Amazon Prime Day Guide: Everything you need to know

It sounds cool, but is it really?

Odds are by this point you’ve heard of Amazon Prime Day, but that doesn’t mean you actually know what it is and why you should care about it. Is July 16 just another day for Amazon to push some silly sales out to people, or is it a meaningful shopping event? Should you be planning ahead for things to buy, or just winging it?

Well, there’s a lot to know about Prime Day, so let’s get right into it.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Underneath all the advertising jargon you’ll read about Amazon Prime Day is a rather large shopping event that kicks off on July 16 at 3pm ET. It used to be a one-day event, but Amazon has since expanded that, and this year it will feature 36 hours of pure deal madness. Amazon claims that Prime Day is bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and basing it off of what we saw last year, it is entirely possible that the company can pull that off this year.

The shopping event is exclusive to members of Amazon’s Prime service, which offers free 2-day shipping on millions of items, access to Prime Video, photo storage, and much more. An Amazon Prime membership now costs $119 a year, but you can get a free 30-day trial to get all the benefits without shelling out any cash. Yes, that means that you’ll be able to shop all the Prime Day deals, get the free 2-day shipping, and all without paying anything for it. Keep in mind that after the 30 days Amazon will charge you for the year in full, so you’ll want to set a reminder to cancel if you don’t want to keep it.

How does Amazon Prime Day work?

Prime Day is not as straightforward as some other big shopping days, and that’s not such a bad thing. There are some things that you’ll want to keep in mind, especially if you are looking for deals on specific products. Last year, Amazon released deals in batches every three hours. This year, some of the promotions are based around six-hour blocks, so it’s possible the company has extended the times each deal will be available to accommodate for the longer event.

Amazon will have a few different deal styles running on Prime Day. There are a few different types of deals you can expect to see during the event, including Gold Box deals, Lightning deals, Coupon deals, and direct price drops. Each of these is a little different, so here’s what you can expect from each type:

• Gold Box Deals of the Day: These are Amazon’s daily deals, and generally for these, the company has plenty of stock to fulfill orders on it all day long. We have seen Gold Box deals sell out in the past, but it’s far less often that these sell out than the other types of deals.
• Lightning Deals: Like an actual bolt of lightning, these deals will come and go fast. On an average day, Lightning deals tend to last for around six hours, but on Prime Day it’s likely that the most popular deals will go in the blink of an eye. You can generally join a waitlist if it sells out, but that won’t guarantee that you will actually get the product.
• Coupon Deals: Many sellers will be offering coupon codes as a way to help people save on Prime Day, and these require a little more work. Some will offer landing pages that automatically clip the coupon code for you, and others will require you to manually enter them during the checkout process. The few seconds of extra work can sometimes save you big, though.
• Direct Price Drops: For a vast majority of deals on Prime Day, you’ll visit the page and the price will just be reduced.

Why should I care about Prime Day?

Most people shop all year, not just around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Odds are there is something that you’re looking to buy, and who likes to pay full price for the items they want the most? Whether you’re heading off to college this year and need some essentials for your dorm room, or you’ve just been putting off a purchase of new luggage, cell phone accessories, headphones, and more, Prime Day may just offer the deal you need to own that new gear.

On Prime Day, Amazon doesn’t have deals in only one or two categories, it’s basically across everything that the site sells. This means there is literally a deal out there for everyone. Seriously. From Echo devices to Amazon services like Kindle Unlimited, Instant Pots, DNA test kits, and almost anything else you can think of, you’ll probably see a discount or ten on some of the most popular products.

As Amazon Prime Day grows in size and popularity, more retailers begin to join in on the fun, too. We’ve already seen Dell kick off a Black Friday in July sale, and eBay already said it will have thousands of exclusive deals on the big day as well. Odds are that you’ll see Best Buy, Target, and other big-box retailers joining in on the online fun. Even if you don’t want to shop at the other sites, it’s still great for the day. We’ve seen Amazon aggressively price-match other retailers in the past, and expect the same will happen if someone tries to beat its pricing this year.

How do I stay on top of Prime Day deals?

Amazon says that Prime Day 2018 will have millions of deals that are available worldwide, and being on a Monday in July odds are you’ll be working and not sitting at a computer all day to shop. Luckily, there are a few great ways to stay on top of the deals, and some of them you can do right from your phone.

