screen Archives

💯 OK, that’s a bargain

The early Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sales continue! To score these deals, you’ll need a Prime membership. Use this link for a 30-day free trial.

Mesh routers are the answer for larger homes with dead zones. The latest eero model is 36% off.
Treat yourself to a cozy new blanket to welcome fall. Tons of sizes and colors — and 58% off. Some colors of the throw version are under $9!
Always wanted a nice robo vac? The iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO is 32% off.
Gals, these leggings look and feel just like Lululemons for a fraction of the price.
These are the screen protectors I use on my iPhone. At the top, use the menu to choose your model. Sweet.
A fan-favorite set of rustproof shower caddies, 76% off right now!

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Hands off my Kindle: You can set a passcode. Go to the home screen and tap the three dots in the upper right. Now, tap Settings > Device Options > Device Passcode. Sweet.

AI brings dead celebs back to life

Open/download audio

Well, kinda… Hollywood is spending millions to resurrect the likeness of screen legends like Judy Garland with AI. Creepy or fine? Plus, YouTube’s new pause ads, why to skip the blue light filter, and a warning for iPad Pro owners: iOS 18 is bricking devices!

📧 “Email apnea”: That’s a new term for the moment when you open your inbox, get overwhelmed by all the messages and unknowingly hold your breath to focus. A study found 80% of us do this. The fix is simple: Breathe naturally and take screen time breaks.

740 million children

Will be nearsighted by 2050. Blame less time spent outside and more screen time for youngsters. An estimated four in 10 kids will need prescription glasses. Girls are more likely than boys to develop myopia (the fancy name for objects far away looking blurry).

⏳ When your kid (or someone else) is using your iPad: Lock an app to keep them off limits. Open Settings > Screen Time > Use Screen Time Passcode. Follow the instructions to set it up. Now, go to App Limits > Add Limit, choose the app, then tap Next > 1 min > Add. Use the app for one minute, then hit Ask for More Time > One More Minute. After the time runs out, the app is locked.

📺 A TV is a watching machine: LG smart TVs now show ads before the screensaver kicks in. No word yet if it’s limited to specific models, but they’re live on the new flagship G4 T showing LG products and third-party promos. Fortunately, you can turn it off. If you have an LG, go to TV Settings > Additional Settings and disable Screen Saver Promotion.

That’s refreshing: Refresh rates (found in your computer’s display settings) control how things look on your screen. For regular work and browsing, go with 60Hz. For gaming or video editing, try 120Hz or 144Hz. Competitive gamers use 240Hz or higher. Now you know!

iPad modes to get more done: Split view lets you open two apps side by side. To try it, drag an app to the left or right side of the screen. Watching a video? Tap the PiP icon (two small rectangles) to minimize it into a corner of your screen.

👓 Skip the blue-light glasses: They don’t really protect your eyes from screen strain (paywall link). The real issue is looking at your device too closely for too long and forgetting to blink. We normally blink 15 times per minute, but that drops to six times per minute when staring at screens. Try the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away.

Talk to the hand: You can use Alexa without vocal controls or needing to touch the screen if you have an Echo Show. Open your Alexa app and tap More > Settings. Select Device Options and tap Gestures. Now, just lift your hand to stop a timer.

I can’t leave you out, Android pals: Scan with Google Drive. Hit the plus sign in the bottom right > Scan. Follow the on-screen instructions, then save it to your account. So easy.

Read to me: Robert from Mooresville, North Carolina, called my show to ask how to make his time in the car more productive by listening to documents he’d otherwise need to read during his drive. Easy-peasy — your phone can read a PDF aloud if you set up text-to-speech.

On an iPhone: Head to Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content. Turn on Speak Screen and Speak Selection. Now open the doc you want to listen to, and swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to activate Speak Screen.
On an Android phone: Go to Settings > Accessibility > Select to Speak. Turn it on. To use it, tap the Accessibility icon, then select the text you want to hear.

No need to buy a thing. Seriously, where else can you get this great intel?

Swiper no swiping: This hidden Samsung trick will make you feel a little like a magician. Swipe the edge of your hand across the screen to take a screenshot. Here’s how to set it up.

🍎 Three shortcuts for Macs:

Ctrl + Cmd + spacebar: Opens the emoji picker.
Cmd + Shift + 5: Opens the screenshot tool for capturing the entire screen, a window or a selected portion. You can also record your screen from this menu.
Cmd + Opt + Esc: Opens the force-quit menu.

Gemini Live is free to Android users: Google’s AI assistant chats in real time and you can interrupt it with new info or directions. To try it, open the Gemini app and tap the circular waveform with a sparkle icon in the bottom right. You’ll enter full-screen chat mode.

⌛ Podcast magic: You can listen to a podcast more quickly to save time or more slowly when you want to catch every word. There’s usually a “1x” on the now-playing screen. It’s your playback speed. You can increase it (e.g., by 1.25x, 1.5x or 2x) or decrease it (e.g., by 0.75x).

Stop embarrassing yourself: My friend’s phone was sitting in the kitchen. I looked over, and her boyfriend was sending some spicy messages. Notifications like those can be tempting for others to read and can reveal a whole lot about you that you may not want to share. Fortunately, you can hide them from your lock screen. Here’s how:

For Android: Head to Settings > Notifications, tap on the gear icon and select On the lock screen. You’ll have options here to not show any notifications, show all notifications or hide just sensitive notifications.
For iPhone: Open Settings > Notifications and select Show Previews. Here, you can choose to show them always, when the phone is unlocked or never.

🕺 Speaking of twisting: Lenovo’s new laptop, the Auto Twist PC, opens and closes with a voice command. Say “Open lid” and yep, it does. The screen rotates almost 180 degrees, too, and it can put itself into tablet mode. Neat? Yes. Gimmicky? Absolutely.

You’re too close: Holding your phone too close to your face puts extra strain on your eyes. On iPhones, you can get a friendly warning. Open Settings > Screen time and toggle on Screen distance. Pro tip: If your text is too small, fix that under Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.