There are many reasons Devil May Cry fans will enjoy the upcoming show adaptation's new trailer. But, I must warn you, after watching it Papa Roach's "Last Resort" will be stuck in your head for days. The early 2000s song plays alongside a two-minute trailer that showcases Dante and, notably, his twin brother Vergil.
There are many great takeaways from this peek at the show, but one of the most amusing might be when Lady rips of Dante's shirt and he responds, "Ripped and irresistible dream boat, I know. You still can't just tear a guy's clothes off." It's that kind of lighthearted banter mixed with the action sequences that make us so excited for the Devil May Cry series.
A television series version of Capcom's Devil May Cry game has been in the works for years now. We first got a teaser back in 2023, but we only learned in January that it will premiere on Netflix on April 3. The animated series from Korean company Studio Mir is actually Devil May Cry's second go as a show — in 2007, a 12-episode anime based on the game ran in Japan.
Not familiar with the video game? Here's Netflix's synopsis for the Devil May Cry TV show: "Sinister forces are at play at the portal between the human and demon realms. In the middle of it all is Dante, an orphaned demon hunter for hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-devil-may-cry-netflix-series-has-a-real-trailer-and-now-papa-roach-is-stuck-in-my-head-131853378.html?src=rss
Mike Verdu has left Netflix, according to Game File with Stephen Totilo. Netflix brought the former Oculus and EA exec onboard to launch and lead its gaming efforts in 2021. Under Verdu's leadership, the company released a bunch of new and ported titles, as well as establishing an internal game development operation. In mid-2024, however, Netflix changed its gaming strategy and hired Alain Tascan, the executive vice president for game development at Epic Games, to lead its gaming efforts. Verdu still served as the VP for games until November 2024, after which he was named as the Vice President of generative AI for games.
On LinkedIn, Verdu wrote that his role was about "driving a 'once in a generation' inflection point for game development and player experiences using generative AI." He added that he was "focused on a creator-first vision for AI, one that puts creative talent at the center, with AI being a catalyst and an accelerant." Verdu has yet to update his LinkedIn profile with a new role. As Totilo said in his newsletter, Netflix's gaming efforts have undergone some big changes since Tascan took over.
In 2022, Netflix hired former Overwatch boss Chacko Sonny to lead an internal AAA studio known as Team Blue. It then brought on Halo exec Joseph Staten, as well as God of War art director Rafael Grassett to work on a multi-platform AAA game for an all-new IP. But in October 2024, Netflix shut down Team Blue. The company had also lost Leanne Loombe, who headed up its second and third-party gaming development and publishing efforts. Loombe recently became the head of games at Annapurna Interactive following a mass exodus, wherein all 25 members of the studio's team collectively resigned. And in early February, Netflix canceled its release plans for six games that were previously heading to iOS and Android, including Thirsty Suitors and Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/netflixs-first-gaming-boss-has-left-the-company-124555235.html?src=rss
It's no secret that Spotify isn't a big money maker for most artists. But, in its annual Loud & Clear report, the music streamer is trying to change the narrative, reiterating an earlier claim that it paid artists $10 billion in 2024 ($60 million since launching) and adding that these payments increased tenfold over the last 10 years.
Spotify throws in quite a few other big numbers into the 2024 report. It claims that the 100,000th most streamed artist also saw a tenfold increase over a decade, receiving $6,000, up from $600. Meanwhile, the 10,000th most streamed artist reportedly received $131,000, up from $34,000. Plus, it reports that almost 1,500 artists generated over $1 million.
Despite these numbers, Spotify still doesn't hold much goodwill from artists. For starters, a report from music catalog buyer Duetti found that Spotify paid out $3 per 1,000 streams in 2024, while the same figure gave artists $4.80 at YouTube, $6.20 at Apple Music and $8.80 at Amazon Music. In a statement after the report's release, Spotify told TechCrunch, "These claims are ridiculous and unfounded," and argued that music platforms don't pay by stream.
In January, Billboard reported that four of the five artists nominated at the Grammys for songwriter of the year chose to skip Spotify's Grammy party for songwriters — all of Spotify's Grammy parties were eventually canceled because of the Los Angeles wildfires. Songwriters, including Jesse Jo Dillon and Amy Allen, both cited Spotify's decision last year to bundle audiobooks and songs in subscription tiers. The publication had previously reported that the new premium, duo and family tiers meant songwriters got paid a discounted bundle rate, losing an estimated $150 million in US mechanical royalties over the first 12 months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-tries-to-defend-its-artist-payout-rates-120021659.html?src=rss
We've come a long way from the days of discarding smartphones as soon as a new model comes out. Many shoppers are now demanding devices that will last for years, and they are being more conscientious about what happens to those gadgets when the need for an upgrade does arrive.
You may want to trade in your smartphone or sell it when the time comes; either option can keep your device out of a landfill in addition to scoring you some extra cash. There are also options to recycle part or all of your phone if it's too old to make a trade-in worthwhile. Whatever path you choose, there are important steps to take to prepare a phone you're about to get rid of. These instructions apply to any model you might have, including both iPhones and Android phones. Here's what you need to know.
Back up your data
Let's start with a very important reminder to do regular backups for all of your gear, not just your phone. It's a task you should keep up with routinely even when you aren't about to recycle or trade-in a device.
Most hardware manufacturers have an automatic cloud backup system, but you'll like your new phone a lot less if it doesn't have your full, up-to-date library of contacts, photos and other information. This is the time to manually back everything up with all of your latest data.
Also, before you get any further into the process, make sure that you know the critical details for your phone and the main accounts associated with it. Halfway through is the worst time to lose access to your device because you can't remember your username or password.
Unpair wireless accessories
Most people connect their phone to many other gadgets via Bluetooth. There are obvious ones, like smartwatches and wireless headphones, but you might also have your phone paired with something like a car stereo or a portable speaker. All of them should be unpaired from the phone you're about to trade in.
If you use your phone in two-factor authentication for sensitive accounts, you'll want to make sure that you disconnect the device from those services, too.
Log out of apps and services
Next, you'll sign out of the device's cloud-based service. For iPhone owners, that's iCloud, and on Android, it's the Google suite. This will avoid any confusion with your new device. You'll also want to turn off Find My on iPhones or Find My Device on Android phones. iPhone users should also deregister iMessage on their old iPhone, particularly if they’re moving to a non-Apple smartphone. These steps might seem unnecessary when you'll end up wiping your device entirely, but you don't want to risk having your personal information accidentally made available to whoever might get your phone next.
