If it feels like every piece of home tech is now “smart,” you’re not far off. The smart home space has grown exponentially in the past few years to include speakers, cameras, locks, lights and even kitchen appliances. There are also different voice assistants and IoT standards to consider, all of which can make it confusing (to say the least) to build your smart home ecosystem from the ground up.
Allow us at Engadget to help with that. We’ve tested dozens of smart home gadgets over the years and continue to test the latest offerings to see which work well and are worth your money. We recommend, before you even dive in, to resist the urge to outfit your whole home in one go. Not only can this be quite expensive, but also we think it’s generally best to buy just one or two items first to see if you like them. You should also pick a preferred voice assistant and stick with it. If you’re at the point where you’re ready to invest in a few new IoT gadgets, below are the best smart home gadgets you can get right now, plus some advice on how to choose the right voice assistant for your needs.
Best smart home gadgets: Smart speakers
Best smart home gadgets: Smart displays
Best smart home gadgets: Smart lights
Best smart home gadgets: Security cameras
Best smart home gadgets: IoT gear
How to pick the right voice assistant before you buy
While plenty of the best smart home devices are platform agnostic, there are some — smart speakers and smart displays in particular — that require you to choose your voice assistant. Currently, that means deciding if you’ll use the Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa on a regular basis (I’ll address Siri in a moment.)
They’re both compatible with various smart home products from light bulbs to robot vacuums, but there are certain devices that work best with either Google or Amazon. Nest products, for example, are more compatible and have more functionality with Google-powered speakers and displays. They can still work with Amazon devices, but certain features might be disabled. The same holds true with Amazon products: They work better if they’re in the same ecosystem.
Amazon Alexa
So how do you choose between Alexa and Google Assistant? It really depends on your personal preferences. Do you listen to Audible, watch Prime Video and tend to do a lot of shopping on Amazon? Then you might lean toward an Alexa-powered smart home device.
Google Assistant
If you want a voice assistant that’s great at answering questions, Google Assistant tends to be better than Alexa. Amazon’s helper, on the other hand, currently supports more smart home products. The company’s smart speakers and displays also support the Zigbee smart home protocol, and some devices even have built-in smart home hubs. Both Google and Amazon devices can sync with your calendar, though Google’s tend to work better with Google services. Plus, if you already have an Android phone, you might be more comfortable with Google Assistant anyway.
Siri
But what about Siri? Apple’s assistant supports voice commands as well, but it doesn't have as many compatible devices as Google or Amazon. The HomePod mini and the full-sized HomePod are the only Siri-compatible speakers on the market at the moment, too. That said, it’s not too hard to find Apple HomeKit-compatible gear as more third-party companies add support for it, but you currently have a smaller pool of devices to choose from.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-smart-home-devices-154557162.html?src=rss
Marvel Snap is back online in the US after it shut down alongside TikTok, Second Dinner has announced. The game's developer also said on X that it's partnering with a new publisher and working to bring more services in-house to "make sure this never happens again." This weekend, Marvel Snapwent offline along with the other apps developed by or affiliated with ByteDance, including video editing tool CapCut, social media app Lemon8 and, of course, TikTok. The collectible card game was published by Nuverse, which is a subsidiary of ByteDance, for Android, iOS and Windows.
We still couldn't find the app for download when we looked it up, but Second Dinner said in a response on X that it's still working on restoring the game on Google Play and the App Store. "It may take some time," the developer added. It also said that it's still working on resolving the in-app purchasing errors that fans who already have the game installed are getting. For now, players can purchase credits, boosters, passes and packages from the Marvel Snap web shop as Second Dinner works on fixing the issue.
TikTok was the first ByteDance app that went back online. It was down for less than a full day in the US before announcing that it was restoring its service in the country "in agreement with [its] service providers." CapCut and Lemon8 are still not available as of this writing. Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order putting a 75-day pause on the law that banned TikTok in the country. Trump, who also sought to ban TikTok in the US during his term, said that the enforcement's timing "interferes with [his] ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act's prohibitions before they take effect."
MARVEL SNAP is back online in the U.S. But to make sure this NEVER happens again, we’re working to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher. This is the start of a new era for MARVEL SNAP.
We know this probably leaves you with even more questions than…
That didn’t take long. Soon after taking office, President Donald Trump signed a swathe of executive orders. Among them was a temporary pause on the law that banned TikTok in the US.
With the executive order, Trump's Justice Department will not enforce the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for 75 days, effectively extending the amount of time the company has to reach a deal. In a statement, Trump said that the "unfortunate timing" of the law, which went into effect during President Joe Biden's last hours in office, "interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act’s prohibitions before they take effect."
He wrote that he would review "sensitive intelligence" related to the national security concerns raised by the app's critics and "evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date." The company previously undertook a years-long effort, known as Project Texas, to move US user data to servers hosted by Oracle. The arrangement was made after years of negotiating with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), but those talks halted last year.
TikTok (and other ByteDance apps) went offline late Saturday ahead of the law taking effect on Sunday. The TikTok outage only lasted a matter of hours, however. Service was gradually restored after Trump pledged to sign an executive order to suspend the law after he was sworn in on Monday. He affirmed that there would be "no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order." Trump also proposed a joint venture that would see US interests take a 50 percent stake in TikTok.
Earlier on Monday, China (where ByteDance is based) signaled an openness to striking a deal with the US that would allow TikTok to remain active there for the long run, despite previously saying it would block a forced sale of the app. “When it comes to actions such as the operation and acquisition of businesses, we believe they should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. “If it involves Chinese companies, China’s laws and regulations should be observed.”
During his first administration, Trump sought to ban TikTok in the US. He signed executiveorders to that effect, which included an attempt to force ByteDance to sell its US business. That didn't come to pass at the time. But pressure on TikTok mounted during the Biden Administration, with the former president signing a bill last year that called for ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the US.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-delays-tiktok-ban-for-at-least-75-days-via-executive-order-014523110.html?src=rss
At a rally following the inauguration ceremonies, President Trump had a desk brought out on stage where he signed a number of executive orders. The first of the evening took aim at 78 of the Biden administration's orders, including the October 2023 guidelines for AI.
"The revocations within this order will be the first of many steps the United States Federal Government will take to repair our institutions and our economy," the text reads. There's no explanation for any of the selections, just a long list with "the following actions are hereby revoked" as an introduction. Some were related to the on-going response COVID-19 pandemic while others concern immigration, climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Biden's executive order outlined an ambitious plan to establish protections for the general public and best practices for the federal government with regard to artificial intelligence. More specifically, the EO sought new standards for safety and security in addition to protocols for AI watermarking and both civil rights and consumer protections. It also laid out plains to mitigate the impact on workers from businesses using AI as well as launched a new federal jobs portal seeking "more AI talent."