First up is the Amazon app. You’ll want to make sure you have it downloaded and installed on your phone. First-time users will actually even get a $10 credit to use on Prime Day for signing in the first time, so don’t miss out. In the Amazon app, you’ll be able to set alerts for upcoming Lightning deals, watch deals that you’re interested in, and quickly check out when they go live.

If using your phone during the workday isn’t permitted, Amazon’s Assistant browser extension may be a better bet for you. You can install it for free, and as a Prime member, you’ll get $5 off your next $25 order for goods sold and shipped by Amazon. You will need to use the Assistant extension to find the deal, but it’s a small trade-off for the additional discount.

Our pals over at Thrifter will also be covering all 36 hours of the event. When it comes to big events like this that are full of deals, the team just doesn’t sleep. From deals that are likely to sell out quickly to coupon codes you may not have uncovered on your own, Thrifter will be the absolute best place to look for a Prime Day deal that you may be interested in. You’ll want to make sure that you are following them on Twitter and signed up for the Prime Day newsletter to have the best deals delivered right to your inbox.

What else should I know?

So, now that you know the basics about Prime Day, here are a couple of pro tips to help you get the absolute most out of the big event that you can. Our first words of advice are “Buy now, think later.” Seriously, some of these deals will sell out in just seconds, and the last thing you’ll want is to miss out on a great price because you were thinking too much about it. Amazon allows you to cancel an order before it ships, and on most items, the company even offers free returns. Instead of missing out, buy the deals that you’re most interested in, and then do your research on the product and such after you’ve completed the checkout process.

With such a wide variety of products being on sale during the event, it’s often times helpful to have some sort of gameplan ahead of time. Think about the things you want to buy and need the most. Jot them down, mark them in the app, and be ready to buy them when you see the deals hit. If you go in blind, you’ll either come out having purchased way too much (which is still a win when it’s discounted) or with nothing at all. The old saying “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” definitely applies here.

As mentioned above, you do 100% need to be an Amazon Prime member in order to get in on the Prime Day action. Get yourself the free 30-day trial to help save you money without costing you anything.

Let Thrifter help you

Prime Day just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it’s really hard to maximize your savings during these big events. The team over at Thrifter is full of professional deal hunters who will literally be providing around the clock coverage of everything on Prime Day. From the best savings, as they hit to roundups of what you should be buying, the team will aim to make it as easy as possible to find the best deals that are available from the first to the last minute.

Drop them a follow on Twitter and sign up for their Prime Day newsletter to have the best deals delivered right to you throughout the day.

Hands-On With the Siri Shortcuts Beta App in iOS 12

Apple last week introduced a beta version of the Siri Shortcuts app that’s designed to let iOS 12 users create Workflow-style shortcuts and assign Siri commands to them, allowing a range of actions to be executed with voice-based requests.

While the app is complex, powerful, and can be explored for hours without uncovering all that it can do, we thought we’d take a quick look at it in our latest YouTube video to give MacRumors readers an idea of what to expect from Siri Shortcuts when it launches this fall.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
The Shortcuts app (and the Siri Shortcuts feature) is based on the Workflow app that Apple acquired in 2017, so if you’ve used Workflow before, Siri Shortcuts and the dedicated Shortcuts app will be immediately familiar to you.

Shortcuts allows you to create multi-step customizable workflows that can use first-party apps, third-party apps, and Apple services and settings, which ultimately leads to a huge number of possibilities for tasks that can be streamlined and simplified. While much of this was possible with Workflow, adding Siri to the mix makes it easier to execute your shortcuts.

If you’re unfamiliar with Shortcuts, the best way to describe the feature is through examples.

You can create a “I’m going home” shortcut that sets the thermostat at a lower temperature using the Nest app, texts your roommate that you’re on the way home from work, turns on the lights at home, and opens up the Maps app with directions to your house, with the entire action activated using Siri.

Or, as Apple demonstrated during the WWDC keynote, you can make an “I’m going surfing” shortcut that uses a Siri command to get a surf report, display the current weather, calculate an estimated time of arrival to the beach, and prepare a reminder to put on sunscreen. Simpler shortcuts do things like turn a Live Photo into a GIF or surface photos you took a year ago.

When you install the Shortcuts app, you’ll see that it’s already populated with a huge gallery of pre-created shortcut options, along with all of your previously created Workflow shortcuts if you regularly use Workflow.

