time can even give you a bit of a surplus, so you can splurge when Prime Day rolls around if you want to.

• Save up for something: Saving up for something in the future—a vacation, an electric surfboard, whatever—can make it easier to resist spending now.

• Hit your internal pause button: If you can make a habit of waiting a day or two between thinking "I want those sunglasses" and entering your credit card numbers, you may decide your old sunglasses are just fine.

• Set up a one-in-one-out system: For everything you buy or acquire, get rid of a similar item (or more!) to make room for it. Knowing something has to go if you hit "buy now" can stop you from making an impulse buy, and following this rule keeps your home less cluttered. Bonus points if you resell an item before getting a similar one. Make money before spending money, and save space while you're at it.

• Consider professional help: It's normal and common to sometimes have a little difficulty controlling spending, but researchers say about 6% of Americans suffer from compulsive buying disorder which may be part of a larger psychological problem. So if your spending is driving you deep into debt, you're suffering real-world consequences based on your buying habits, or you just feel like shopping might be a problem for you, talk to a professional.

This Hands-Off Method Is the Only Way I'll Ever Cook Bacon

As soon as it became safe for me to cook on the stove unsupervised—say 12 years old?—I began to fry bacon. I’d do my best to stretch out the wobbly strips so they wouldn’t overlap or curl up too much and brace myself for the impact of tiny, sharp, popping oil splatters. I loved the results (chewy, crispy bacon is a compelling reward), but I hated the process and the clean-up that followed. It wasn’t worth it. But instead of giving up on bacon, I changed my approach. Now I oven bake my bacon and it’s the only way I’ll ever do it. 

Why oven-baking your bacon is best

Oven-baking is superior to pan frying because you don’t have to babysit it, the stovetop is available for other cooking, you’re not subject to painful splatters, and cleanup can be a breeze with a simple trick (more on that in a moment). Furthermore, it’s an absolute lifesaver if you’re hosting a large brunch party and you need to cook three pounds of bacon. You aren’t limited to how many slices you can fit in your frying pan. Instead, you can bake as much bacon as you can fit on a large sheet pan. And if your oven has two racks, guess what? You can bake two sheet pans-worth of bacon. 

What oven temperature is best for bacon?

I usually cook my bacon in a 350°F degree oven for about 20 minutes. The timing will change slightly depending on if you’re using thin or thick cut bacon, but that’s my go-to temperature. It’s hot enough to crisp and brown the bacon within a reasonable amount of time to cook the rest of breakfast, but not so hot where you scorch your precious pork before you know it. I’ve always had success at this temperature and I find that it provides a cooking window perfect for catching your bacon at exactly the doneness you like. 

Occasionally, if I’m in a rush, I’ll bump the temperature to 400°F. However, doing this always comes with the understanding that I may burn it. This temperature is fine and it’ll shave five to eight minutes from your overall bake time, but if I’m in a rush then my mind is probably in 10 places at once and not on my bacon. I have scorched my meat at this temperature before. If you need bacon fast, try 400°F—but set a timer.

How to bake the best batch of bacon

The steps are simple, and this hands-off method allows you to use the stove top for important business, like pancakes and eggs. 

1. Line the baking sheet

As much as I dislike single-use aluminum foil, this is key for cleanup. Pick a medium to small baking sheet and use a single piece of aluminum foil to line it. Use the lip of the pan to shape the foil so that you have four walls. Even if your sheet pan is bigger, you can still use the edges to shape walls, the foil just won’t be hugging the sides of the pan and that’s fine. The goal is to capture the rendered fat.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

2. Arrange the bacon and bake

Within the foil arena you’ve made, lay out the strips of bacon. It doesn’t matter which direction they go and they can touch side to side, but just make sure they’re flat and not overlapping. If they do overlap then you’ll have some steam pockets and uneven cooking. For crispy bacon, this is a sin. However, if you like chewy, soft bacon then this might be all right for you. 

Put the sheet of bacon in a preheated 350°F oven and leave it be for 18 to 20 minutes, or until you’ve achieved your preferred bacon texture. 