In singular executive orders on Monday, Trump also withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement for the second time. He did so during his first term, but Biden reinstated US participation when he took office.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/trump-executive-order-rescinds-bidens-ai-framework-012825311.html?src=rss
President Donald Trump finishes signing executive orders as he attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
When President Biden took office back in 2021, he issued severalexecutive orders to address climate change. Now, the reverse is happening. President Trump is in charge now and he is signing EOs at a fevered pace. Many of these actions seek to limit or reverse any changes made by the Biden administration, taking the oft-used “head in the sand” approach to climate policy. Trump's first step was to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement... again.
Trump began the executive order deluge by rescinding 78 of the Biden administration's EOs, including one on AI guidelines, before implementing a federal hiring freeze and mandating no new regulations. Keep in mind that an EO cannot change a law or regulation, but that won’t stop Trump from trying. In other words, some of this stuff will end up mired in lengthy legal battles.
Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement during his first term and then Biden reinstated it. Now, history repeats itself. The president has once again taken the US off the agreement roster. This puts the US as one of the few nations that aren’t part of the 2015 accord, joining Iran, Libya, South Sudan, Eritrea and Yemen.
This also means that the US is likely dropping any pledges it made under the pact, including a promise of climate aid for developing nations and a commitment to cut emissions up to 66 percent by 2035. The Trump administration has to notify the United Nations in writing of its intention to withdraw from the accord, which will take a year to become official.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/president-trump-withdraws-the-us-from-the-paris-climate-agreement-again-002803951.html?src=rss
President Donald Trump signs an executive order as he attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The filmmakers behind The Brutalist, a likely Oscar contender currently being distributed by A24, used AI to alter actor's dialogue and create images used in the film's epilogue, the film's editor Dávid Jancsó shared in an interview with RedShark News.
The epic drama follows a fictional Hungarian architect (as played by Adrien Brody) who struggles to make art under the fickle system of American capitalism (and the weirdos that run it). To make Brody and his costar Felicity Jones' Hungarian pronunciation as accurate as possible, Jancsó says the production used AI from a company called Respeecher to alter the actor's speech.
Respeecher was able to adjust the actor's vocals to make them match a native Hungarian speaker's pronunciation, though Jancsó says the process didn't do anything you couldn't achieve with traditional dialogue editing. "You can do this in ProTools yourself, but we had so much dialogue in Hungarian that we really needed to speed up the process, otherwise we'd still be in post.”
Generative AI was also used to help create architectural drawings used near the end of the film, according to Jancsó. Both decisions were made because of the budgetary constraints the production was under. The Brutalist is an over three-hour film with multiple stars, period-appropriate costuming, and elaborate sets, that was reportedly made for less than $10 million.
A little over a year after multiple Hollywood unions went on strike over the possibility of studios using AI to replace workers, it's still highly controversial to use the tech, let alone be open about it. But the problem is undeniably complicated when there are so many different ways AI can be used. "The aim was to preserve the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity’s performances in another language, not to replace or alter them and done with the utmost respect for the craft," Brady Corbet, the director of The Brutalist, told The Hollywood Reporterin a statement.
Respeecher was previously used to create new Darth Vader dialogue for Disney+'s Obi-Wan-Kenobi, and this likely won't be the last time similar tools are used to cut costs. Making movies requires a lot of resources, and while companies are trying to get AI to catch on, using AI tools will likely remain a viable options to save time and money.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/oscar-hopeful-the-brutalist-used-ai-during-production-223016216.html?src=rss
As part of sweeping plans to change immigration in the United States, the Trump Administration has removed functionality from the CBP One app, a US Customs and Border Protection app used by asylum seekers to pursue legal admission into the US along the southwest border. As of January 20, 2025 the app can longer be used to schedule an appointment for admission, and any existing appointments have been cancelled, according to the CBP website.
The CBP One app was introduced in 2020, and was expanded into a tool for asylum seekers in 2023, quickly becoming the only way migrants could "preschedule appointments for processing and maintain guaranteed asylum eligibility," according to the American Immigration Council. The app "allowed 1,450 migrants a day" to schedule an appointment for admission, The New York Times writes, and has helped more than 900,000 people to enter the country since it was launched in 2023 through the end of 2024.
No warning was given to asylum seekers that the program was ending on January 20, and the Trump Administration hasn't outlined what could replace it. Engadget has contacted US Citizenship and Immigration Services and US Customs and Border Protection for more information and will update this article if we learn more.
CBP One was revealed to be an issue for the new administration during the Vice Presidential debate, when now Vice President JD Vance claimed that there was an app that let illegal immigrants schedule an appointment and be granted legal status in the US. That's not how CBP One works, and in fact the Biden Administration's use of the app has been criticized for how dramatically it's slowed down and complicated the process, leading some asylum seekers to wait up to six months for an appointment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-trump-administration-is-no-longer-letting-asylum-seekers-make-appointments-with-the-cbp-one-app-204004060.html?src=rss
An asylum seeker from Cuba shows his cell phone as he tries to apply for an appointment in CBP ONE app, near the B and M Brownsville-Matamoros International Bridge, on the day of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, in Matamoros, Mexico January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
Canon has just launched “Live Switcher Mobile,” a new iOS livestreaming app that supports up to three camera views you can swap between with just a few taps. The app currently only works with Apple devices, and it strangely doesn’t support Canon’s own cameras.
Live Switcher Mobile can let users specify how many seconds a viewpoint stays on a camera before automatically changing to another one. The app also supports on-screen captions, along with real-time comments. However, the latter feature only works if you stream to YouTube and Twitch, as The Verge notes, the app can also stream to other RTMP-supported platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram and even LinkedIn, among others.
While Live Switcher Mobile is free, the unpaid version only supports resolutions up to 720p. There will also be ads and watermarks on-screen. A paid subscription costs $18 monthly and unlocks image overlay and picture-in-picture zooming and movement functions. Of course, it will bump the maximum resolution up to 1080p and remove the ads and watermarks.