Also, if you are under a plan that protects your phone, such as Apple Care or Preferred Care, you can usually cancel that coverage early. You'll get a refund on any unexpired coverage, and given how expensive gadgets can be now, it's worth getting that money back if you can.
Swap to the new device
At this point, your to-do list will vary. If you're planning to trade up to a newer model from the same manufacturer and you already have your new phone, then you'll want to transfer your data before moving on to wiping your old phone. Either in the store or on your own, in most cases you can wirelessly migrate your data from the old device to the new one.
If you're changing lanes between the Apple and Google universes, you can also do most data swapping yourself. There's a Google Play app called Move to iOS and one in the App Store called Android Switch that can walk you through the process. Just be sure that your device meets the requirements to use those programs.
However, if you aren't immediately setting up a new device, then you can skip this and move on to the next phase.
Factory reset your old device
Once you double-check that you have everything backed up (seriously, don't take chances on this), then it's time to perform a factory reset. This will remove all of your data and apps, and bring the phone back to its original state. It’s ideal to do this reset as the final step of trading in, selling or recycling a device.
Whatever phone model you have, the reset option will be in the Settings app. It will commonly be nested under a tab like General or About, or you can search “reset” within Settings to find exactly where it is on your device.
Remove any accessories
This might seem obvious, but right before handing off your phone, make sure that you remove any accessories. Cases, grips and screen protectors should stay with you, not with the phone when it goes to its new home.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-prepare-your-phone-for-trade-in-120000724.html?src=rss
While both sport very similar designs, the Pixel 8a (left) has a slightly smaller 6.1-inch screen with larger bezels than the standard Pixel 8 (right).
Yesterday — 11 March 2025Latest Tech News From Engadget
NASA's SPHEREx observatory is now in space for a two year year mission to create a 3D map of the entire celestial sky. The telescope left the ground on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from a launch pad in California, four years after NASA announced that a SpaceX flight will launch the mission, along with NASA's PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) microsatellites. SPHEREx separated from SpaceX's vehicle at 12AM Eastern time on March 12 and will remain in low Earth orbit, where it will maintain a position relative to the sun that will remain the same throughout the year.
Every 98-minute orbit the observatory makes will allow it to view a 360-degree strip of the sky in both optical as well as near-infrared light. The telescope can capture more 360-degree strips as the Earth moves around the sun, enabling it to map the entire celestial sky within six months. SPHEREx was designed to image the entire sky every six months in two years, with its goal being to create a 3D map of over 450 million galaxies. The telescope will also image and gather information on over 100 million stars in the Milky Way.
SPHEREx's map is bound to be colorful: It will separate infrared light emitted by the stars and galaxies into 102 individual colors using a technique called spectroscopy. NASA likens it to the "way a prism splits sunlight into a rainbow." The agency says observing the objects in different colors will reveal various properties about them, such as their composition. For galaxies, their colors could help scientists determine their distance from our planet. The data SPHEREx provides will give scientists information about what happened right after the Big Bang and could provide evidence of cosmic inflation, or the rapid expansion of the early universe. SPHEREx will shed its telescope lens' protective cover in four days and will start its science operations in a little over a month once its temperature has cooled down.
Meanwhile, the four PUNCH satellites, which will also take on a Sun-synchronous orbit, will map the sun's corona by taking polarized white-light images of the celestial object. It will gather data to help us better understand how the corona turns into solar wind, which could lead to accurate predictions of space weather events affecting spacecraft orbiting the Earth.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasas-spherex-space-telescope-launched-into-orbit-by-a-spacex-falcon-9-rocket-055518752.html?src=rss
The Remote Desktop app for Windows is (almost) dead; long live the Windows app. Microsoft said on Monday that its legacy Remote Desktop client, which has already been replaced on other platforms, will no longer be supported on Windows after May 27, 2025. But you aren't losing any functionality here. You can still do tech support for your parents using built-in Windows functionality or the modern Windows app, which is somehow both the simplest and most confusing naming convention Microsoft's marketing team could have mustered.
"Starting May 27, 2025, the Remote Desktop app for Windows from the Microsoft Store will no longer be supported or available for download and installation," Microsoft's Hilary Braun wrote on its Windows IT Pro Blog. "Users must transition to Windows App to ensure continued access to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop and Microsoft Dev Box."
The company says connections to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop and Microsoft Dev Box via the Remote Desktop app from the Microsoft Store will be blocked in the Remote Desktop app on the app's expiration date of May 27. For all other users, it will continue working but will no longer be supported.
Increasing the confusion, Windows has a built-in Remote Desktop Connection app that will remain the only way to use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections after May 27. But Microsoft will eventually incorporate that into the Windows app.
As Thurrot.com notes, Microsoft warned that it would eventually replace the Remote Desktop with the Windows app when the operating system's namesake app launched last fall. The new app even arrived as an update to the Remote Desktop client on Apple's App Store.
As for the, uh, interestingly named Windows app, the company likely chose that branding because it wants to move Windows increasingly to the cloud. Its Windows 365 service, introduced in 2021, even lets you stream a virtual version of the OS from any device. So, calling the unified app used to access cloud and remote PCs "Windows app" seems maybe slightly less bizarre from that angle.
Still, a Reddit thread from the Windows app's September launch held some entertaining reactions from the company's fans. "Microsoft needs to collect all the staff responsible for naming or renaming their products in the past 15 years and shoot them into the sun," u/AlignedHurdle posted. Meanwhile, u/Shoddy_Eye7866 seized an opportunity to use the Xzibit meme: "Yo dawg, I heard you like Windows, so I took Windows App and put in your Windows so you can Windows while you Windows."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsoft-is-phasing-out-its-remote-desktop-app-in-may-211320714.html?src=rss
iRobot just announced some new Roomba vacuums and they feature interesting capabilities. The Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo Robot is being advertised as "the industry's first onboard mechanical debris-compacting system." In other words, it squeezes dust and debris together like, well, a garbage compactor.
This allows users to go eight weeks without having to empty the vacuum. It also eliminates the need for a dedicated debris bin.
iRobot
Otherwise, the 205 is a full-featured hybrid vacuum/mop. There’s a 4-stage vacuuming system with ClearView LiDAR for improved navigation. The company says this unit offers "250 percent more power-lifting suction and improved cleaning performance" when compared to Roomba 600 series robots.