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

3. Easy clean-up

Oven-baked bacon is more evenly cooked and stays flatter compared to pan-fried bacon. In the case of clean-up, baked wins again. Remove the bacon strips from the foil—they should release easily—and put them on some paper towels to blot off excess fat, or let them cool on a wire cooling rack.

Now you have a foil lined baking sheet full of liquid bacon drippings. Yes, you could just lift this up and toss it in the trash, but you might be risking some fat dribble escaping onto the floor or into the trash. Instead, I toss the entire sheet tray into the fridge or freezer for about five minutes to solidify the fat. Now you can lift the foil, crumple it up, and toss it with zero mess.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Alternatively, save your bacon drippings. The rendered fat you capture is an especially delicious ingredient and you can use later in other meals. Simply run the liquid fat through a fine mesh strainer and into a jar. Here are the best tips on collecting, storing, and using your bacon fat, like using it to grease your waffle maker or flavoring your popcorn with it. Extra bacon fat can be a great flavoring tool in other parts of your breakfast or for adding a bit of smoky flavor to bean dishes, proteins, biscuits, vegetables, and pastas. 

This Microsoft Surface Pro Bundle Is at Its Lowest Price Ever Right Now

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If you're looking to upgrade your everyday computer setup, this Surface Pro bundle on Amazon might actually be worth your attention. For $946.99 (the lowest price it’s hit so far, according to price trackers), you get the latest 12-inch Surface Pro Copilot+ PC (2025 model) with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage—plus the Surface Pro Keyboard with Slim Pen 2 and a full year of Microsoft 365 Personal. Buying each piece on its own would run you nearly $1,150, so this bundle saves you over $200. More importantly, it saves you the hassle of piecing things together later when you realize your “deal” didn’t include a keyboard or the software you need to get anything done.

Microsoft Surface Pro 12" Copilot+ PC (2025), 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD | Keyboard + Slim Pen 2, Microsoft 365 Personal | 3-in-1 Bundle

$946.99 at Amazon

$1,149.97 Save $202.98

$946.99 at Amazon

$1,149.97 Save $202.98

The Surface Pro itself is a versatile machine that works as a laptop when you need it and a tablet when you don’t. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chip and runs Windows 11 with Microsoft’s Copilot+ features built in, which puts AI-assisted tools front and center for everyday use. If you're curious about where Microsoft is going with AI, this is the machine to try. The 12.3-inch PixelSense display is vibrant, and battery life holds up well for a day of remote work, meetings, or creative tasks. The included keyboard snaps on securely and makes typing feel comfortable, while the Slim Pen 2 works well for note-taking or sketching, and charges while docked in the keyboard, so it’s always ready.

The bonus year of Microsoft 365 Personal adds even more value (you don’t need to budget separately for Office apps or cloud storage), especially if you’re already paying for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneDrive separately. Between that and the improved Copilot features coming to Windows 11, this bundle is basically ready to go out of the box. It won’t be for everyone—if you need heavy-duty gaming or full-on video editing, you’ll want a different machine—but for students, hybrid workers, or anyone who likes the flexibility of a tablet/laptop combo, this is one of the most cost-effective Surface Pro bundles we’ve seen so far.

The 10 Top Generation Z and Alpha Trends of 2025 (so Far)

If you’re older than, let’s say, 28, there’s a decent chance you feel completely baffled by what younger people are doing off and online—I write about youth trends for a living, and I still don't really know; you can't fully know unless you're in it. The culture of 2025 is so fractured, ironic, algorithm-driven, and contradictory, it can feel alien, even fictional to outsiders. But on the other hand, we're all people, and the human spirit persists, even as it's being bent into impossible shapes by machines, greed, and carelessness. To help make some sense of it all—or at least give you a list of things to Google—here’s a snapshot of trends shaping Generations Z and A in the middle of 2025.

