Play by Play

Podcasts, audiobooks, and music can make your daily drives less dull, but for those who want something a little more interactive and mentally engaging, you can now play Jeopardy —hosted by Alex Trebek, no less—through your smartphone using the Drivetime app (…

How do you practice your music? Do you sit down and play a specific piece all the way through, over and over? Do you do the thing where you start at the beginning of a piece, play until you make a mistake, repeat that part until you play it perfectly, and mov…

If you ever find yourself without your dice bag, or you’re feeling lazy, don’t worry. You can make it through your Dungeons & Dragons game—or whatever you play—by using Google to roll all the dice you need. Yes, even those quirky dice that have many more …

Working in an office can often be a distracting experience, so distracting that the mindless chatter around you ends up making your productivity take a hit. Read more...

Google is slowly closing the feature gap between Google Maps’ mobile and desktop versions, and a recent update finally made it as easy to play around with Street View on the Android app as it is on a computer. Read more...

When you think about locking your car doors, in most cases your biggest concern is keeping people from stealing items in your car—or the car itself. While that’s certainly a valid concern, one Reddit user brought up another important reason to keep doors lock…

There are tons of music streaming services you can pick from right now (including a brand-new HD service from Amazon). They work on whatever smartphone you own, usually support streaming to speakers through Airplay or Google Cast, and typically come with prem…

IMDb launched IMDb TV earlier this year, a streaming service that allows you to watch some programming for free through IMDb’s website. Today the company announced that it’s bringing IMDb TV to its mobile app as well, giving you the ability to stream all that…

On this smaller episode we’re diving into the topic of small talk. Is it there real value in shooting the breeze, or is it just inane jibber-jabber? Wherever you stand on the topic, you’re going to be called on to engage in small talk sooner or later—so how d…

When she was little, Hannah Barteck had the same bedtime routine as every other in kid in America, but with a twist: Every night, she’d brush her teeth, wash her face, put on her pajamas—and then plunk herself down at the piano to practice. Read more...

According to a slew of Reddit posts and Twitter threads, the most recent Pokemon Go update (version 0.151.0) has reportedly introduced a bug that affects phones with higher refresh rates. Depending on your preferences, this could cause a noticeable drop in qu…

Conversations between homeowners and renters sometimes go like this: The homeowner will ask the renter why they waste their money on rent when their monthly payment could go toward owning a home. The renter says, “I don’t have money for the down payment.” If …

I enable dark themes on any OS, app, or website that lets me, and upgrading to Android 10 means I can now set dark themes as the default look for all supported apps and menus at the system level. Read more...

Google added some new features to Photos today that make it even easier to revisit your past photos, regardless of which version of Android or iOS you’re on. And if you find nostalgia striking you especially hard, you can print pictures to local retailers dir…

The best way to win an argument with an asshole is to ignore them completely. But that’s not always possible. Sometimes you need to convince someone to stop arguing and physically move away, or you need to de-escalate an argument with someone you need to co-e…

I can’t work in silence. And if I’m working with words—which is most of the time—I can’t work while playing typical pop, rock, or hip-hop. So I collect instrumental and foreign-language music on a scale better measured by weeks than by hours. Here are some of…

If you’re trying to live in a way that helps mitigate the effects of climate change, you might resolve to fly less often or eat less meat. But what about switching banks? Read more...

The imminent launch of Android 10 (née “Android Q”) will bring a host of new things to do, and several built-in Android apps are also prepping a few fun features that you can try out right now—no Android Q needed. These include Google’s own Digital Wellbeing …

When Jim Cantore touches down in a city, it makes the news. During a major weather event like Hurricane Dorian, news outlets even speculate about his next destination. Because in addition to appearing on shows like AMHQ and Storm Stories: The Next Chapter, Ca…

Happy iOS 13 release day! Now that the update is live, resist the urge to tap your way through to the big iOS update. There are a few things you can do before you start installing it—really, things worth doing at least once a year, and iOS update time is the …