Setting Up Your Home Office

Since the days of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer, you've always have a choice when it comes to the program you use to access the internet—but we now have a whole new breed of software to consider: The AI browser. These browsers place AI models front and center, even more so than integrations like Gemini in Chrome or Copilot in Edge. These browsers give you AI-powered search, AI-powered answers to just about any question you can come up with, and even agentic AI control—so the browser can actually do some browsing and complete simple tasks for you. A future where we never have to manually fill out another web form or compare prices on sixteen different flights is…

You can customize more on your Mac than you might have realized, and that extends to the file management software you use to browse around your system. Take, for example, Finder: There are a good number of alternatives around that bring with them extra features and different layouts. I've been testing out three of the most well-known and highly rated alternatives to Finder to see what I might be missing. Each one has its own appeal, but the third in the list here is so good that I might switch to it permanently for all my file and folder needs on macOS. Commander One …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Google's Gemini AI app has been topping the "most downloaded" charts on both the Apple App Store and the Android Store ever since the company added a free image generation feature, called "Nano Banana," back in August. Of course, Google is hardly the only huge tech corporation with an AI assistant that can make images right on your phone. I wanted to know which mobile AI image generation tools is best, so I pitted three of the biggest—Google's Gemini (with Nano Banana), the iPhone version of OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Meta's Meta AI—against one another in a not-so-old-fashioned image-generation throw down. While there was ulti…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When I wrote my review of the Whoop 4.0, I kept it to the basics—how the strap looks, works, and charges, and what activities it can track. Today, I’m going to dive in to all the metrics Whoop reports, and give a reality check on what’s most useful and what isn’t worth paying attention to. I'll leave out the activity tracking features here, since I covered them in more depth in the review. (Bottom line: I love the way it tracks how hard your workouts are—strength workouts included—but it's not going to replace a true fitness watch for most people.) WHOOP 4.0 with 12 Month Subscripti…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Google has launched its "Personal Health Agent," an AI coach available in the Fitbit app. Currently it’s in a “preview” mode, and limited to Android users in the U.S. who have a Fitbit Premium subscription. That group includes me, so I tried it, and it gave me some decent workouts. It also told me that the Pixel Watch 4, which Google makes, and which I reviewed, and which am currently wearing, does not exist. So, par for the course when it comes to AI. How to enable the Fitbit app’s personal health coachThe “public preview” of this new coaching bot is available starting today for Fitbit Premium users in the U.S., provided …

A few months ago, ChatGPT got an app store of its own, which means you can access tools like Photoshop and Apple Music right inside the ChatGPT prompt box. Now Malwarebytes has joined the ChatGPT app store, which means you can get some expert help when investigating web links, emails, text messages, domains, and phone numbers you think might be suspicious. The app is free to use for everyone, whether or not they're signed up to a paid ChatGPT subscription, and you can enable the tool via the ChatGPT app store or by entering the prompt "Malwarebytes, is this a scam?" Once you've used the app for the first time, you can access it again via the + (plus) button on the prompt …

I tend to go out of my way to avoid using Meta AI, but today, I gave it a fair shake. That's because, as reported by Bloomberg, Meta's AI service is now testing a shopping assistant. The idea is to compete with similar services from AI platforms like ChatGPT or Gemini, where users tap into the power of generative AI to search the web for product recommendations. That's all fine and well in theory, but in execution, Meta AI's shopping assistant is a bit of a disaster—even if it is only in testing. Meta AI's shopping suggestions are uselessWhen I tried accessing Meta AI's web app logged out, I didn't see the shopping assistant. But once I signed into my Meta Account, a num…