AmIAlive Core

Coined by writer Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick, "AmIAlive core" isn't a well-known term among young people, but if there's a single concept that describes how Generations Z differs from previous generations, I thinks it's this. To simplify it: AmIAlive Core posits that young people young people don’t live life, they perform it, so they are subconsciously unsure if they are actually living human beings. Living entirely mediated lives in which "experiences" happen in video games and the outside world is seen through the vertical window of TikTok videos has made it impossible for young people to live authentically, so they play-act life and adopt styles and philosophies based on whether they think is compelling content. A vacation is a chance to pose for exotic instagram pictures. A concert is a chance to whip out your phone instead of dancing. It's bleak, but that's where we are.

The death (and continued life) of TikTok

If there's a shared common space for Generations A and Z, it's the social media platform TikTok, and TikTok has been going through some things. In January 2024, the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" went into effect. It required that ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) either sell the app to a U.S. company or cease operations in the U.S. by January 19, 2025. In response, TikTok briefly went dark in the United States on the deadline date. For young people, the death of TikTok would be like losing a shared universe; a world would die. Some responded by flocking to other social media outlets like RedNote or lashing out in anger at the government. But luckily, nothing happened—yet. President Trump announced a 75-day hold to allow ByteDance to find a buyer. That was extended by 90 days on June 15 via executive order, leaving a platform in limbo: technically alive, but existentially shaky.

AI everything

The merciless cultural takeover that is artificial intelligence is affecting everyone, but no group will feel its impact more than Gen Z and Gen A. They are the first to grow up chatting with AI, learning from it, competing against it, and questioning it in real time. Whatever AI becomes, they’ll inherit it and and help shape it. Artificial intelligence is already being used to cheat at school, spread religion, make jokes about Bigfoot, and create disturbing videos featuring kittens. Meanwhile, a growing contingent of young people are rejecting AI entirely, particularly when it comes to AI art. Prediction: Serious resistance against AI will grow among younger people.

The 80/20 Rule and the gender wars

Social and cultural conflict over gender roles is definitely not new, but Generations Z and A are adding a unique spin to the morass, most visibly with the 80/20 Rule. Put simply, the 80/20 rule is an axiom that states 80% of women are attracted to only 20% of men. The 80/20 Rule is discussed, memed, and repeated so often in online spaces for lonely dudes that's it's rarely questioned, even though it's pretty much total nonsense.

Burning Chromebooks and other dangerous fads

Young people have always been attracted to dumb, dangerous stunts, and there was a time when many of them were amplified by social media sites, particularly TikTok. These days, though, TikTok locks down fads like "The Skull-Breaker Challenge" with ruthless efficiency. But the trend of destroying school laptops slipped through the cracks for a couple of weeks as the school year ended. That these cheap laptops were the target of mindless teenage vandalism makes sense—they're an instantly recognizable symbol of educational conformity, circa 2025.

Nostalgia for the early 2000s

People are usually nostalgic for a more innocent age, but young people's fascination with the early 2000s seems to indicate the opposite. Through the lens of a teenager in 2025, the politically incorrect, crass, no-apologies pop culture of the early aughts represents a kind of lost freedom. "Back then, you could do whatever you wanted without being canceled, arrested, or ridiculed," is the vibe. Obviously this isn't entirely true, but there's something to it. Most people didn't have smart phones back then, so it really was the last time kids could do stupid things and not be immediately posted on Instagram.

2000s nostalgia goes hand-in-hand with:

The rise of neo-puritanism

Kids may be yearning for wilder times, but they're mostly keeping their impulses in check. The trend of children being more behaviorally conservative than their parents and grandparents continued unabated in the first half of the year. Young people drink less, smoke less, do less drugs, and have less sex than previous generations. Whether these trends are due to a greater concern for personal well-being or the result of a locked-down culture and lack of freedom is up for debate, but the numbers speak for themselves.

Millennial green and Millennial burger joints

While there isn't much evidence of the kind of massive cultural generation gap that separated children and parents in the 1960s, that doesn't mean today's young people aren't turning a withering eye on the previous generation. Some may be trying to mimic the early 2000s, but others want to make sure older people know ridiculous they are, whether it's the millennial fascination with Harry Potter, the boring, beige and green decorating aesthetic that defined the era, or the faux-hipster folksiness of "millennial burger joints."