The Gallery section provides multiple suggestions on how shortcuts can be used, offering up options like “Home ETA,” which shares how long it will take you to get home, “Photo Grid,” which lets you select photos and organize them into a grid,” “Log Day One Activity,” which starts a new diary entry in the Day One app,” and “Make Top 25 Playlist,” which creates a playlist from your 25 most listened to songs.

Shortcuts in the Gallery are organized in different sections like “Designed for Safari,” “Share From Other Apps,” “Essentials,” “Morning Routine,” “Explore Apple Music,” “Stay Healthy,” “Photography,” “Do More Around the House,” “On the Interweb,” and much more, and there’s a search option if you’re looking for something specific.

You can modify any of the shortcuts in the gallery to tailor them to your needs or you can create shortcuts from scratch. All of your shortcuts you download are stored in the Library tab, and if you tap the “+” button in this section, you can create new shortcuts.

When making your own shortcuts, there are a huge range of actions and options to choose from, from both first and third-party apps. You can access actions from apps that include Health, Contacts, Calendar, Maps, Music, Photos, the web, and more, with these options set to expand over the course of the beta testing period as third-party apps begin implementing Shortcuts support.

All of your shortcuts can be “Added to Siri,” which assigns a personalized phrase to the shortcut. Going forward, the shortcut can then be activated using that particular Siri command.

The Shortcuts app is limited to developers at the current time, and developers who have not signed up for the Shortcuts TestFlight beta can do so through the “Request” option available in the download section of the Apple Developer Center.

It is not clear if Apple will expand the TestFlight beta to its public beta testing group, but expect the Shortcuts app to launch alongside iOS 12 this fall.

What do you think of the new Shortcuts app and the Siri Shortcuts feature in iOS 12? Let us know in the comments.

Related Roundup: iOS 12
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Searchable Transcripts Now Available for WWDC 2018 Sessions

Apple today announced that transcripts are now available for all of the WWDC 2018 videos, which can be found both in the WWDC app and on Apple’s developer website.

Transcripts are searchable and downloadable, so you can quickly locate specific content within each video.

Take advantage of transcripts to quickly discover and share information presented in WWDC18 videos. You can search by keyword, see all instances where the keyword is mentioned in the video, go straight to the time it was mentioned, and even share a link to that specific time.

Apple shares dozens of WWDC sessions led by Apple engineers on its website after each Worldwide Developers Conference. The 2018 content has been available since June, but not all videos featured transcripts.

There are a wide range of topics available, covering iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, with all content free for both registered developers and non-developers.
Discuss this article in our forums

Seven best adult coloring apps for Android to help you de-stress

Coloring used to be reserved for children, but in recent years, the endeavor has found a different demographic. What started as a niche hobby has slowly turned into an international trend, as adult coloring books are flying off the shelves all over the world.

According to experts, adult coloring can help with a number of emotional and mental issues. For many, boredom, lack of structure, and stress are the greatest triggers. But the time and concentration that adult coloring takes help the individual abandon the focus on negative issues and habits, and re-focus them in a safe and productive way.

Now, if you’re not the type to always carry around a large book and a set of crayons, then you should know that adult coloring book apps are also an option.

Having a coloring app installed on your device is great when you have a few spare moments at work and you want to relax by doing a bit of coloring without attracting unwanted attention.

In this article we’ve put together a list of seven adult coloring apps which are available for download on the Google Play Store. Most of them are free to download and will provide you with a pretty great artistic experience.

Mandala Coloring Pages

What it is:

Developed by Coloring Games, Mandala Coloring Pages lets you color beautiful Mandalas and create your own designs too.

Why we like it:

• Allows you to pick from up to 100 different Mandalas. There are several categories to choose from including Simple, Complex, Animals, Floral, Straight and more.
• The app is not just for coloring, it can also be used for freehand drawing.
• You can create your own mandalas by using the Design tool.

Install Mandala Coloring Pages

Recolor

What it is:

Don’t like coloring Mandalas? Recolor is an app filled with diverse artworks that are just waiting for you to bring it to life.

Why we like it:

• If you’re not really a fan of Mandalas, Recolor might be the app for you. It includes over 2000 uniquepictures organized in themed chapter including birds, fantasy, fashion, 3D or patterns.
• Once you are satisfied with your coloring efforts, you can further enhance your picture by adding effects, filters and outline.
• The app also has a social component. It lets you view other people’s work. You can like and comment on their drawings. Just like on Instagram you can also follow your favorite “artists”.