Live Switcher Mobile, compared to free apps like OBS Studio and Streamlabs, has fewer functions, which means Canon has a lot of work ahead to make the paid plan worth spending on. Fortunately, Canon camera support is coming soon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/canons-new-livestreaming-app-doesnt-support-canon-cameras-161930211.html?src=rss
I am the first to admit that I am quite clumsy, so I always buy extra care protection for my devices. However, I'm still always shocked by the price of fixing whatever inevitable water damage or cracked screen I bring in. So, it's nice to see that Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss has updated its plan to include $0 same day repairs for cracked screens and back glass. Samsung's most expensive protection plan also includes unlimited repairs at authorized locations, so you don't have to worry if it breaks again.
Previously, same day repairs cost $29 a pop. Care+ plan customers (the next tier down) have to pay $29 for cracked screen repairs and $99 for back glass repairs.
However, even with the update, these "free" repairs don't come cheap. The price of all Samsung Care+ plans vary based on the specific device, with each product broken into tiers. For example, a Galaxy S23 or S24 Ultra is currently in Tier 4 and would cost $18 per month or $349 for two years of Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss. Whereas, a Galaxy A15 is in Tier 1 and would cost $8 per month or $129 for two years of the same plan.
Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss is only available for phones, tablets and watches — though watches will still cost $29 per repair or replacement. It also includes same day replacement and set up, Knox Guard Security and a max of three "lost, stolen, and/or unrecoverable claims" during a consecutive 12 months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/samsung-care-now-offers-0-screen-repair-but-it-will-cost-you-160016109.html?src=rss
China has provided the strongest indication yet that it’s willing to secure a deal that will keep TikTok up and running in the US. The country previously claimed it would block any forced sale of the app but said something different after President-elect Donald Trump indicated he’d be open to 50-50 joint ownership of TikTok between US and Chinese interests.
“When it comes to actions such as the operation and acquisition of businesses, we believe they should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference. “If it involves Chinese companies, China’s laws and regulations should be observed.”
Mao noted that TikTok “has played a positive role in boosting US employment and consumption” and expressed the ministry’s hope that “the US will earnestly listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries.”
On Sunday, a law came into effect that banned TikTok in the US. The video-sharing app went offline late Saturday. Users were unable to download it from app stores and even overseas folks with a US-based TikTok account couldn't access it.
Service was restored hours later after Trump pledged to sign an executive order on Monday, following his inauguration, “to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, TikTok and ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has a key contact that could pave the way for at least partial US ownership of TikTok in Elon Musk. He reportedly spoke with the Trump confidant in late 2024 after it looked more likely that the law would take effect. Zhang is said to have majority control over TikTok’s parent company through voting rights but he does not currently hold an executive position at ByteDance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/china-suggests-its-open-to-a-us-deal-for-tiktok-after-all-151757376.html?src=rss
TikTok bid adieu to its US users over the weekend before returning for an encore with no clear ending. But, it's now joined by a few copycats, including X (formerly Twitter). X announced late Sunday night in owner Elon Musk's typical cringy fashion (see here) that its US users now have a dedicated tab for vertical videos.
The new video tab exists in the app's bottom bar represented by a play button icon. Previously, users had to click on a video and then scroll up or down to see more content — this pretty much just cuts out having to choose a starting video. The development adds to X's existing video push, including its TV app, which is far from impressive.
Bluesky is also attempting to capitalize on TikTok's uncertainty by announcing a new vertical videos feed on Sunday. "We had to get in on the video action, too — Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not. Bluesky is yours to customize," the company said in a post. Users can find trending videos in the Explore tab and pin the feed.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-adds-a-dedicated-video-tab-to-fill-the-tiktok-void-150044169.html?src=rss
X logo displayed on a phone screen and X logo displayed on a laptop screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on July 24, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
January is bleak, to say the least, and sometimes getting through it requires buying a treat. Fortunately, the month is also big on sales, including 20 percent off the Google Pixel 8a. Currently, Amazon has the Google Pixel 8a available for $399, down from $499, the same deal it had on Black Friday.
The Google Pixel 8a debuted in May last year and garnered a 90 in our review. We thought it was an excellent value for the phone, even at its sticker price, and named it the best midrange smartphone. Part of that is thanks to the 6.1-inch device's vibrant OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate (an upgrade from 90Hz on the Pixel 7a).
Other perks of the Google Pixel 8a include its excellent 4,492 mAh battery. In our test, the battery ran for 20 hours and 29 minutes with one charge. Plus, it offers excellent cameras. The Pixel 8a offers the same 64MP main and 13MP ultra-wide sensors as its predecessor, but they really stack up when compared against the Samsung 24 Ultra.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/googles-pixel-8a-is-back-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-140055731.html?src=rss
TikTok might be (sort of) back for now, but that's not stopping other social media platforms from trying to horn in on its business. Bluesky is the latest, introducing a TikTok-like vertical video feature on mobile called Trending Videos, now available in the explore tab, the company announced in a post on its app.
"We had to get in on the video action too — Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these [to your home screen] or not. Bluesky is yours to customize," the company wrote.
I was able to access the feature on my Android phone by tapping "Search." In that screen, the Trending Videos (Beta)" section appeared prominently, and hitting "View more" brought up a number of short videos (many imported from TikTok). Swiping up brings up a succession of new videos à la TikTok, though Bluesky didn't say what algorithm it uses to suggest them. If you don't see the feature at first, just restart the app, Bluesky suggests.
In the same thread, the company shouted out other developers building TikTok rivals using the same AT Protocol used by Bluesky (Tik, Skylight, Bluescreen), most of which are still in closed testing.
X introduced its own vertical video feature almost simultaneously, as it also seeks to profit from TikTok's removal from US app stores. "An immersive new home for videos is rolling out to users in the US today," the platform announced in a post. Also announced in the last day or so is Edits, an Instagram video editing tool designed to challenge TikTok's CapCut.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-created-its-own-tiktok-like-feature-called-trending-videos-130056093.html?src=rss
Sometimes, the best gaming headset doesn’t need to be a “gaming headset” at all. While many people view these devices as their own niche, they’re ultimately still headphones, just with a boom mic and some fancy branding attached. While the general quality of dedicated headsets has improved over time, they still tend to cost more compared to a good pair of wired headphones (which, yes, still exist). If you need to chat with friends, you can always buy a microphone separately and get superior sound quality there as well.
That said, we understand that many people just want the convenience of a headset with a mic built right in. So after testing dozens of contenders over the past couple of years, we’ve rounded up a few commendable gaming headsets and headphones that work well for gaming. As you’ll see, the two aren’t quite the same thing. Whichever way you go, though, all of our picks should make your game time more enjoyable, no matter which platform you use, and whether you play competitively or just for fun.