100 men vs. a gorilla

This meme is based on a simple but compelling question. Who would win in a fight to the death: 100 regular guys or a single gorilla? There are many theories, but no ethical way to answer the question. The meme sits at the intersection of absurdist humor, male insecurity, and simulation-brain thinking. I'm not sure why, exactly, but it feels revelatory about the younger generation in the same inexplicable way the popularity of "pet rocks" feels revelatory about Baby Boomers.

The continuing rise of "brain rot"

The above trends relate mostly to Generation Z. Generation A, people born between 2010 and 2024, are a different animal. That generation is defined by "brain rot," an online style that is nearly impossible to understand. Brain rot describes online content with no educational, social, or artistic value. It also describes the effects that continued viewing of this content is suspected to have on its audience. Brain rot content often involves references to other memes, which are often themselves based on other memes. The eventual result is expressions that are impossible to understand for anyone but their intended audience.

Here's how Cookie King, a pioneer of brain rot, described the inspiration for a video he posted: "On Instagram, there was a new meme. It was about Chopped Chin and Property in Egypt, and people were doing battles between them. I was like, 'Wait, what if I just combined them together with the Johnnie Walker thing and the Friggin' Packet Yo?" There has never been a better explanation presented.

The Auto-Resistance on Peloton's Bike+ Might Make the Extra Cost Worth It

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For two weeks, I've been testing out a Bike+, the upgraded version of Peloton's famous Bike, all so I can write reviews of it. Since I've been an avid rider of my regular Peloton Bike for four years, I've been paying attention to any differences I notice in the performance of the two stationary cycles—especially any differences that make their $1,000 price difference worthwhile.

The feature I was most excited to test out, which my Bike does not have, is auto-resistance. With that, the Bike+ automatically adjusts the rider's resistance for them, setting it within the boundaries of the resistance called for by a instructor at any given point during a virtual class.

How does the Bike+'s auto-resistance work?

When you're taking an on-demand cycling class or completing a Power Zone workout, the Bike+ will adjust your resistance so that you're somewhere in between the numbers the instructor is calling for. So, if your instructor says your resistance should be between 40 and 60, the auto-resistance feature will plop you somewhere in the middle of those values; you don't have to spin the resistance knob yourself.

The auto-resistance is pretty smart, in my experience. When I did a nighttime workout after a day full of teaching spin class, doing other Peloton rides, and walking around in the heat, I wasn't feeling particularly energetic or even athletic. The auto-resistance caught on to that and adjusted my resistance to the lower end of the spectrum the instructor was calling for.

Overall, it just makes taking a class a little easier because you don't need to be constantly reaching down to adjust the knob. You can focus only on your cadence (and form, breathing, output, and hydration, of course) without having to stay on top of your resistance, too.

How to enable (or disable) auto-resistance on the Bike+

Enabling and disabling auto-resistance can be done before or during a workout. When you select a workout to complete on your device's touchscreen, you'll see a pop-up window that outlines a few details like when the class first aired, who's teaching it, and what the class is called. You'll also see a button that says "Auto-Resistance [Off/On]," which will, obviously, signal to you that the feature is on or off before the class starts.

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

Once the class begins, you'll see a small lock icon next to the resistance on the lower right half of the screen. You can tap it to unlock it (turn auto-resistance off) or lock it (turn it on). I've noticed that if I start a workout with it off, then toggle it on, the auto-resistance tends to stick near whatever I was doing on my own. For instance, this morning, I started a class with it off, but was only riding about five above the lowest recommended resistance. When the instructor said resistance should be between 30 and 45, I was only doing 35. (I'm teaching classes later tonight, so I didn't feel I needed to over-exert myself! Leave me alone!) When I toggled auto-resistance on by tapping the lock icon, it consistently kept me at about five over the lowest recommended resistance level.