The Roomba Plus 405 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock is another hybrid, but this one pays special attention to the mopping capabilities. It includes the company’s new DualClean mop pads that spin at 200 RPM for some extra oomph. It also comes with Roomba’s AutoWash dock, which washes and dries the mop pads on its own. This tech was first used in last year’s Roomba Combo 10 Max.
iRobot
The company also announced the 505 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock, which is better at cleaning edges. To coincide with these new products, the Roomba Home app is getting some much-needed upgrades. The redesign should allow for "more intuitive control, the ability to create routines and schedules, access to real-time monitoring of their device and advanced customized cleaning options."
The Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo Robot starts at $469 and the Roomba Plus 405 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock costs $800. The 505 costs a whopping $1,000. Preorders go live on March 18 via iRobot or select retailers. The company also announced a new entry-level vacuum called the Roomba 105 that costs $319.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/roombas-irobot-205-robovac-can-go-eight-weeks-without-being-emptied-210014269.html?src=rss
One day after X went down for hours, security researchers are throwing cold water on Elon Musk’s public comments about who might be behind the DDoS attack. On Monday, as X was still struggling to remain online, Musk said in a post that the site had been brought down by a “massive cyberattack” executed by “a large, coordinated group and/or a country.” Later that day, in an interview with Fox News, he said the attack involved "IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area."
He never provided evidence for either claim. But, in a new report from Wired, security researchers offered a very different view on the attack. Security experts interviewed by the publication said that they had seen little evidence that Ukrainian IP addresses played a significant role in the DDoS attack, with one researcher saying the country wasn’t even in the top 20 countries of origin involved.
The report also suggests that, despite Musk’s assertion there were “a lot of resources” involved, X may have inadvertently left its systems susceptible to a DDoS attack like the one that happened Monday. “X origin servers, which respond to web requests, weren't properly secured behind the company's Cloudflare DDoS protection and were publicly visible,” Wired writes. “As a result, attackers could target them directly. X has since secured the servers.”
Notably, this wouldn’t be the first time Musk has blamed an unspecified “cyberattack” when faced with an embarrassing failure of X’s systems. Last year, Musk blamed a “massive DDoS attack” for crashing a planned livestream with Donald Trump, who was running for president at the time. Musk never explained how a DDoS attack could bring down only one feature on the site. The Vergelater reported that there had been no such attack.
X didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/security-researchers-arent-buying-musks-spin-on-the-cyberattack-that-took-down-x-203402687.html?src=rss
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 5: White House Senior Advisor to the President and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk departs the U.S. Capitol Building on March 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. Musk was meeting with Republican senators at a closed door lunch. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Electric vehicle company Rivian is rolling out new software today. The lead feature is Enhanced Highway Assist, which controls steering, acceleration, and braking on compatible highways. It relies on an infrared camera in the rearview mirror to ensure that the driver is still paying attention to the road, even though their hands don't need to be on the wheel. This resource is only rolling out to Rivian's Gen 2 vehicles; the blog post did not address whether it would also come to Gen 1.
There's also a new driving mode for Rivian's Performance Dual-Motor lineup. Rally Mode is now available as one of the Off-Road Mode options. When enabled, the vehicle will provide heightened responses to steering and throttle on a range of terrains. Several Dual-Motor vehicles are also getting the option for a post-purchase performance upgrade that introduces three new drive modes: Rally, Sport and Soft Sand. This performance upgrade is a one-time cost of $5,000.
Both Gen 2 and Gen 1 are getting other elements of the software update. Side mirror auto-tilt when the car is reversing, allowing a driver better visibility of their wheels and the curb when parallel parking, and tire puncture detection are part of the package. Rivian is also adding an option to change wheel type in the mobile app's Settings menu to receive more-accurate driving range estimates.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/rivians-latest-update-offers-hands-free-highway-driving-201926973.html?src=rss
In a rare recent example of a product becoming more affordable (rather than movingfull-speedintheoppositedirection), the popular podcast service Pocket Casts no longer requires a subscription to access its web player and desktop apps. Although the premium tiers are still there for some paywalled features, the only platforms where you can't listen for free are now smartwatches without a paired phone — a niche within a niche, if ever there was one.
Before Tuesday's announcement, you could listen for free on the Pocket Casts Android and iOS apps, but its web player and desktop apps required a premium subscription starting at $4 monthly or $40 annually. Now, you can check in with your favorite podcasters on your Mac or PC without paying a dime. Although you could already do that on free alternatives like Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube Music, Pocket Casts enthusiasts (including some Engadget staffers) swear by its clean UI, silence trimming and voice boosting features and queue management.
Pocket Casts / App Store
The Automattic-owned service framed the move as standing up for open podcasting that's freely accessible to anyone, everywhere. "By making our Web Player available to everyone, we're reinforcing our belief that podcasts belong to the people, not corporations," the brand wrote in its announcement post.
That's a noble sentiment — and one we would love to see more companies embrace. But if we read (perhaps a bit cynically) between the lines, YouTube announced last month that it's passed one billion monthly active podcast viewers, with third-party data showing that it's the most popular podcast service in the US. When combined with Apple's recent addition of a web player for its free podcast service, perhaps Pocket Casts realized it was limiting itself to a diminishing piece of the pie by paywalling everything but its mobile apps.
As it stands, Pocket Casts hopes its subscription-gated features will entice some folks into throwing a few bucks its way. The Plus tier adds (deep inhale) a shuffle feature, bookmarks, the ability to preselect chapters, 20GB of cloud storage, watchOS and Wear OS apps (which you can still use for free as long as the content is streaming from your phone) and other goodies like themes, icons and a year of content from Slumber Studios. Meanwhile, the Patron tier offers all that plus early access to features, 100GB of cloud storage, extra icons and, the most important of all, a profile badge.
Pocket Casts Plus will set you back $4 monthly or $40 annually, while a Patron subscription costs $10 monthly or $100 annually.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/pocket-casts-makes-its-web-player-and-desktop-apps-usable-without-a-subscription-193035046.html?src=rss
ZA/UM Studio, the company behind Disco Elysium, just announced a new game called Project [C4]. It’s being described as a “genre-defining RPG” and there’s a teaser trailer that’s light on gameplay but heavy on disturbing imagery.