What to look for in good gaming headphones
The HyperX Cloud Stinger 2.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Evaluating headphones is a particularly subjective exercise, so calling one pair the absolute “best” is something of a fool’s errand. At a certain point, whether you're an audiophile or not, everything becomes a matter of taste. For most, a headphone with a wide soundscape and strong imaging performance — i.e., the ability to position sounds correctly, so you can more precisely tell where footsteps and other game effects are coming from — will provide the most immersive gaming experience, the kind that makes you feel like your head is within a given scene.
For that, you want a high-quality pair of open-back headphones. That is to say, an over-ear pair whose ear cups do not completely seal off the ear from air and outside noise. These are inherently terrible at isolating you from external sound and preventing others from hearing what you’re playing, so if you often play games in a noisy environment, their benefits will be blunted. But in a quiet room, the best open-back pairs sound significantly wider and more precise than more common closed-back models.
More up for debate is how a good gaming headphone should sound. If you want something that’ll help you in competitive multiplayer games, you may prefer a headphone with a flatter sound signature, which'll keep a game’s mix from being overly boosted in one direction and is less likely to mask the smaller details of what’s happening around you. A slightly brighter sound, one that pushes the upper frequencies a tad, may also work. Open-back headphones almost never have huge sub-bass, so you rarely have to worry about low-end sounds muddying up the rest of the signature. In this light, the fact that an overwhelming amount of gaming headsets are closed-back and bass-heavy seems counterintuitive.
Lots of people love bass, though. And if you don't really care about competitive play, some extra low-end can add a touch of excitement to action scenes or rousing soundtracks. You still don’t want a pair that boosts the low-end too hard — as many gaming headsets do — but the point is that what makes a pair “immersive” to one person may sound dull to another.
Other gaming headsets we tested
The PlayStation Pulse Elite.
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
Note: This is a selection of noteworthy gaming headsets and headphones we’ve put through their paces, not a comprehensive list of everything we’ve ever tried.
PlayStation Pulse Elite (and Pulse Explore)
The PlayStation Pulse Elite is a reasonable alternative to the Turtle Beach Atlas Air for PS5 owners, as it allows you to change volume, swap between different EQ presets, adjust the game-to-chat mix and mute the mic right from the console’s native UI. It’s similar to the way AirPods integrate with iPhones. This pair also lets you connect to a second device over Bluetooth at the same time, and the planar magnetic drivers — a rarity for $150 headphones — do a decent job of reproducing smaller details. The sound profile as a whole is narrower and more uneven in the bass and treble than the Atlas Air, however, while the all-plastic design is comfortable but flimsy-feeling. It also doesn’t do much to block outside noise, despite being closed-back, and the control buttons are awkward to reach.
We also tested the in-ear version of these headphones, the PlayStation Pulse Explore, but found it too uncomfortable to wear over extended sessions. That one is limited to roughly five hours of battery life, too.
Astro A50 (Gen 5)
The Astro A50 (Gen 5) is effectively the same headset as the A50X, just without any HDMI ports on its base station. It costs $80 less, so it’s a worthy alternative to the Audeze Maxwell if you mainly play on one platform and want a superior microphone. But the ability to automatically switch between consoles is the thing that makes the A50X worth buying in the first place, so that convenience is still worth paying for if you game on multiple devices.
The Corsair Virtuoso Pro.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Corsair Virtuoso Pro
The Corsair Virtuoso Pro is another one of the few dedicated gaming headsets with an open-back design. It has a relatively dark sound with mostly underemphasized treble and elevated upper-bass, though the highs are clearer here than they are on the Astro A40, and it still delivers a wider soundstage than most gaming headsets. We preferred this signature over Astro’s pair with some games, though in others it felt less balanced. The Virtuoso Pro’s mic is decidedly less muffled than the A40’s but still sounds fairly thin, so it’s merely decent compared to the wider headset market. Its headband adjustment mechanism feels cheap, too, and you can’t detach the mic without swapping cables out entirely. Its round, breathable ear cups and manageable weight do make it easy to wear, though, and it comes with a sturdy travel case for protection. Ultimately, it’s a decent buy, but it’s hard to justify over the more featured and easier-sounding Atlas Air.
HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless
The HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless can last well over 300 hours at moderate volumes, which is remarkable and by far the best of any wireless model we’ve tested. It’s light and not too snug on the head, and its powerful bass lends a real sense of excitement to in-game action. But it blunts more detail than the Atlas Air, Maxwell and A50 X, and its mic isn’t as good. Several users have also reported latency issues when using the headset with HyperX’s Ngenuity software, and there’s no Xbox, Bluetooth or wired audio support. Still, if battery life is paramount, you may be able to look past all of that.
The HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed
If the Audeze Maxwell is out of stock, the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed is another quality wireless headset worth considering. It sounds better than the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless, with satisfying but more controlled bass and more accurate mids, and it’s lighter on the head than the Maxwell. Logitech rates its battery life at 50 hours, but we found it to last much longer at moderate volumes. However, similar to the Astro A50 X, a dip in the treble makes it sound darker and more veiled than the Maxwell, and it doesn’t have any HDMI-switching tricks to fall back on. Its mic also sounds less natural than those of the Maxwell, A50 X and Cloud Alpha Wireless. Plus, while it can connect over a USB dongle, Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable, it can’t pair to two devices at once like Audeze’s and Astro’s pairs. Our biggest issue is the price: Value-wise, it’s in something of a no man’s land at its MSRP of $250. It’s a fine choice if it dips below $200, though.
Razer BlackShark V2 Pro
The wireless Razer BlackShark V2 Pro is tremendously comfortable and has a good mic, but its boomy sound is less refined and detailed than the Audeze Maxwell. As a closed-back headset, it also lacks the width of the Atlas Air. There’s no support for wired audio either.
Logitech G535 Lightspeed
The Logitech G535 is an impressively light (0.52 pounds) and comfy wireless headset that’s often available for $100 or less. It has a relatively neutral sound signature: not flat, but not beholden to big, thumping bass. It can make details in the mids sound thin, and if anything it could use a little more sub-bass, but it’s an agreeable listen overall. However, its mic isn't especially full, and its 35-or-so-hour battery life is a significant drop from our top recommendations. It doesn’t work with Xbox’s wireless protocol or Bluetooth either, and it forces you to crank the volume to reach a listenable level. But if you don’t want to spend a ton on a wireless headset, it’s a fine value.