Install Recolor

Colorfit

What it is:

A coloring and drawing app which aims to provide anxiety and stress release.

Why we like it:

• The app includes a large variety of drawings. Some are free to use, but some require diamonds to be unlocked. Fortunately, you can get (enough) diamonds daily simply by check-in. You can also watch short ads to get more.
• Unlike other competing apps, Colorfit also offers a choice in coloring tools including spray paint, pencil or watercolour brush.
• You can create your color palette from scratch or choose from the rich palettes the app already provide.

Install Colorfit

ColorTherapy

What it is:

A coloring app for adults that puts an emphasis on experimenting with different color palettes.

Why we like it:

• The app’s gallery contains numerous image categories including Animals, Canvas, Exotic or Flowers.
• You can try out a number of color palettes including Basic, Vintage or Shades. Once you’re done coloring you can also add filters to your drawing.
• The app gives you access to a customizable brush (size, opacity), on top of the standard color fill option.
• Check out the creations of other users in the Inspiration tab.

Install ColorTherapy

Coloring Book for Adults

What it is:

Offered by App Labs Games, this coloring book app offers a nifty collection of themes for those seeking stress relief through app therapy.

Why we like it:

• It’s super straightforward. Chose a category, then picture and get to work.
• Publish your work so others can view and like your masterpiece. You don’t even have to sign-up with an account.
• Ran out of pictures to color? Try App Labs’ other coloring apps including Mandalas Coloring Book for Adults.

Install Coloring Book for Adults

Colorfly

What it is:

One of the most popular coloring book apps out there. It comes packed with tons of pictures to choose from.

Why we like it:

• While the app’s main purpose is to let you color, it also has a Creative corner where you can design your own creations. Draw your own mandala or take a picture and turn it into a drawing. Alternatively, you can write and color your own message.
• The app also shows the images colored by other people for inspiration.
• Colorfly includes a sub-category of famous paintings you can color, which is really cool. Unfortunately, some require a subscription to be unlocked. And so do additional tools like gradients and brushes.

Install Colorfly

Sidenote: The subscriptions costs $19.99/month.

Colorify

What it is:

Not to be confused with Colorfly, Colorify is an app developed by Vivasouk that allows you to engage yourself in hours of peaceful color therapy.

Why we like it:

• The rich library includes unique categories such as Zodiac Signs or Oriental.
• For each image you select, you can access the Inspiration tab to get an idea of how to color the drawing you’ve selected.
• The app has a gradient tool which is free to use.

Install Colorify

Home theater calibration guide: manual speaker setup

These days, even entry-level A/V receivers are likely to come with some form of auto-setup system that promises to make crucial speaker-related adjustments by simply plugging in a microphone and hitting the go button. Sounds appealing, right? Why would anyone want to spend an hour or more reading a manual, busting out a tape measure, and fiddling with a decibel meter when the auto-setup will do it for you, hassle-free, in a matter of minutes?

Why, indeed. Before the advent of the auto-setup routine, the frustration experienced by consumers while trying to set up their A/V equipment was a major cause for product returns. Auto-setup manages to mitigate that problem and now helps to keep A/V equipment in at buyers’ homes instead of in the return line.

Unfortunately, the measurement and crossover settings provided by these systems aren’t always accurate, and if you don’t know what to look for, you might never know it. Also, these auto-setup systems usually make EQ adjustments that don’t always improve sound quality. In fact, for those with high-quality speakers, using auto-setup can actually make your speakers sound less than their best. What’s the point of buying the best speakers you can afford if you’re not actually hearing what they’re capable of?

With a couple of tools and some guidance, even the most electronically-challenged of us can assure ourselves the very best sound quality by performing a manual speaker setup in their receiver. Here’s our plain language guide to manual speaker setup.

Step 1

Make sure you can see your receiver’s on-screen display (OSD) on your TV

Trying to set up your receiver using its tiny LCD display window is a hassle you don’t need. Instead, make sure that you can see your receiver’s display on your TV. Many modern receivers will put out the OSD via HDMI, but some older receivers require an older style of video connection. If you don’t see a menu pop up on your TV when you press the “menu” or “setup” button on your receiver’s remote control, make sure you have at least an RCA cable handy for connecting the receiver’s composite video (yellow RCA jack) output to one of the TV’s composite video inputs.