Based on the trailer, we still don’t know if the game will pull mechanics or visuals from the highly-regarded Disco Elysium. A press release did note that folks would play as a spy of some kind and suggested that the game could actually, in part, take place in the human brain. Everything else is still shrouded in secrecy.
What’s not shrouded in secrecy? ZA/UM has had, to put it lightly, a tumultuous several years since Disco Elysium was released in 2019. It has been plagued by layoffs, firings and departures of the core team that made Disco Elysium, including creator Robert Kurvitz, art director Aleksander Rostov and writer Helen Hindpere.
Back in 2022, the company’s new executive suite fired all three, accusing them of misconduct and attempted intellectual property theft. It’s worth noting that Kurvitz wrote the novel that Disco Elysium is based on, so we aren’t sure how someone could steal from their own book. Lawsuits were filed and Kurvitz and Rostov set up their own company.
The pair also refuted the allegations of IP theft, writing in an open letter that they were fired as they attempted to investigate suspicious activity surrounding the takeover of ZA/UM by Estonian businessmen Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel. These two were previously convicted of investment fraud. The pair has also been accused of creating a hostile work environment, particularly for women.
"I know at least five women who've left or been made to leave the studio since Disco’s launch, naming Tõnis Haavel as a major factor. There are zero women in creative leadership and very few women in leadership positions in general,” a former writer for Disco Elsyiumtold PC Gamer amidst recent company-wide layoffs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-studio-that-technically-made-disco-elysium-has-a-new-game-in-the-works-185218695.html?src=rss
NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference, also known as GTC, is coming up next week. The event is happening March 17-21 in San Jose, but you can also follow along with all the big developments here at Engadget. We'll have a liveblog for the keynote with CEO Jensen Huang on March 18 at 1PM ET/10AM PT, which is when most of the big news will drop. His speech will also be livestreamed for free.
It's a safe bet that you'll hear a whole lot about artificial intelligence during the week, but with all the changes in the computing landscape over the past 12 months, the stakes might be higher for the company to make serious waves at this conference.
What to expect at this year's GTC
NVIDIA has been going all-in on AI for years now, and that makes it a regular highlight for GTC programming. Last year saw the company unveiling its Blackwell line of GPUs for faster and less demanding computations. We're guessing that Huang will introduce another iteration of Blackwell GPUs with even better specs this time around. NVIDIA is also likely to share updates on its projects in automotive, robotics and quantum computing.
But the company is in a very different situation in early 2025 than it was going into last year's conference. NVIDIA is no longer sitting quite so comfortably at the top of the heap. The emergence of DeepSeek's reasoning model caused a plunge for tech stocks, including NVIDIA's, earlier this year. There have been lots of issues related to its latest RTX product launches and splashy tech for AI-generated NPCs in gaming are, unsurprisingly, pretty soulless.
Basically, NVIDIA needs a win. This would be the time for Huang to drop something surprising and exciting. Hopefully he delivers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/how-to-watch-the-nvidia-gtc-2025-keynote-with-ceo-jensen-huang-183038194.html?src=rss
FILE PHOTO: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gives a keynote address at CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 6, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo
Waymo is expanding to new (but actually old) territory. The Waymo One service will soon be available in more of the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto and parts of Sunnyvale.
The company spent several years testing its self-driving cars in Mountain View, the city where its headquarters is located. According to TechCrunch, Waymo One will be available across 27 square miles of Silicon Valley, in addition to the 55 square miles it covers elsewhere in the Bay Area, including San Francisco.
This is the latest in a string of expansions for the company. Waymo has been up and running in Los Angeles and Phoenix for a while. It started offering robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas last week, just in time for SXSW. Miami and Atlanta are also on the docket. Waymo said in January that it planned to test its vehicles in 10 new cities this year, including Las Vegas and San Diego.
We’ll gradually add riders to this new service area over time, as we work to bring Waymo One to more of the Bay Area. Keep an eye on the app if you’re an area local. Who’s ready to ride? pic.twitter.com/egHh2claxJ
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-expands-to-more-cities-in-the-bay-area-181528776.html?src=rss
People look at a Jaguar I-Pace with 5th Generation Waymo Driver on display at the Waymo booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The original Ninja Creami became a viral hit a few years ago when it took the tech from $5,000 commercial ice cream makers and distilled it into something you could buy for less than $200. As good as the Creami is at whipping up sorbets, gelatos and smoothie bowls, there’s still one classic frozen treat it can’t do: soft serve. But now there’s a new addition to the family, the Swirl by Creami, and with it Ninja may have just created the ultimate all-in-one home ice cream machine.
Design and features
Instead of engineering a brand-new, multi-purpose device, Ninja basically took the existing Creami and bolted a soft serve module on the side. And then it tacked on a big handle, so you still get that physical sensation of pulling it down to dispense your icy creation.
That might seem a bit crude from a design perspective, but let’s be honest, the Swirl isn’t going to win any beauty pageants. More importantly, it’s a rather straightforward and effective approach. That’s because when you’re not making soft serve, you can simply spin a batch of regular ice cream with one of the machine’s two included pint containers. However, if you are going for something smooth and fluffy, things get a little more complicated.
In addition to the standard paddle lid, the Swirl has a special top you need to use when making soft serve. The machine uses a new pint container that has a clever but somewhat tricky built-in nozzle for dispensing said soft serve. You need to keep the twist cap on its bottom closed for traditional scooped desserts, but open for soft-serve. And you better not forget, because if you don’t seal it all the way while freezing your ice cream base, it’s going to get stuck. That’s no good because the container won’t fit in the machine unless the pint is fully closed, so you’re going to chip away at the parts that are stuck until it does. Unfortunately, if you’re not planning on making soft serve, you can’t use the classic Creami pints because those aren’t compatible (though like before, the Swirl’s lids and containers are dishwasher safe).
A potential hurdle with the Swirl’s design, especially for people who live in apartments or places with small kitchens, is that it's about twice as big and heavy as a standard Creami. It’s 15.1 x 10 x 17.5 inches and weighs 20 pounds. This means you’ll have to find a decently large place to stash it, unless you live in a mansion, because this thing isn’t going to live on your countertop.
Modes: The world is your ice cream
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
One of the best things about the Swirl is that it can do practically everything the Creami can and more. That’s because, in addition to the standard ice cream, lite ice cream, gelato, sorbet and milkshake modes, there are new options for frozen yogurt, fruit whip, frozen custard and so-called Creamifits.