The Logitech G535 Lightspeed.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X
Xbox owners who want a more affordable wireless headset than the Audeze Maxwell could do worse than the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X. It’s another bass-forward pair, and its mic is comparable to that of the Cloud Alpha Wireless. It offers multiple connectivity options, including Bluetooth and a 3.5mm cable. While it's marketed for Xbox, it can also connect to PCs and PS5s. Its 30-ish-hour battery life is well short of the Maxwell and Cloud Alpha Wireless, however, and its uneven treble can cause things like in-game dialogue to sound masked in certain titles.
HyperX Cloud Alpha
The wired HyperX Cloud Alpha often goes for $80 or less, and at that price it’s a decent middle ground between the Cloud Stinger 2 and Astro A40 if you really want a closed-back gaming headset. It’s old, but its plush earpads and headband are comfy, and its detachable mic, while not superb, is still better than the one on the A40. Its treble is underemphasized, however, and again it sounds more “in your head” than Astro's pair.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro is comfortable and has a noticeably clearer mic than the Astro A40. It also comes with a useful DAC that makes it easy to adjust the headset’s EQ and game-to-chat mix on the fly. However, its closed-back design can’t provide the same enveloping sense of width, and its default sound can sound piercing in the treble. It’s also a bit too pricey, typically hovering in the $200 to $220 range.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is largely similar to its wired counterpart but adds a passable level of active noise cancellation. Being able to hot-swap battery packs and connect to multiple devices at once is also nice. It’s not as convenient for multi-console play as the Astro A50 X, though, and it's rarely cheaper than the Audeze Maxwell, which sounds better, has a superior mic and lasts longer on a charge.
The Beyerdynamic MMX 200 (left) and HyperX Cloud III Wireless (right).
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Beyerdynamic MMX 200
The wireless Beyerdynamic MMX 200 locates in-game effects accurately, feels sturdy and has a great boom mic, but it sounds less articulate than the Audeze Maxwell, with heavily exaggerated bass and recessed lower-mids. There's no game-to-chat mix or custom EQ tools, which is tough for a $200 headset, and its 35-hour battery life is unremarkable. We also found its sweat-inducing ear cushions and headband to clamp down too tight for comfort. However, the built-in transparency mode is nice and the tight fit does a good job of isolating outside noise.
Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro
There’s nothing particularly bad about the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro: It uses the same drivers as the DT 900 Pro X, its velour earpads are comfy and its mic works well. It’s just hard to recommend spending $300 on a wired-only headset when the Audeze Maxwell offers wireless functionality and similarly excellent sound — with slightly less spiky treble and more even bass — for the same price. The MMX 300 Pro’s mic isn’t detachable either, and the closed-back design keeps it from sounding as wide as the DT 900 Pro X.
HyperX Cloud III Wireless
The HyperX Cloud III Wireless is comfy and can last up to 120 hours per charge but sounds less dynamic than the older Cloud Alpha Wireless, with weaker bass response. Like that pair, it also lacks a 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth audio support and Xbox compatibility. The Cloud Alpha Wireless still gets nearly three times the battery life, too, so it remains a better buy if you want a wireless headset for PC or PS5 in the $150 range.
Sennheiser HD 490 Pro
The Sennheiser HD 490 Pro are studio-focused open-back headphones that also work well for gaming. They come with two sets of ear pads, one that slightly elevates the bass and another that bumps the midrange, though they deliver impressive width and detail either way without pushing too hard in one direction. They’re a pleasure to wear over long stretches, both lighter than the DT 900 Pro X and less stiff than the HD 560S. That said, they're usually priced around $400 and their sound profile is more of a nice alternative to our top picks than something clearly more natural or resolving. Most people don’t need to pay the premium.
Recent updates
January 2025: We’ve looked over this guide to ensure our picks are still accurate and added notes on a few more headsets we’ve recently tested, including the PlayStation Pulse Elite, Astro A50 (Gen 5) and Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro.
November 2024: We've updated this guide with a new recommendation for the best dedicated gaming headset, the Turtle Beach Atlas Air, and reorganized our picks accordingly. We've also added notes on other gaming-friendly headphones we've tested, including the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro and Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, and removed a couple of write-ups on headsets that are no longer available.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/best-gaming-headset-130006477.html?src=rss
There are really two types of ereaders: Dedicated ebook/audiobook devices or slabs that are more akin to small tablets with E Ink screens. In the first category, the competition is really between Amazon’s Kindle devices and Rakuten’s Kobo readers. Ereaders in the latter group include entries from Onyx Boox, PocketBook and a couple of smaller companies.
Of course, any smartphone or tablet can act as an ereader, but for our purposes, we focused on devices with paper-like, E Ink screens. After buying, borrowing and reading ebooks using a dozen ereaders, my top recommendation is Kobo’s latest, the Clara Colour. But there are situations where a Kindle might make more sense, and Boox options will satisfy those who want to do more than just read. Here are the best ereaders you can buy, with picks based on more than a year of testing.
Plenty of apps, including the Kindle app, will let you download and read digital books on a phone or tablet. But what makes ebook readers different is the screen: nearly all of them use technology from a company called E Ink. It manufactures electronic paper displays (EPD) composed of three sheets: one containing millions of microcapsules filled with black and white ink particles sandwiched between transparent electrode layers. When a charge is applied, either the black or white particles shift to the top, forming letters and the whitespace around them.
Color ereaders add a color filter array on top of the standard black and white microcapsule layer. The result is two different resolutions on one screen — the color clarity is 150 dpi while black and white images and text are still 300 dpi.
Because these displays are so different from standard backlight LED panels, you can expect most ereaders to do a number of things well. They’ll be easier to stare at for long periods of time and easier to read in direct sunlight. Also, since E Ink displays only require power to rearrange the ink, these devices have much longer battery lives than even the best tablets: we’re talking weeks, not days.
The ereader market is not as saturated as, say, the smartphone market, but there are still plenty of options out there and they do have small but important differences among them. They tend to range from around $100 to more than $400, though usually the higher end options are stylus-enabled read/write E Ink tablets like the Kindle Scribe. Beyond price, you should consider physical properties like buttons, lights, storage and resolution, as well as how the software lets you find and access books.
Reading features
With any ereader, you’ll navigate the OS via taps and swipes, and some add physical page-turn buttons. Most with built-in buttons have an auto-rotating screen so you can press with your right or left hand.
As E Ink technology has advanced, resolution has greatly improved – even the budget Kindle ereader has a 300 ppi display. You can still find models with lower resolution, but we don’t recommend them.
Some ereaders have front LEDs that support light temperature adjustment. That means you can switch to a warmer light after the sun goes down, which will feel easier on the eyes. If you’re concerned about blue light, you should go for a reader with that feature.