Onkyo OSD (image via)

Step 2

Know your receiver’s menu

You can spend time looking at the manual, sure, but getting a hands-on experience with your receiver’s menu by hunting and pecking through it with your remote control provides significant benefits. After browsing for a while, you’ll find that you remember where a lot of the menu options are because you actually navigated there before. Don’t worry if you don’t understand what some of the terms mean. We’ll explain some of the terms as we go on with our setup

Step 3

Place your speakers

We understand that sometimes the room in which your speakers live dictates where the speakers must be placed, and this can also vary based on the types of speakers you’re using. Some of us have entertainment centers with specific places for speakers, or we only have a handful of open spots in which to put a speaker. With that in mind, do the best you can to follow these basic speaker placement rules.

First, take a look at this simple speaker location graphic below:

Note that the center channel should be placed directly below or above your television. Since almost all dialogue comes from this speaker, it needs to be as close to the TV as possible to maintain the illusion that the voices are coming from the picture itself.

Try to place your left and right speakers as far away from each other as you are from your TV, creating an equilateral triangle between your head and the two speakers. It also helps if you place the top of the speaker at about 41 inches off the floor (average ear height).

Next, place your surround speakers above ear level (somewhere between 48 inches and 72 inches) and just behind your listening position. If you have surround back speakers (the sixth and seventh channels), place them in the same positions as the front speakers on the wall behind you.

For the subwoofer, avoid placing it flush with a corner of the room, or within another cabinet like an entertainment center. Subwoofers usually sound best placed a third of the way into the room from the side and front (or back) wall. It is OK to place a subwoofer in the back of the room, but make sure it is at least 3 feet away from your head. If you can’t place the subwoofer well into your room as suggested, keep at least 1 foot of distance between the sub and any given wall.

With your speakers placed and connected to your receiver, it’s time to set up the receiver to handle them properly. Start by accessing your receiver’s menu and selecting the “speaker setup” option. Most receivers offer the same basic adjustments. These include speaker distance, speaker size and crossover setting, and speaker level. We’ll go through each setting one at a time.

Hot dog? There’s finally a wearable that protects your pooch from heat stroke

Giving a wearable device to a dog sounds all kinds of excessive, like the story from a few years back about the Chinese rich kid who bought his pet dog two $12,000 Apple Watch Editions because … well, money. In the case of the so-called Dawg Tag, however, it’s a wearable device that could actually save your trusty canine’s life — despite its name making it sound kind of like a 1990s rapper.

The harness is touted as the world’s first wearable core temperature sensor for dogs. Its goal is to allow owners to keep track of how hot their dogs are to prevent possible heat stroke. It does this by measuring both dogs’ core temperature and air humidity levels through embedded temperature sensors. Unlike wearable devices that simply gather this information and then send it to your phone, the Dawg Tag lets you easily check the numbers via a screen mounted on the dog’s back. Temperature readings and humidity readings are both color-coded to offer at-a-glance ingormation detailing how hot your dog is from moment to moment.

“Thousands of dogs get heat stroke every year,” creator Matthew Edwards, a mechanical engineer who usually works in robotics technologies, told Digital Trends. “We actually lost a family dog due to heat stroke, which is why we started to develop this in the first place.”

According to Edwards, there are current technologies that allow owners to check their dog’s temperature, but none of these are ideal. Solutions range from expensive ingestible pills that track internal temperature to rectal thermometers. Dawg Tag, on the other hand, is noninvasive, affordable, and rugged and water resistant enough that you can use it constantly.

“We have created working prototypes which we’ve tested on all different sizes, breeds, and fur types,” Edwards said. “[We have now launched a] Kickstarter campaign to raise money for production.”

As ever, we offer our usual cautions about the risks inherent in crowdfunding campaigns. However, if you’re keen to get involved, you can head over to the project’s Kickstarter page to pledge your funds. Prices start at $120 for the harness, with shipping set to take place in December 2018. If your pooch could talk, they’d no doubt thank you for getting involved.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Warm up or cool down with the press of a button on the wrist-worn Embr
• Nest vs. Ecobee: Which is the better smart thermostat?
• Space-age toothbrush promises to clean your gnashers in 30 seconds flat
• The best hiking gear for dogs
• Nest Temperature Sensor review

Apple Maps vs. Google Maps

For nearly seven years, Google Maps was the de facto mapping service on iOS and macOS devices — until Apple decided to release a competing version of the software in 2012. However, what seemed like a smart move for the tech giant on paper ended up turning into a PR nightmare. Apple Maps received tons of criticism for incorrect directions, a lack of support for public transportation, and various other glitches and bugs that made the service nearly unusable. Further software development and updates addressed most of these problems, but has Apple Maps been able to bounce back from it’s failed start?