Most of these are self-explanatory, but a few warrant further explanation. Fruit whips are mostly frozen fruit with a bit of sugar that are blended into something akin to a healthier sorbet (like those delicious pineapple Dole whips). I also appreciate that there’s a dedicated mode for frozen custard, which is even richer and creamier than traditional ice cream (often due to the inclusion of additional egg yolks). Since it's hard to find outside of southern and midwest states, this is another welcome addition. Finally, Creamifit is a new term for high-protein concoctions that frequently feature ingredients like whey, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. They effectively turn workout shakes into frozen treats.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
When you’re ready to whip up a batch, Ninja made things simple by dividing the machine’s functions into two main categories: one for regular scooped treats and one for soft serve. The label you won’t see is the one for smoothie bowls, which is a setting that’s available on older models. I found that omission wasn’t a big deal because depending on the type of texture you’re looking for, the milkshake or Creamifit settings are viable replacements.
Another improvement over the original Creami is that Ninja updated the Swirl’s blending modes so that you get the right consistency without needing to re-spin. And in my testing, I’d say the company nailed it. Oftentimes with its predecessor, I would have to put ice cream in for a second go before I was happy, but not so with the new machine. That goes for both soft serve and regular scooped desserts. Furthermore, the Swirl is quieter too. Granted, it’s still rather loud at about 80 decibels from around six feet away. But compared to the basic Creami (around 82db), which routinely sent my three-year-old son running out of the kitchen when I used it, it’s a small improvement. So while you won't want to watch TV in the same room, you can at least still have a conversation.
Soft serve: Tasting is believing
If you want to make soft serve, after using the standard paddle lid (left) to spin your ice cream base, you'll need to attach Ninja's dedicated soft serve lid (right) before slotting the entire pint into the opening on the left side of the machine.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
If you can handle the Swirl’s more involved process, the rewards are worth it. This thing really can produce soft serve that’s just as good as what you can buy from your local shop or friendly neighborhood truck. In fact, I’d argue that your creations might even be better because you can control what goes in them. Sure, you can follow recipes. But just like its predecessor, the magic of the Swirl is that as long as you follow a few basic guidelines, you can kind of throw anything together and it will taste divine. That’s exactly what I did for my first test batch.
Like a lot of parents, I try to minimize food waste as much as possible. Instead of tossing out some old strawberries and pineapple chunks at the end of the week, I diced them up, added a splash of lime juice and mixed everything with a third of a cup of sugar. After letting the fruit macerate for a bit, I simply stuck them in the Swirl’s pint container and froze it overnight. The next day, I set the machine to the fruit whip setting, spun it and then swapped in Ninja’s soft serve lid before pulling down on the handle. Goddamn, it was good.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
The consistency of the fruit whip was super smooth without any big ice crystals, The flavor was like a tropical fruit bowl exploded in my mouth. But the best part is that it cost almost nothing to make, because its ingredients probably would have ended up in the trash in a lot of households.
Next, I whipped up some basic chocolate soft serve (using this recipe from Ninja’s Test Kitchen) because that’s my three-year-old’s favorite flavor. Instead of using regular whole milk, heavy cream and cocoa powder, I swapped those out for Fairlife chocolate milk. Not only does that increase the amount of protein, this brand is also lactose-free. This resulted in a super fluffy soft serve with an almost marshmallow-like mouthful that everyone in my family enjoyed (including my lactose-intolerant wife). It was a classic done right.
After that, I tried freestyling another recipe by chopping up some maraschino cherries (get Luxardo if you can) and adding those plus some of their syrup to some Fairlife milk and coconut cream. The Swirl’s soft serve setting does a great job of adding lots of air to the ice cream while blending to help ensure a light and velvety texture, but just to be safe I also added a quarter teaspoon of xanthan gum to the mixture. I blended everything up as normal, pulled down the lever and voila: a super rich and dense, but not heavy, cherries and cream treat.
But perhaps my most rewarding creation was a matcha soft serve that was the best I’ve ever had. My wife drinks matcha every day, so over the years she’s turned me into a bit of a snob myself. I know right away when places like Starbucks use poor-quality powder that tastes like day-old grass cuttings. By combining some decent ceremonial matcha with lactose-free milk and cream using this recipe, I was able to make her soft serve with unmatched taste and texture. That’s normally incredibly hard to find since most ice cream shops don’t have a ton of non-dairy options.
Wrap-up
Compared to the original Creami, the Ninja Swirl is significantly larger and a bit more complicated.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Homemade soft serve is kind of like ice cream’s white whale. Machines that whip up churned desserts have been around for years, and there was even one built into the counter in my grandma’s old house. But soft serve often requires specialized equipment that’s incredibly cost-prohibitive to own, especially since these are single-purpose machines. Ninja has changed that with the Swirl. Not only can it create delicious concoctions that rival what you can buy from a store (and for way cheaper), it can handle pretty much any other frozen treat you can think of — all in one gadget.
That said, there are a few knocks against the Swirl. The first is that making soft serve results in about a quarter cup of ice cream getting stuck inside various components, like the space between the bottom of the pint and the nozzle. That’s not a big deal, but if you’re trying to cut down on food waste by turning leftovers into dessert, it’s a bit unfortunate. The Swirl is also big and bulky, and at $350, it’s nearly twice the price of a standard Creami.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
My biggest gripe is that the Swirl isn’t available in a deluxe size like you can get with its predecessor. A pint of ice cream is enough for a couple of people, but if you’re making soft serve for a crowd, the Swirl’s 16-ounce containers mean you’ll have to spin up a second batch. And with the Swirl’s pints and lids going for $35 a pair, that’s an added expense if you plan on using this thing for entertaining. When asked, Ninja wouldn’t comment if a larger model is on the way, but I would be shocked if a deluxe version doesn’t make an appearance at some point. So, if you like what the Swirl can do but want a machine with more capacity, you may want to hold tight for now.