There's a lot of talk online these days about hiding Copilot in Windows and tools that can remove it entirely. There's a reason for that: Some people are annoyed with AI and would prefer not to deal with it. Despite this trend, Microsoft recently launched Copilot for Mac, for some reason. While Windows users are looking to remove Microsoft's AI tool from their machines, Mac users are invited to actively install it on theirs. So, in the interest of fairness, I am going to take the exact opposite approach to hiding Copilot in Windows: setting up Copilot on your Mac. The thing is, unless you really love Copilot, you probably shouldn't use this app. Copilot for Mac is about …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When Nintendo's Virtual Boy launched in 1995, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. 3D games with a giant, personal screen? Portable 32-bit power in the same year that the original PlayStation came out in the U.S.? "Who cares if you need to prop the thing up on a stand and stare through an obnoxious red filter to use it," I thought, "that's awesome." Fast forward to 2026, and I was pretty glad I never got one. The console has become famous over the years as one of Nintendo's most notorious flops, with poor sales, an extremely limited library, and reports of severe discomfort from players who did actually get on…

Generative AI tools continue to improve in terms of their photo editing capabilities, and OpenAI's latest upgrade brings Adobe Photoshop right inside your ChatGPT app window (alongside Adobe Acrobat for handling PDFs, and Adobe Express for graphic design). It's available to everyone, for free—you just need a ChatGPT account and an Adobe account. As per Adobe, the idea is to make "creativity accessible for everyone" by plugging Photoshop tools directly into ChatGPT. The desktop version of Photoshop already comes with plenty of generative AI features of its own, so this is AI layered on top of more AI—but is it actually useful? How to get started with Photoshop inside ChatG…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When you watch a piece of media produced in a language you don't speak, you have a couple of options. You can, of course, turn on subtitles and follow along by reading. But in some cases, you can switch the audio track to whichever language you speak. This is called the "dub," and it usually requires voice artists to record the lines in this new language—in a way that matches the original tone of the show or movie. This requires time and money, something studios aren't always willing to part with. As such, not everything has a dub. But what if it could? On Wednesday, Amazon announced "AI-aided dubbing" for Prime Video. O…

The internet is always open. What if it were closed sometimes? That's the central question of Seven39, an experimental social network that's only open for three hours a day, starting at 7:39pm Eastern. I logged in to the service last night and found a small, mostly friendly collection of people excited to try something new. We're a few decades into an experiment where everyone on Earth uses the same couple of social networks for everything. It's ... not perfect. That might be why more and more alternatives to Instagram, X, and Facebook keep popping up, all with some sort of hook. Some, like Mastodon and Bluesky, make decentralization their central promise. Seven39's hook …

Earlier this month Strava unveiled its new Instant Workouts feature, a subscriber-exclusive tool that seems like a natural way to leverage its acquisition of Runna. In a Reddit post, Strava said this feature builds upon Runna's already successful Instant Workouts feature. Instant Workouts uses your activity history to generate personalized workouts across four intents ("Maintain," "Build," "Explore," or "Recover"). The idea is that the more you upload, the more personalized your recommendations become. Another major selling point is the automatic route generation feature, which draws on Strava's massive database of billions of historical activities to suggest optimal pat…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. As someone who spends most of my training time pounding pavement in preparation for marathons, I'll admit that rowing has always felt like foreign territory. Sure, I'd hop on the occasional rowing machine at the gym for cross-training, but I never really got it. That all changed when I had the opportunity to test Hydrow's newest release—the Hydrow Arc Rower—which launched today with some seriously impressive AI-powered features. I’ve just begun testing it out…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. The new Sony WH-1000XM6 are the best premium headphones of 2025, and they keep getting better. One of my favorite features is its LE Audio Bluetooth compatibility, which is a newer Bluetooth type that uses less energy and supports better audio quality. If you've tried to use LE Bluetooth in the past on your XM6 headphones, you might've noticed some features were missing, like head tracking, Find My Device, Gemini Live, and Audio Sharing with Fast Pair. Well,…