You can make manual adjustments while you ride, even if auto-resistance is turned on. At one point this morning, I did crank my resistance knob up to the highest recommended setting for a while. When the instructor told riders to lower their resistance a few minutes later, auto-resistance kicked in again and put me on a lower one with no issue, though it was, again, near the upper limits of the recommended range, since that's how I had set it manually.

Is this feature worth an extra $1,000?

The Peloton Bike+ is about $1,000 more than the regular Bike and will run you $2,495—with this auto-resistance feature being one of the main selling points.

Peloton Bike+

$2,495.00 at Peloton

$2,495.00 at Peloton

I did appreciate that the tech is smarter that I assumed it would be and was able to adjust my resistance not only to the middle of the recommended resistance range, but lower or higher within it, depending on how I am performing. I also appreciate that it can be manually overridden mid-class and even disabled completely if you're not into it. It's great to be able to ride without having to constantly think about making adjustments, plus I find it a little motivating. When I'm in charge of the resistance (like I have been for four years riding my Bike), I can slack a little if I want to, you know? Who's going to stop me if I choose to set my resistance to the absolute lowest recommended number? With auto-resistance, I feel just a little guilt if I consider manually overriding it to make my workout easier. More often than not, of course, I find that having my resistance set to the middle or higher end of the recommended spectrum is completely doable; I'm lazy, not incapable. The auto-resistance helps me stop being quite so lazy, which is a little counterintuitive, since the machine is doing the work of messing with the knob for me.

Still, If you don't mind reaching down and spinning that knob, if you don't think you'd find it particularly motivating to see your resistance set in the middle of the recommended range, or if you don't even think you'd use this feature, it may not be worth an extra grand. There are some other differences between the two bikes that could push you over the edge and make you want to spend that extra dough, but don't forget that the membership that allows you to take the classes will cost you $44 per month forever, even after you've paid off the Bike, so that's another expense to consider.

Overall, I genuinely like this feature, but when I've disabled it or gone back to my trusty Bike after using it, I haven't really missed it. It's unique, cool, and useful, but it's not necessary. Coupled with the other improvements in the Bike+, however, it makes a strong case for an upgrade: The Bike+ has better speakers, a bigger screen, simpler adjustment knobs to change seat and screen height, and overall better performance while running Peloton's proprietary software. All of that combined with the extraordinarily efficient auto-resistance makes for a better machine. If you're looking to upgrade from your existing Bike to a Bike+, consider selling your older model on Peloton's own resale site, which will get you some cash plus a few hundred off your Bike+ purchase.

These Solos Smart Glasses Might Make Me Ditch My Ray Ban Metas

Smart glasses company Solos today announced two new entries in the wearable tech space: the AirGo A5 and AirGo V2. Solos says its mission is to "make wearable AI more intuitive, accessible, and integrated into daily life," so the idea behind these new spectacles is to ditch the gimmicks in favor of wearability and features people will actually use.

Here's a breakdown on what we can expect when these glasses hit the market later this year.

Solos AirGo A5

Credit: Solos

The AirGo A5 are audio-first, lightweight smart glasses designed for people who want everyday eyewear with intelligence and audio, but without the bulk or distraction of some wearables.

AirGo A5's cost less than industry leading Ray-Ban Metas, and are most notable for lacking a camera. This allows for lower weight, and also means your specs look more like normal glasses. The downside is obvious: no pictures.

Here's a breakdown of the A5's features:

• Hands-free operation

• Built-in SolosChat AI agent

• Directional audio that minimizes sound leakage

• Enhanced bass and high-quality audio

• List price: starting at $249

• Available Q3 2025

There's something to be said for glasses that only do the things you want them to do instead of trying to do everything. I'm keenly interested in the audio quality and the comfort of these glasses. If they sound appreciably better than Ray Ban Metas, and they're comfortable enough to wear every day, they'd be a solid choice for a lot of smart glasses users.

If you'd like a camera, the AirGo V2 might be your style.