The final issue is that with the Swirl launching only a couple of years after the Creami came out, some folks may be feeling buyer's remorse about the original. I don’t see it that way. The previous model is still a surprisingly versatile device that’s affordable and doesn’t take up a ton of space in your kitchen. While the Swirl adds a major but not truly essential branch of desserts to its repertoire, it also brings with it a higher cost and added complexity. But for anyone who has fond memories of enjoying a silky smooth frozen cone on a hot summer’s day (ideally, after a round of mini golf), the Ninja Swirl is bringing that magic into your kitchen in a way we haven’t seen before.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/ninja-swirl-by-creami-review-this-might-be-the-ultimate-home-ice-cream-maker-180015294.html?src=rss
Breaking: A Big Tech company is ramping up its AI development. (Whaaat??) In this case, the protagonist of this now-familiar tale is Meta, which Reutersreports is testing its first in-house chip for AI training. The idea is to lower its gargantuan infrastructure costs and reduce its dependence on NVIDIA (a company that apparently brings out Mark Zuckerberg's "adult language" side). If all goes well, Meta hopes to use it for training by 2026.
Meta has reportedly kicked off a small-scale deployment of the dedicated accelerator chip, which is designed to specialize in AI tasks (and is, therefore, more power-efficient than general-purpose NVIDIA GPUs). The deployment began after the company completed its first "tape-out," the phase in silicon development where a complete design is sent for a manufacturing test run.
The chip is part of the Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) series, the company's family of custom in-house silicon focused on generative AI, recommendation systems and advanced research.
Last year, the company started using an MTIA chip for inference, a predictive process that happens behind the scenes in AI models. Meta began using the inference one for its Facebook and Instagram news feed recommendation systems. Reuters reports that it plans to start using the training silicon for that as well. The long-term plan for both chips is said to begin with recommendations and eventually use them for generative products like the Meta AI chatbot.
The company is one of NVIDIA's biggest customers after placing orders for billions of dollars' worth of GPUs in 2022. That was a pivot for Meta after it bailed on a previous in-house inference silicon that failed a small-scale test deployment — much like the one it's doing now for the training chip.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-reportedly-testing-its-first-in-house-ai-training-chip-174550664.html?src=rss
Our favorite kleptomaniac prince is back. There’s a new Katamari Damacy game coming to Apple Arcade on April 3. Katamari Damacy Rolling Live is being developed by franchise steward Bandai Namco and, as the name suggests, brings those familiar rolling gameplay mechanics to iOS devices, Mac computers and Apple TV.
The Apple Arcade exclusive doesn’t look all that dissimilar to previous entries. You play as the prince, rolling up objects until they grow large enough to become stars. It’s Katamari. The big difference here is the plot. The old games typically had you creating stars for the noble purpose of rebuilding the galaxy. This time, the stars are created for the benefit of the king’s burgeoning career as a livestreamer.
Bandai Namco
That’s right. Successful runs boost the king’s “subscriber count” and this leads to positive comments from in-game fans. Once the viewership reaches a certain threshold, you unlock new stages. That’s a fairly odd twist, but it’s not as if anyone plays Katamari for the plot. You play for the satisfaction of rolling over stuff to get bigger.
Apple promises a “captivating soundtrack that blends different genres.” It’ll be tough to beat the OG soundtrack, which is one of the all-time greats, but we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s been around eight years since we’ve had any new Katamari game and around a decade since we’ve had a good one. Bandai Namco did release a remaster of the original title back in 2018 and the sequel in 2023.
This isn’t the only Apple Arcade news today. The platform announced an update to the well-received Skate City: New York that brings 30 new levels and 90 new objectives. It’ll be available on March 27. There’s also a new Space Invaders game coming on April 3.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-first-new-katamari-game-in-years-is-coming-to-apple-arcade-in-april-173045224.html?src=rss
Many years ago, I reviewed the Eero Pro 6E, which was a delightfully easy device to get along with. The hardware was powerful, unobtrusive and fit into my home pretty well, to the point where I had no complaints about living with it. But all of the good was undone by Eero’s constant arm-twisting to get you to pay for its monthly subscription. With an app that exists as little more than an advertisement and with so many basic features paywalled, I couldn’t in all good conscience recommend it. Thankfully, the advent of Wi-Fi 7 and the new Eero Pro 7 means Eero has a shot to make good on its previous errors and turn my opinion around. Which, it’ll take, right?
Since its birth, Eero has built its Wi-Fi nodes as rounded-off boxes that sit unobtrusively on side tables and bookshelves. Sadly, the sheer volume of stuff required to make Wi-Fi 7 work is bigger than the traditional body will allow. (The vanilla Eero 7 is actually lacking 6GHz support, which is why it’s in the older chassis, but has some gall pretending it’s a proper Wi-Fi 7 device.) Consequently, the Pro 7 ditches the classic body for the same casing found on Eero’s super-flagship Max 7. The vertical design is better for keeping the components cool without a fan, but it is noticeable, especially with prominent branding, defeating the point of making the gear anonymous.
Each node is identical, clad in piano gloss white and measuring 7.1 inches tall and 5.8 inches wide. Turn it around and you’ll find the USB-C power jack, reset button and two 5G ethernet ports with a theoretical top speed of 4.7 Gbps. The coterie of wireless radios (2x2 2.4Ghz, 2x2 5GHz and 2x2 6GHz) promise to reach the heights of 3.9 Gbps. Tucked inside are the usual smart home integrations including Zigbee, Thread, Matter, Amazon Connected Devices, Alexa and Bluetooth LE 5.0
Installation
Eero’s promise of “frustration-free setup” isn't an empty one, and it remains the easiest mesh system to set up. Download the Eero app, hand over your Amazon login and plug in your cable modem, and everything else is taken care of within minutes. Each node was up and running two minutes after being plugged in, and most of the 15-minute set-up time was schlepping between rooms.
Once each node is ready, you’ll get a notification telling you your placement is good for signal strength. This is useful since some meshes won’t, and just expect you to troubleshoot the poor performance down the line. The app did tell me I’d get faster speeds if I moved the nodes closer to each other, but given the layout of my home, that would mean placing them all in the same damn room.
Performance
Eero’s bread and butter performance is never an issue, especially once the mesh has settled down after the first day or so. Much of what worked with previous versions remains in place here, and for home use, it’s excellent. My office, which is some distance away from any node, was still able to pull down 250 Mbps in artificial speed tests. The smart TV in this room was able to stream a 4K movie without any lag or buffering, letting me dance past the pre-roll ads.
I can’t imagine anyone wanting to throw out their Wi-Fi 6E system in favor of this, because you won’t see a massive uplift in performance. When I tested the Eero Pro 6E, I was easily getting speeds in my office around the 250 Mbps mark anyway. There are noticeable improvements in lag and reliability that can’t be sniffed at, but you’ll only notice them if you’re upgrading from really old gear.