Other features
The capabilities of these pocket libraries have advanced considerably since the early days. In addition to storing books, some let you browse the web, run apps and play music. The screen’s frame rate can’t handle gaming, but it’s good enough to show you the Wikipedia entry for Striver’s Row while you read Crook Manifesto.
If you listen to audiobooks, you may want a Bluetooth-enabled ereader capable of playing them. Most of the models we tested have that ability, with the notable exception of the Nook ereader we tried. Keep in mind that audiobook files can take up more space than print files so you'll probably want a device with a higher storage capacity if you plan on doing a lot of listening.
Above all, you should consider where and how you intend to find books to read. Most ereaders make it easiest to shop through their own digital bookstores, but all of them (even Kindles) will now let you download titles from other sources, like libraries, unaffiliated ebook sellers and free public domain sites.
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
How to get books for your ereader
Kindle, Nook and Kobo all have their own stores that you access directly from each brand’s devices. Prices are fairly competitive among the sellers, too – as I write this, the current NYT bestselling fiction ebook is $12 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBooks.com and the Kobo store. The top nonfiction release costs $15 at all four.
Amazon offers Kindle Unlimited for $12 per month, and it includes four million titles from which you can pick your next read. It includes audio and ebooks, but you won’t find many big, new releases or older bestsellers. Kobo has a subscription called Kobo Plus with about 1.3 million titles: it goes for $8 per month for ebooks only, $8 for audiobooks only or $10 for both.
Buying a book from a proprietary store instantly delivers it to your device, provided you’re connected to WiFi. It also syncs your reading across devices and apps, so you can pick up where you left off on your phone if you forgot your ereader at home. It truly is the most convenient way to go, but if you don’t want to be locked into one brand’s store, or if you opt for an ereader without its own marketplace, you do have options.
How to upload ePubs onto an ereader
Stores like ebooks.com and Google Play have millions of ebooks for sale as digital rights-managed (DRM) ePub files, which Kobo, Nook and PocketBook readers can read in their native ereader apps. Kindles don’t support DRM ePub files at all and Boox devices require third party apps (of which there are many) to ready those files.
Titles from some publishers like Tor and public domain classics from sites like Project Gutenberg are also sold as ePubs, but without the added DRM. Consequently, Kindles and the Boox Neoreader do support those files. Books you get from third-party sources will look just like ones you bought from a proprietary store, thanks to the flowable, formatted nature of ePub files. While these device-agnostic ebook collections give you extra options for finding your next read, they require a few additional steps to get the files onto your ereader.
To do so, you’ll typically need a computer running a free program called Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). After buying and downloading the ePub file, open ADE and plug your ereader into your computer (all readers here have a USB-C port for charging and data transfers). Your device should pop up in the left panel. Drag and drop the ePub file from your downloads folder into the main panel in ADE. The file will display as an image of the book cover. Drag that image onto your device on the left panel. If the file includes digital rights management (which protects against unauthorized copying) you’ll need to authorize your ereader, which requires using or creating a free Adobe ID. Once you’ve finished adding files to upload, eject the reader from your computer to complete the transfer process.
Kindles use a web-based uploader instead of the ADE method. But since Kindle uses its own proprietary DRM technology instead of Adobe's, the only files it can accept from third parties are non-DRM files, such as from Tor Publishing or Project Gutenberg. After downloading a compatible ePub file, drag and drop it into your browser with the Send to Kindle page open. As long as you’re signed into Amazon, this wirelessly transfers the files to your associated device.
Boox also uses a browser uploader called BooxDrop (along with many other methods) to deliver ePubs to the device. Open it from the Boox App menu and you’ll see a device-specific url. Type that into your browser to access a file delivery portal that uploads to your library. Boox’s built-in ereader app, NeoReader, also doesn’t support files with DRM, so you won’t be able to read current titles from most publishers using that app. Fortunately, Boox devices run nearly every ereader app out there, Kobo and Kindle included, letting you access ePubs any number of ways.
How to read library books on an ereader
Your local library card lets you borrow audio and ebooks through a program called Overdrive and its companion app Libby. On a Kobo, you have have built-in access to Overdrive in a separate tab. Once you’ve linked your public library card, the search function will include results for titles available from your local library; a few taps will upload your selections to your device for the length of the loan. I personally find it easiest to borrow the title I want through the Libby app on my phone. After that, the book pops up on my Kobo’s home screen once the device syncs.
To read library books on a Kindle, you can either go through the Libby app or the Overdrive section of your library’s website. Once you click Borrow, you’ll see the option to “Read now with Kindle,” which takes you to Amazon’s site to sign in. After that, the book will be delivered to your device the next time it connects to WiFi.
For other ereaders, you’ll go through your library’s Overdrive portal and download the ePub after clicking the Borrow button. You can then use the ADE process we described above. Devices that run external apps, like Boox's Page, Go Color 7 or Palma, allow you to read library books via the Libby app, just as you would on a smartphone or iPad.
You can also use the Libby app to borrow audiobooks, but you won’t be able to access them through your ereader. (The exception is an ereader, like a Boox device, that allows external apps). I found it was easier to listen to an audiobook on my phone anyway, regardless of whether I borrowed it through Libby or bought it from Kindle or Kobo.
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
How we test ereaders
When putting together any guide, the first thing we do is spend hours researching the field. We look at what’s available, what’s new, and what shoppers and professional reviewers have to say. Then we narrow a list to the best candidates for hands-on testing.
Over the course of the past year and a half, I’ve tested just over a dozen ereaders, representing five different brands: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Boox and PocketBook. I bought, borrowed and uploaded books for each device using the methods above. I used each one for between a few days to a few months. I evaluated each one in the areas of book access, ease of reading, extra features and overall value. Here’s everything we tested so far:
Amazon’s first color Kindle impressed with its quick page-turns and load times, auto-adjusting front light and, of course, a decently striking color E Ink display. But at $280, it’s more expensive than all of the other color ereaders in its size range, including the Kobo Libra Colour and the Boox Go Color 7.
Also, some Colorsoft owners reported seeing a yellow band at the bottom of their ereader’s display. This issue did not affect our first review unit during the original testing period, but it eventually appeared. An Amazon spokesperson told Engadget: "A small number of customers have reported a yellow band along the bottom of the display. We take the quality of our products seriously—customers who notice this can reach out to our customer service team for a replacement or refund, and we’re making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that new devices will not experience this issue moving forward."
Amazon sent us a new Colorsoft ereader at the end of 2024 and it does appear that the fixes the company made resolved the yellow-band issue. The screen on our second review unit appears warmer overall, but not overly so. It’s more akin to the screen on the Kobo Libra Colour, and that’s a good thing.