Solos AirGo V2

Credit: Solos

V2 are camera-first smart glasses, aimed at "travelers, content creators, and anyone wanting to document and share life in the moment," according to Solos. Life-sharing is courtesy of an image-stabilized 16MP camera capable of shooting HD video. V2 also come equipped with SolosChat 3.0 AI, that uses ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek. All that tech is contained Solos modular system that allows users to swap out frame fronts at will.

Here's a breakdown of the V2's features:

• 16MP camera the company says is "the world’s slimmest."

• Electronic image stabilization

• Low power wifi to save battery use

• SolosChat 3.0 AI that can identify objects, translate signs, and get answers from multiple AI models.

• Directional audio made to minimizes sound leakage

• High-quality audio, featuring enhanced bass

• Swappable battery

• List price: starting at $299.

• Available Q4 2025

I'll be testing these smart glasses in real world conditions, as well as comparing them to the similarly priced Meta Ray Bans, in the near future, so check back for in-depth coverage.

The Best Amazon Prime Benefits You Probably Don't Know About

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If you’re going to commit to an Amazon Prime membership, you might as well squeeze as much as you can out of the deal. And there's a good amount of juice to squeeze there. The price you pay for Amazon depends on many factors, but regardless of how much you're paying, it's worth it for most people (we did the math). If you're on the fence about signing up, Prime Day, Amazon's biggest sale of the year, is just around the corner. It's a great time to sell your soul—or take advantage of the 30-day free trial.

How much does Amazon Prime Cost

The standard Prime membership costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year, but there are other tiers that some people might qualify for. For example, the new Amazon Prime Student program allows young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 to get all of the Prime perks for half the cost—$7.49 per month or $69 annually.

The benefits of Amazon Prime

I'll be the first to admit I didn't know all of the benefits that Amazon Prime offers to its members. There are a lot more perks than people think. Here are the most impressive ones (and here is the full list):

Fast and free shipping

• Fast free shipping on millions of items: Depending on where you live, shipping can take one or two days, and some even come on the same day—and it’s always free (if being shipped by the Amazon store).

• Pre-ordered items can be delivered on their release date for free.

• The option to have items delivered inside your garage with a smart garage device (depending on where you live).

• Earn rewards for future purchases when you select free no-rush shipping.

• The option to have all your weekly orders delivered on a specific day, to reduce waste from boxes.

• The ability to try before you buy when you order clothes or shoes, meaning you have seven days before you get charged for the items you decide to keep.

Deals, savings, and sales

• Subscribe & Save deals that allow you to place recurring orders and save money when you do so.

• Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card: Cardholders get 5% back on Amazon/Whole Foods purchases. So Prime members who use this card extensively can earn rewards that offset the annual fee.

• A free year of Grubhub+, normally $9.99 per month, which gets you free delivery on eligible orders, lower service fees, exclusive deals, and other perks. 

• Sharing with family or friends: Prime benefits can be shared with other members of your household. The more users, the more value per person.

Medical care

• Amazon Health: Prime users get One Medical access for an additional $9 per month. Through your devices, you’ll have 24/7 access to on-demand virtual care, plus real-life access to primary care offices in a number of U.S. cities. It accepts most major health insurance plans, too.

• Amazon Pharmacy: Access to free two-day delivery and other savings on medications.

Streaming and digital perks

• Prime Video: Prime includes unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows, and Amazon Originals, which normally costs $9 per month.

• Amazon Music Prime: A music streaming service (which is different from the other three music streaming subscriptions) like Spotify.

• Prime Gaming: A perk that offers free video games, content, and a free channel subscription on Twitch each month.

• Amazon Luna: A cloud gaming platform that offers new free games every month for Prime Members.

• Amazon Photos: A storage solution on Amazon Drive (which extends to members of your Family Vault). 

E-books and audiobooks

• Prime Reading: Free access to over 1,000 books and magazines for Kindle or Fire tablets and Kindle apps.

• Amazon's First Reads: You get up to three free e-books every month from a curated list of books handpicked by editors.

Here's What I Learned After Seven Months of Wearing Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses

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Meta recently announced it's releasing a line of AI-powered Oakley sunglasses to be sold alongside Ray-Ban Metas. According to the company, the new smart glasses have the same basic functions as the old, but the Oakleys have a higher resolution camera (3K vs. 1080p) and a battery that lasts twice as long as the Ray-Bans.