Some unexpected good news from the FDA: bemotrizinol, a sunscreen ingredient that has been used in Europe and Asia for decades, is finally being added to the allowable ingredients list for products sold in the U.S. Bemotrizinol is the active ingredient in sunscreens like Bioré Watery Essence, which has a cult following for being unlike anything we can get in the U.S. I’ve tried Bioré UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence (that’s the full name of the product) in its original Japanese formulation. This sunscreen is a cult favorite on skincare and Asian beauty forums because of its non-greasy feel, and because it protects against both UVA and UVB rays without leaving a white cast. I g…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I am always down to try a new social app (a face I have made so, so clear), especially when it involves sharing photos. And the trendy photo-sharing app of the the moment is Yope (available on iOS and Android). Launched in September 2024, it currently has 2.2 million monthly active users and 800,000 daily active users, many of whom are in the investor-coveted Gen Z demographic. I am not a part of Gen Z, but as of today, I am one of the millions of people who used the app this month. It's fun and all, but I'm not sure I'll make it into that 800,000+ cohort of daily users. Here's why, and what you need to know about Yope. S…

This week Google added Veo 2 to YouTube Shorts and—wow, this article is already gibberish. Let me back up. YouTube Shorts is YouTube's TikTok knockoff competitor. Veo2 is Google's AI tool for generating videos. As of this week, you can use that AI to make clips for YouTube Shorts. This innovative and revolutionary change will forever alter the vertical videos most people scroll past so they can find the thing they actually wanted to watch. According to a confusingly worded announcement post, you can now create clips to add to your Shorts simply by typing a sentence. Anyone can create a Short right in the YouTube mobile app either by combining footage already saved to thei…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you’re like most people, you bought a standard claw hammer once long ago and never thought much about its weight or design. I was like that for a long time, too, but I noticed that every time I worked on a project involving lots of hammering, my arm would get fatigued quickly, and the last half of the work would be a misery. I recently fell down a bit of a rabbit hole regarding hammers—the different weights and types-and decided it was time to splurge a bit and buy a titanium hammer (specifically, this one). It was one of the best purchases I’ve made recently. Titanium vs. steel hammerMost hammers are made from steel, w…

If you're going to go with Android rather than an iPhone for your smartphone, then Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy handsets are the two most high-profile options you've got. There are other Android phones worth considering—from the likes of OnePlus and Nothing, for example—but Google and Samsung are the most well-known. While the fundamental operating system on Pixel and Galaxy phones is the same, there are numerous differences between these two flavors of Android. They're not all obvious, though, unless you spend every day with these handsets, and that can make it tricky to decide whether you're better off going with Google or Samsung. As it happens, I use Pixel and Gala…

Whatever happened to chunky mashed potatoes? There’s a lot of hype for the silky, nearly pudding-like variety of mash—which seem to be the only kind served at restaurants these days—but for me, nothing beats a heaping pile of fluffy smashed potatoes studded with knobbly bits of soft, uncrushed tuber. And if you too are a supporter of chunky mashed potatoes, you can use your stand mixer to get the best consistency. Stand mixer versus hand-mashed potatoesThere is nothing wrong with hand-mashing potatoes, but I’d like to bring stand mixer mashing to your attention simply because after I tried it, I couldn't help but appreciate the difference in consistency. I hadn’t even ex…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. It's Cyber Monday, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before the sales are over. Some Cyber Monday deals are still live, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before the sales are over. Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find. Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more. Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Car…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find. Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more. Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices an…

The internet is not a private place. Every time you connect to a website, ads and beacons—both visible and invisible—attempt to follow your every move. They'll even take the anonymized information they collect and build a profile that other trackers can use to identify you as you surf the web. It's pretty bleak. Luckily, modern browsers are fighting back. While there are certainly better options than others, most browsers have privacy protections built in. If you know what you're doing, you can max out these protections and install some third-party boosters to retain some (if not most) of your privacy across the internet. If you're curious how your browser stacks up to t…

The new version of Fitbit’s app (currently in “public preview” mode) has some improvements and some shortcomings. On the first day it was available, the built-in AI confused and frustrated me, but I figured I needed to give it a little time. Maybe it would learn more about me and give better responses. Maybe I would learn my way around its features. Maybe the team at Google would correct the worst of the problems. That last prediction came partly true. When I woke up the next morning, the AI finally admitted that the watch I was wearing, Google’s Pixel Watch 4, does actually exist. (The initial version of the app had claimed that the Pixel Watch 2, released in 2023, was …