Ereader FAQs
Which ereaders can read Kindle books?
Amazon’s Kindle ereaders are the obvious answer, but other devices capable of running apps can also read titles from the Kindle store. For example, you can download the Kindle app on a Boox ereader through Google Play (the store comes standard in the Boox app menu). You can then sign into your Kindle account and access all the books in your library — the same way you’d read Kindle books on your phone or tablet.
Can you buy Kindle books without a Kindle?
Yes. You can buy Kindle books through the Kindle app or through Amazon’s website via a browser. You can read those titles on a Kindle or any device that can run the Kindle app, such as a smartphone, tablet or computer. Just be aware that Kindle titles can only be read through one of Amazon’s ereaders or the Kindle app. The company uses proprietary digital rights management on all ebooks it sells that can’t be read by other ereader apps like Kobo or Adobe ADE.
What's the difference between Kindle and Kobo?
Both Kindle and Kobo are brands of dedicated ereaders that support searching, buying, downloading and reading ebooks from their own stores. Both also support borrowing books from your local library via Overdrive and Libby.
The difference is that Kindle is owned by Amazon and uses the Kindle store, whereas Kobo is owned by Rakuten and its books come from the Kobo store. Both stores come pre-loaded as a tab on their respective ereader and both carry most in-print books. Each store also carries their own exclusive ebooks as well, but Amazon’s library of Kindle-only books is much larger than Kobo’s. Amazon also offers Amazon Original stories to read on the Kindle, which are free short fiction and nonfiction reads that are free to Prime members.
Which ereader is best for library books?
Both Kobos and Kindles have simple systems for borrowing library books. Other ereaders, like Boox, let you borrow books after downloading the Libby App. Only Kobo ereaders let you search for and borrow books directly on the ereader, with a dedicated Overdrive tab. Kindles, on the other hand, utilize a convenient “read on Kindle” function from the Libby app or website. You can send a borrowed book to your Kindle just by signing into your account. Both methods are pretty easy, so which is the best for you probably depends on other factors than just the library-book feature.
Recent updates
January 2025: Updated the "Others we tested" section to include impressions of the second Kindle Colorsoft review unit we received.
August 2024: Replaced our Android tablet pick with the new Go Color 7 ereader from Boox. Updated book titles to current examples. Added an FAQ section to explain the difference between Kobo and Kindle ereaders and further detail library-book support on different models.
November 2024: Following the release of Amazon's new Kindle ereaders, we tested and reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, the base-model Kindle and Amazon's new color ereader, the Kindle Colorsoft. Accordingly, we updated our budget pick, added a premium pick and noted our experience with the Colorsoft.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/best-ereader-130013808.html?src=rss
Bluesky experienced explosive growth last year, particularly toward the end, necessitating that the platform ramp up its moderation efforts. In its recently released moderation report for 2024, Bluesky said it grew by about 23 million users, jumping from 2.9 million users to nearly 26 million. And, its moderators received 17 times the number of user reports they got in 2023 — 6.48 million in 2024 compared to 358,000 the previous year.
The bulk of these reports were related to “harassment, trolling or intolerance,” spam and misleading content (including impersonation and misinformation). The presence of accounts posing as other people has been a known issue in the wake of Bluesky’s popularity spike, and the platform updated its impersonation policy in November with a “more aggressive” approach in an attempt to crack down on it. At the time, it said it had quadrupled its moderation team. The new report says Bluesky’s moderation team has grown to about 100, and hiring is ongoing. “Some moderators specialize in particular policy areas, such as dedicated agents for child safety,” it notes.
Other categories Bluesky says it received a lot of reports about include “illegal and urgent issues” and unwanted sexual content. There were also 726,000 reports marked as “other.” Bluesky says it complied with 146 requests from “law enforcement, governments, legal firms” out of a total of 238 last year.
The platform plans on making some changes to the way reports and appeals are handled this year that it says will “streamline user communication,” like providing users with updates about actions it has taken on content they’ve reported and, further down the line, letting users appeal takedown decisions directly in the app. Moderators took down 66,308 accounts in 2024, while its automated systems took down 35,842 spam and bot profiles. “Looking ahead to 2025, we're investing in stronger proactive detection systems to complement user reporting, as a growing network needs multiple detection methods to rapidly identify and address harmful content,” Bluesky says.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/blueskys-2024-moderation-report-shows-how-quickly-harmful-content-grew-as-new-users-flocked-in-000149354.html?src=rss
Instagram head Adam Mosseri took to Threads on Sunday with yet another announcement this weekend, the timing of which surely had nothing at all to do with TikTok and other ByteDance-owned apps (briefly) going dark: a new, free video-editing app called Edits is on the way. Instagram's Edits will cater to people who edit videos on their phone, and will offer “a full suite of creative tools.” That includes higher-quality recordings, shareable drafts, trending audio, insights about your Reels’ performance and an “inspiration tab,” on top of the usual editing tools.
If all that reminds you of CapCut, TikTok’s sister app for video editing, you’re not alone. In response to the immediate comparisons, Mosseri called Edits “CapCut, but more for creators than casual video makers.”
Edits isn’t available yet, but you can pre-order it on the App Store if you’re an iOS user and Mosseri says an Android version is “coming soon.” While he puts the release sometime in February, the App Store page says March 13. And don’t expect anything too polished when it arrives. “The first version is going to be incomplete, so please be patient, but I’m really excited to put this in all your hands,” Mosseri said.
The Edits app logo
Edits/App Store
The announcement came shortly after TikTok said its app was coming back online in the US, a mere 12 hours or so after it shut down. CapCut hasn’t come back yet, but it’s expected to follow suit. Trump said on social media that he would announce an executive order after he’s sworn in that would extend ByteDance’s time to sort out TikTok’s future.
While Threads users have been calling Instagram out for the timing of the announcement, Mosseri said the app has been in development for months, “and I think it'll end up pretty different than CapCut.” On that note, he said, “Edits will have a much broader range of creative tools and probably a smaller addressable audience. Think a place to track all your ideas instead of templates. Think AI video editing tools on a per clip or per video basis. Think new insights on why your videos are succeeding or struggling.”
One way it appears Edits may have a leg up on CapCut, at least, is the App Store page says videos won’t have a watermark when they’re exported. While the free version of CapCut has long added the easily removable ending logo to videos at the time of export, it recently started adding a corner watermark too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-is-rushing-out-a-new-video-editing-app-that-sure-sounds-a-lot-like-capcut-205054034.html?src=rss
It hasn't even been a full day since ByteDance shut down TikTok in the US, and now it says the app is coming back. In a statement posted on X Sunday afternoon, TikTok wrote, “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service.”