If you are upgrading from an older Eero system, it’s worth keeping hold of that hardware to bolster your network. Every Eero node is capable of integrating with its older peers, even if you may find performance is degraded as a consequence. I grabbed a Pro 6E node and placed it in a notorious signal dead spot at the end of my home, just for the hell of it. Naturally, the older nodes are slower but, even so, the loss isn’t that painful. When I’d connected to the 6E node and ran speed tests, I was still pulling down 200 Mbps.
App and Eero Plus
When I wrote Engadget’s mesh Wi-Fi buyer’s guide, I spent months testing hardware from all the big names. Some were easy, some were fussy and some were designed for network engineers with no consideration for general users. None of them, however, irked me as much as Eero’s app, which is a textbook case in seizing defeat from the jaws of victory. Essentially, half of the splash screen is an ad for Eero Plus, the company’s subscription product. And Eero puts so many basic features behind a paywall that it’s impossible to recommend. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Eero’s app is tidy and well-designed, offering a single pane listing each node and its signal strength. The icons signify how well the nodes are connected to each other, but there’s no sense of the network’s topography. Below it is a pane that tells you what devices are on the network right now, although it struggles to name many common products (including those owned by Amazon). You’re also unable to set traffic priorities for your device, which would be useful when I’m recording a podcast or on a Zoom call.
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
Take a look at this screenshot of the Activity Pane, and notice how empty it is, showing you just the top speeds and quantities of data up- and downloaded. Each one links to another pane with some more detailed information, but even so, the visualizations are more or less pointless. This speaks to the big issue with Eero’s software setup and business model more generally.
I imagine Engadget readers break into two camps: People who know DHCP has something to do with their internet but wouldn’t touch it for fear of breaking something, and the people who have 192.168.1.1 burned into their fingers’ muscle memory. Eero’s pitch probably irritates both since it robs you of even your most basic agency to run your own damn Wi-Fi.
For instance, you can set your Wi-Fi name and password, and set the same for your guest Wi-Fi but beyond that, oh boy. You can collect devices into groups, letting you set time limits for, say, your kids’ consoles or computers. You can set your DHCP to manual or Bridge mode, set a reservation or port forward and deactivate support for IPv6. And, uh, that’s about it.
That is, unless you spring $9.99 a month or $100 a year for Eero Plus, which then opens up the toolkit. For that, you get the ability to set a mobile hotspot as an internet backup if your Wi-Fi should go down. Subscribers will also get access to parental controls, historical data, ad and app blocking, the company’s advanced security suite, DDNS and content filters. Plus, you’ll get a subscription to Guardian VPN, Malwarebytes and 1Password thrown in, too.
Look, I get it. All hardware companies — even ones owned by Amazon — need to ensure they have multiple revenue streams to keep the lights on. And I’m sure there are lots of people who feel the added charges are probably worth it for peace of mind. But you need to know that Eero's competition offers these features without asking for more money. Google's Nest Wi-Fi includes parental controls and security updates in addition to guest networks. Though Nest hasn't launched a Wi-Fi 7 product yet, so it's not an equivalent comparison, the Eero Pro 6E was similarly limited with Amazon pushing a Plus subscription. If a company wants to charge me $700 for a product and then hold basic features back to wring another $100 a year out of me, I’m hostile by default.
Price and the competition
The Eero Pro 7 is available in one, two or three-node packs, priced at $300, $550 and $700 respectively. Wi-Fi 7 systems are currently priced for early adopters, and you’ll spend big at whichever company you opt to buy from. I’m not going to do a direct apples-to-apples comparison here as there are a number of notable spec differences between various Wi-Fi 7 routers. For instance, Netgear’s Orbi 770 has a longer broadcast range and faster wireless speed but slower ethernet ports and can only handle half as many connected devices as the Pro 7. At this early stage, you’ll be looking at what specs to prioritize depending on your home’s specific needs. So I can’t say if the $900 Orbi 770 is a better fit for you than the $700 Eero Pro 7.
If you’re looking to upgrade and have your heart set on Eero, then it might be worth looking at last-generation hardware. At the time of writing, a three-pack of Eero Pro 6Es are priced at $550, and the performance it offers is pretty darn impressive. It has the same issues as its successor, but the backwards-and-forwards compatibility is a useful bonus. And Wi-Fi 6E is a major upgrade over whatever Wi-Fi you’re probably using at home right now.
Wrap-up
There are so many things to like about Eero’s mesh Wi-Fi systems that it galls me so much I can’t recommend them. They’re really easy to set up, really easy to use and the performance you get out of them, in terms of both speed and reliability, is staggeringly good. I’m quite fond of the hardware design, even if they are a bit more attention-grabbing than the older models. And I do think $700 for a whole-home Wi-Fi 7 system is pretty good when other companies are asking for a grand or more right now. That’s especially true for folks who aren’t interested in messing with every knob and dial to fine-tune their internet to the nth degree. This hardware passes the “would you be able to hand this to your technophobe family member” test with flying colors.
Unfortunately, I cannot get over how aggressive the nickel-and-diming is, to the point of holding back features that I’d say should be free. I’d argue that every router should offer at the very least, basic parental controls and some sort of URL blocking or content filtering. Even if you don’t use them, that those features would be held back to milk recurring revenue out of you is rough. If you were standing at a car dealership and someone tried to sell you a sedan with three wheels — the fourth is thrown in with CarSubscriptionPlus for just $9.99 a month! — you’d walk away in disgust.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/eero-pro-7-review-paying-to-be-sold-a-subscription-171502767.html?src=rss
TikTok — at least according to the bevy of civil and federal lawsuits against it — is not known for being a safe place for children. In part it has has leaned on parents to do the policing through its Family Pairing tool, which allows guardians to limit teens' screen time and block certain content. Now, TikTok is introducing additional features that allow a paired adult to see their teen's connections and choose when the app is even accessible.
The first new feature, Time Away, lets parents set specific times that TikTok is available on their teen's devices. For example, they can turn off access during a weekend trip or during dinner time, rather than just setting a screen time limit. They can also set a recurring schedule if they want to keep it simple each week. Teens, however, can request extra time, but their parent must approve it.