Seven months ago, I reviewed the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. These specs pack a camera, open-ear speakers, microphones, and voice-activated Meta AI inside a pair of Wayfarer-style frames, so they're basically science-fiction glasses that look normal. I liked them so much, I had prescription lenses put in and made them part of my daily load out. But it's easy to love a tech product when it’s new and shiny; the real test is how the Ray-Ban Metas fair after they've gone from novelty to another damn thing I have to remember to charge. Bottom line: I still really like them after over half a year of wearing them while working, sitting around, biking, running errands, and generally living my boring life. But I like them in a more nuanced way.

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses

$263.00 at Best Buy

$263.00 at Best Buy

Not quite everyday glasses

After the initial sugar rush wore off, I started noticing the weight of the Ray-Ban Metas. They're around 49 grams out of the box, fairly heavy for sunglasses, but prescription lenses bumped the weight up to 54 grams. My regular specs are pretty chunky and weigh 39 grams, and the difference is noticeable. They're slightly uncomfortable for extended use. I found myself wearing regular glasses when I didn’t expect to use smart features, and going back to the Ray-Bans if I wanted to take photos, record video, or go hands-free. The main downside was forgetting which pair I was wearing and saying “Hey Meta” to my dumb glasses. (But that’s a me problem.)

Build quality, durability, and style: no complaints

I have to commend Ray-Ban, Meta, and whatever factory physically built these glasses, because they held up flawlessly. The tech works just as well now as it did when I got them, and the frames themselves held up, too: no warping, bent arms, or other malfunctions. (I didn't necessarily baby them or take special care of them.) They didn't go out of style in the last six months either, seeing as the Wayfarer design is timeless. If they’re good enough for James Dean, they’re good enough for me.

Battery life could be better

Meta says their smart glasses have a battery life of "up to four hours," which is mildly optimistic—these things need to be charged often. The solution of having a charger built into the glasses' case is acceptable most of the time because the main function of eyeglasses (ensuring I can see things) works even when the batteries run out. But longer outings where I wanted to take lots of photos or videos were a pain. Your choices are to only have pictures of the first half of the graduation ceremony, or pack a back-up pair of glasses so you can charge on the fly.

Another battery related annoyance: You can’t disable the low battery notification without disabling all notifications. While that's the case for many tech products, it would be great to have the option to disable it for these glasses.

The social factor: Being seen isn't always the best

When I first started wearing the Ray-Ban Metas daily, they pretty much flew under people's radars, but as popular awareness of the product grew, so did the people who noticed I was wearing them. More than one person asked “are you taking pictures of me?" and I didn’t love having my glasses spark conversations about surveillance or Meta’s motives, but I get why some people are wary. They blur the line between fashion and tech in a way that’s still new, and many people find them off-putting.

Ray-Ban's many features, ranked and rated

Credit: Robyn Johnson

The Ray-Ban Meta glasses have a ton of features, and they're not equally useful, so here's a quick feature list, organized from the ones I used most to ones I used least:

The camera: Ray-Ban Metas' essential feature for me is the camera. It's weird to think of a smart phone camera as being inconvenient, but reaching in your pocket, unlocking the screen, clicking an app, and putting it up to your face is a lot of steps compared to pinching the arm of your glasses. The other way to turn on the camera, saying “Hey Meta, take a picture” or “Hey Meta, take video," can be incredibly useful too, as it lets you take videos while riding a bike and listening to Hawkwind, like so:

While I found the quality of the photos to be surprisingly good, these glasses are best for casual snaps. There's no viewfinder, and if you're going for super high quality, or want to shoot in low-light situations, they won't replace a "real" camera.

Text and calls: Getting a text and replying by voice is great when your hands are full. Initiating or responding to texts while driving is amazing and will probably save some people's lives. Call quality is solid, and the voice recognition is excellent, even in traffic or crowds. It's easy to use too, since you can just say "Hey Meta, how do I send a text?" if you forget.