The statement also thanked Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday and who previously said he was considering giving TikTok an extension amid reports of potential bidders (though ByteDance has expressed no interest in selling). “We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States,” TikTok said.
At the time of this writing, the TikTok app is once again up and running for me despite previously showing a message saying I “can't use TikTok for now.” Phew, what an agonizing — checks watch — 12 hours that was without it. TikTok doesn't yet seem to be back in the App Store or Google Play Store, though, so if you deleted the app from your phone, you'll probably have to wait a little longer to get it back. CapCut, one of the other ByteDance-owned apps affected by the ban, also isn't available.
STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK:
In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170…
While the law banning TikTok was set to go into effect today, January 19, the outgoing administration has expressed that it would not be enforcing it in Biden’s final hours as president. MSNBC reported on Saturday that White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s threat to go dark “a stunt,” saying “we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday.” But TikTok maintained that it couldn’t stay online without assurance that service providers would not be punished.
Trump chimed in on Sunday morning, writing on Truth Social, “I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
He also outlined a vague plan for how he envisions TikTok’s future in the US. “I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say [sic] up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok.”
According to NPR's Bobby Allyn, who spoke to a person close to the matter, Trump's statement was reassuring enough for TikTok's web providers Oracle and Akamai to restore service. But Apple and Google “still have not agreed to let TikTok return,” Allyn reports. Providers that don't comply with the TikTok ban law have been threatened with penalties that could amount to billions of dollars, so it's no surprise we aren't seeing TikTok back in the App Store or Google Play Store just yet. Apple has already said of its decision to pull TikTok and other ByteDance apps that it “is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates.”
I sure hope you aren’t already exhausted by the back and forth ridiculousness of this situation because, my friends, it’s not over.
Update, January 19 2025, 5:20PM ET: This story has been updated to add additional information from NPR on the providers that have restored service to TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-says-its-restoring-service-in-the-us-175440013.html?src=rss
Update, January 19 2025, 2:06PM ET: After shutting down its app and being delisted from various app stores about 12 hours ago, TikTok is now in the process of restoring services in the US. This story addresses more recent changes to this evolving situation; below is the original text of this report.
It’s been unclear in the leadup to the TikTok ban what the fate of parent company ByteDance’s other apps would be, but now we know: they’ve gone dark in the US too. At the same time TikTok went offline this weekend, so did other apps ByteDance has developed or is affiliated with, including the popular video-editing tool CapCut, the social media platform Lemon8 and Marvel Snap. All are now displaying messages to US users that their services are unavailable. Ben Brode, Chief Development Officer for Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner, wrote on Threads that getting caught up in the ban “was a surprise to us” and that the team is working on getting it back online.
Second Dinner echoed this on X and in its in-app message to users, adding, “MARVEL SNAP isn’t going anywhere.” While Marvel Snap was created by the US-based developer, its publisher Nuverse Games is a ByteDance subsidiary. Other Nuverse games appear to be affected too.
CapCut and Lemon8 may be less surprising casualties, both having been developed by ByteDance, but given the law’s focus on TikTok alone as its target, their shutdown is still sure to come as a shock to many users. CapCut is widely used for video editing, especially among social media creators. And many TikTok users looking for an alternative in light of the ban flocked to Lemon8; just a few days ago, Lemon8 was the second most-popular app on the App Store.
On a new support page listing some of the affected apps, Apple notes, “If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. But they can’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible.” These apps also won’t receive updates.
Along with TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8 and Marvel Snap, Apple names Lark, Hypic — an AI photo editing tool — and Gauth: AI Study Companion as apps that have been pulled as a result of the ban. But there are many others that aren’t listed that may be swept up in it too.
“Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates,” Apple said in a statement on the support page. “Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/marvel-snap-capcut-lemon8-and-other-bytedance-apps-have-also-shut-down-in-the-us-alongside-tiktok-153002137.html?src=rss
A screenshot from Marvel Snap showing a message to users that says "Marvel snap is temporarily unavailable in the US," along with additional text explaining that the outage was a surprise.
Update, January 19 2025, 1:17PM ET: After shutting down its app and being delisted from various app stores about 12 hours ago, TikTok is now in the process of restoring services in the US. This story addresses more recent changes to this evolving situation; below is the original text of this report.
The switch has flipped on the US TikTok ban. TikTok's app stoped working and was removed from the App Store and Google Play on Saturday night, just hours before the January 19 ban was expected to take effect.
People who have previously installed the app are instead greeted with a pop-up. "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," it says. "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that president Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned."
The notice gives the option to close the app or "learn more," which directs users to TikTok's website, which has similar language. Existing users can also download their data from the website. ByteDance's popular video editing app, CapCut, is also no longer available within the US, along with a slew of other apps.
Following the passage of the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Apps Act" by President Biden, TikTok had six months to divest itself from Chinese parent company ByteDance. The company opted to fight the law, bringing a case to the Supreme Court claiming that its First Amendment rights were violated by the measure. The high court, with a limited amount of time to consider the case, ruled unanimously against the app.
As part of the ban, Apple's App Store, Google's Play Store and any other app marketplace must remove TikTok or be subject to a fine of $5,000 for every user in the US that downloads the app. White House officials said earlier in the week that the ban would not be enforced during President Joe Biden's final hours in office, but TikTok said that the government had "failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to over 170 million Americans."
In a statement on its support page about the ban, Apple confirmed that TikTok and other ByteDance apps would no longer be available from the App Store in the US as of January 19. "Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates," the company wrote.
Multiple attempts have been made to ban TikTok in the US over concerns of spying, but this is the first time one has stuck, at least temporarily. President-elect Donald Trump was a major supporter of a ban during his first term in office and, ironically, is TikTok's only hope of surviving after his second inauguration. Earlier on Saturday, Trump told NBC News that he would "most likely" grant a 90-day extension to the company after taking office.
Should an extension come, it's not clear what kind of arrangement the company may work out to remain in the US after all. Perplexity AI has reportedly submitted a bid to merge with TikTok's stateside operations, CNBC reported. Others, including investor Kevin O'Leary (of Shark Tank fame) have also made proposals or expressed interest in buying the service.
Additional reporting by Karissa Bell.
Update, January 19 2025, 11:20AM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Apple's support page addressing the ban.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-is-no-longer-available-in-the-us-040204115.html?src=rss