Parents can also now see exactly who their teen is following or is followed by, along with accounts they've blocked. TikTok claims this will make parents "better equipped to have ongoing conversations and help their teens develop the digital literacy skills they need." Not a small task by any means.
Lastly, TikTok is adding an unusual feature to limit screen time. Anyone under 16 using the platform after 10PM will have their screen taken over and calming music will play (it can be dismissed to continue using the app.) In the coming weeks, TikTok will also test adding meditation exercises to these pop-ups.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-will-try-instituting-a-10pm-curfew-on-most-teens-165416916.html?src=rss
After taking two years off, Blizzard will bring back Blizzcon in 2026. The publisher's fan convention will take place on September 12 and 13 next year at its usual venue, the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.
That means Blizzcon is going ahead a little earlier in the year than usual. For over a decade (save for recent canceled events and an online-only edition), Blizzcon has taken place in November. The first several installments were held in August or October.
The 2026 edition will include staples such as the opening ceremony (where Blizzard makes the biggest announcements for its games), panels and so on. Blizzard also says that it aims "to meaningfully elevate this iconic celebration," whatever that means. You can sign up for updates at the Blizzcon website.
It's been a rocky few years for Blizzcon. The 2023 edition is the only one that's taken place with fans in attendance since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Blizzard canceled last year's edition without fully explaining why. However, it's possible that Microsoft was running the rule over the event's future after completing its purchase of Activision Blizzard in late 2023.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blizzcon-will-return-but-not-until-2026-163526888.html?src=rss
I wish I could say that I’m the type of person who has tried-and-true routines to carry me through all the things that need to be done in a day, but the reality is far from that. As someone with overlapping chronic illnesses trying to juggle a full-time job and a life outside of that, just getting out of bed often feels like a major feat. I’m caught in the tug of war between perpetual exhaustion and lack of motivation, and whether I’m able to cross anything off my to-do list is generally a gamble.
A few months ago, though, a friend recommended that I try the Finch app to help me establish some gentle structure and get a little more of what I want out of each day. I’d already been seeing ads for this “self-care pet” all over Instagram, and this was the tiny push I needed to actually give it a go. Now here we are, some four months later, and I’m still using it consistently as if it were my own adorable life coach.
Finch is a habit tracker, motivation app and virtual pet all in one. It gives you a little bird (okay, “birb”) to raise from an egg and look after as it grows up and learns about the world. But it’s not the kind of pet you need to worry about keeping alive, unlike my many needy Tamagotchis.
Taking care of your bird consists of dressing it up in cute outfits, petting it, changing up the decor in its home and sending it on little adventures. In turn, your bird will check in on you throughout the day, offering words of encouragement and reminders to complete your goals, and celebrating your wins when you get stuff done. I use the free version of the app, which I’ve found to be more than enough for my needs, but there’s also a subscription-based version that unlocks more items, a full library of guided exercises and more.
If you were to look at my goals list, it might at first seem extremely daunting; there are more than 20 tasks on there on any given day. But these vary in importance, and range from the bare minimum things I need to do to start my day — like getting out of bed, brushing my teeth and taking my morning meds — to those that require more commitment, like exercising or doing laundry. Finch doesn’t take the guilt approach to goal-tracking, so you won’t be scolded or shamed if you don’t finish everything on your list. There aren’t really any consequences. It’s more about highlighting what you did accomplish rather than focusing on what you didn’t, and forming healthy habits in the process.
You’re awarded rainbow stones for completing each of your goals, and those can be used as currency in the various shops to buy clothes, furniture and new colors for your bird. Over time, you can collect and raise cute “micropets” as companions for your bird too (kind of like the Petpets in Neopets).
Sometimes it’s more helpful to look at the bigger picture, and you can group tasks together as “Journeys” to get a better sense of your overall progress in certain areas. Journeys are color-coded and come with tiered rewards, which you’ll earn as you level up by hitting certain milestones with the related goals. I might not manage to check off my “Exercise for 30+ minutes” goal every day in a week, but the three days I did exercise will count toward my “Get moving, get healthy” Journey. There, I’ll also be able to see how many times I’ve completed the relevant goals since I started tracking them.
Just opening the app every day comes with some rewards as well. I like keeping up a streak, and I just recently got my longest one yet: 32 days! While I was a little bummed out when I finally messed it up by forgetting to check in on a really busy day, I still found myself more impressed at how many days in a row I’d committed to showing up for myself. It only made me want to do better. You’ll also be gifted themed items and rainbow stones as part of seasonal events and for tackling daily quests, like writing a reflection or sending good vibes to a friend.
The latter in particular is a big part of what makes Finch so special. There’s a strong “we’re in this together” kind of energy to the whole thing, and that’s backed up by features that allow you to actively support and receive support from other Finch users. You can add friends on the app using a code, and your birds can visit each others’ homes, bringing with them a little message or gift for the other user. My friend and I go back and forth randomly sending each other hugs, encouragement and other little tidbits of positivity from the list of options. Some users even exchange their codes with others online to make their support circles larger.
And, you can gift the paid version of the app, Finch Plus, to users who may not be able to afford it, if you want to go a step further in doing a kindness for a stranger. The app provides constant reminders that someone is rooting for you, whether it’s a little bird acting as your personal cheerleader or another real Finch user.
There are a bunch of built-in tools to help promote self-care, like guided breathing exercises, movement routines and prompts for written reflections. The app will ask you about your mood multiple times a day, and when you indicate that things aren’t going so great, it’ll present you with a little “First Aid Kit” offering some optional activities to help you work through your feelings or manage your anxiety in the moment (this is accessible in the menu at all times, too). It also links out to a website with helplines for confidential emotional support.
I’ve tried a few self-care and productivity apps over the years, but Finch is the first one I’ve actually stuck with for an extended period of time. I like how it can be tailored to your specific needs, with both pre-set and custom goals, and the low-stakes virtual pet element makes it a joy to use. I love my little birb, Ripper Jr., and all the little micropets we’ve been accumulating together (even the blobs, for all you haters). Maybe I won’t ever be a person who wakes up with the sunrise and accomplishes five things before 10AM, but me and lil Ripper Jr. are still getting stuff done.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/this-self-care-virtual-pet-is-helping-me-get-my-act-together-160027169.html?src=rss
A screenshot from the Finch self-care app showing a pink cartoon bird dressed in a red hood, brown striped shirt and brown overalls waving hello in a treehouse room