Music: Halfway down the list is the perfect time to talk about the Ray-Ban Meta's music and audio. It is mid. The sound quality isn’t terrible, but it's podcast-while-cooking level. If you’re into music at all, you’ll quickly grow tired of the tinny sounds from the Ray-Ban meta glasses and throw in some ear buds. On the plus side, the ability to control Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music with just your voice is great. Saying “Hey Meta, play some funk” and having The Meters start playing is cool. 

Language translation: Meta recently rolled out the ability to translate from Spanish, French, and Italian to English, and vice-versa. My initial reaction to testing it out with a Spanish speaking pal was "santa mierda!" It's really good, and was able to translate spoken words at a conversational rate in real time, with a surprisingly amount of accuracy. I listened to a graduations speech delivered in Spanish, and it translated it perfectly, and I tried it with some Telenovelas on YouTube too. Flawless. Language translation might prove to be smart glasses' killer app.

Meta AI: Depending on your point of view, Meta’s AI is the either the killer app or the Trojan horse of these glasses, but I almost never use it. When I first got the glasses, I was blown away by saying “Hey Meta, look” and having it describe what I was seeing accurately. But that wears off after eight minutes. Then, I started using it to clown on my friends by looking at their car or something and saying, “Hey, Meta, is this a nice car?” and relaying the answer. (Sadly, it won't roast people.) That was fun for three minutes. Then, I changed Meta's voice to Awkwafina. That was fun for 38 seconds. Then, I stopped using it altogether. Maybe your life is different, but mine is fine without an AI assistant.

What I'd like to see from Ray-Ban Meta glasses

Credit: Stephen Johnson

These glasses are creeping toward being a true digital assistant, but they're not there. I want to say “Hey, Meta, book me a cheap hotel in Yonkers next weekend” and have it just happen. Right now, though, the glasses are limited to controlling music, sending messages, translating language in real time, and providing basic information—which is a lot for a pair of glasses.

Privacy concerns (as if privacy still exists)

Meta recently sent an email to Ray-Ban Meta users that said, in part, "Meta AI with camera use is always enabled on your glasses unless you turn off ‘Hey Meta,'” and “the option to disable voice recordings storage is no longer available.” Basically, Meta is vowing to look at what I'm looking at and store whatever I say, so you could argue there are some pretty big privacy concerns. It’s not great, but honestly, I’m too boring to care. If Meta wants hours of footage of me folding laundry or playing Oblivion Remastered, that’s their problem.

If you're someone that does prioritize your privacy though, these glasses are probably not the product for you.

Are they worth the price?

Whether something is "worth it" really depends on the customer. But $299 seems like a good deal for a camera, AI agent, Bluetooth headset, and sunglasses, and if you're going for prescription Ray-Ban Metas, it's amazing. All told, these were actually cheaper than my regular glasses, and I can't ask my regular glasses to tell me a joke.

Is it a good time to buy Ray Ban Meta glasses?

Last week, I would have said, "Yes, it's a great time to buy Ray Bans!" but the announcement of the Meta Oakleys changes my calculations. The newer specs will retail for $399 or $499, where Meta Ray Bans list for $299 or $379—but the Oakleys will have a significantly better camera than the Ray Bans and double the battery life. If you already own a pair of Ray Ban Metas, I don't think it's worth it to buy Oakleys—it'd be nice to have more battery life and a better camera, but it's not vital. If you're buying a new pair of smart glasses, I'd pre-order the Oakleys for sure.

Meta hasn't said whether or when it plans to release a pair of Ray Ban Meta glasses with the same specs as the Oakleys, so it's probably not the best time to buy a new pair: There's little worse than buying a tech product the day before a newer, better version is announced.

The bottom line

I’m not a Meta fanboy by any stretch, but credit where it’s due: These glasses are really good. The novelty wears off, but the usefulness doesn’t. Unlike most gadgets, they've earned their spot in my semi-daily rotation. If they could shave a little more weight off, they'd be my everyday specs.