Shortly after being removed as a default installation on Apple products, Google Maps became available as a free download in the App Store. For a time, Google Maps was the most popular free app on the platform. While both apps are similar in terms of function and cost, there are a few key differences that might influence which mapping service you use. We’ll lay them out for you here.

Interface

Before you’ve even entered a location or begun navigating, you’ll notice a few differences in the way maps are represented. On Apple Maps, the surfaces are flatter and show more default locations. The user interface is also clean and simple. You can search for a specific location using the search bar at the bottom of the screen and change the map settings (map, satellite, or transit) by tapping the information button in the upper right. Apple also has custom icons for landmarks such as the Empire State Building, and you can see the current weather at whatever location you’re looking at in the lower right.

As for Google Maps, there are fewer icons initially presented on the screen, but more options to change your map: Explore, driving, transit, satellite, terrain, traffic, and biking. Google also has 3D models of most buildings (i.e. The Empire State Building actually looks like the building and not just like a flat rectangle). Apple has these in some locations, but not as often as Google Maps. Both apps have a current location button on the screen — the arrow on Apple Maps and the bull’s-eye on Google Maps. Google also has a Google Assistant button, quick access to input an address, and settings for your Google account and map (Apple has these functions as well, but they are built into your device’s OS).

When it comes to the actual navigation screen, Apple’s is once again very simple (particularly if you choose driving as your mode of transportation). There are not a lot of icons on the screen, which limits distractions if you’re using the app while driving. If you zoom in or choose the walking option, you’ll see more locations. Google has slightly more icons, but most of them are gas stations and parking lots; places you’d likely stop at if you were driving. Similarly, if you choose walking mode, you’ll see more general locations.

Both base their arrival estimations on current traffic conditions. Red sections along your route indicate heavy traffic, yellow is moderate traffic, and blue is no or little traffic. You may also see various alerts, from accidents to road closures. Google is a bit clearer when it comes to how traffic will impact your commute by showing the travel time in red to indicate there is heavy traffic. Other than the differences mentioned above, this section is very similar for both versions. Google has a few more options on the main screen, such as sound, compass, and quick search, making it easier to tweak your settings on the fly. This information is available on Apple Maps as well, but you have to pull up from the bottom portion of the screen and press the corresponding category, which makes it a bit trickier.

Standout features

There are some standout features for Apple Maps, such as is its integration with iOS. Tell Siri where you want to go, and she’ll start the process for you. You can also open maps, cancel an in-progress route, and make other small adjustments using just your voice. Apple Maps also uses vector graphics, which means you’ll end up using slightly less data than if you were using Google Maps. One of the coolest features for Apple Maps, though, is Flyover Mode. This feature enables you to explore densely populated urban centers in 3D landscapes composed of models of buildings and structures. Flyover also has what are known as City Tours, which guide you around various landmarks in a city. There is no real equivalent in Google Maps (although Google Tour Creator comes close).

As for Google, there is a lot that stands out for this service. Where Apple has Flyover mode, Google has Street View, which provides panoramic views of many streets around the world. Google also lets you customize your routes by adding stops and avoiding tolls. But two of the biggest draws for Google Maps are Google’s bicycle maps and offline accessibility. In a bike-friendly city, this is really handy, and Apple Maps simply doesn’t have that functionality. Apple Maps recently added bike-sharing stations to its list of places, but that’s not really the same, is it? Google also has primo offline planning for those with limited access to WiFi or data. While Apple Maps uses slightly less data than Google Maps, Google makes up for that by allowing you to download entire sections of maps for offline use.

Other differences

Another (and obvious) difference between Apple and Google’s mapping services is that one is owned by Google and the other is owned by Apple. This is worth considering when it comes to how your data is stored and when your app will be updated. Google has different policies when it comes to how much of your data is collected and what it can do with it. Google’s app has received criticism over the location history tracking page, and if you’re concerned about privacy, Apple Maps may be a better choice. On the other hand, Apple Maps is only updated when you update iOS, whereas Google rolls updates into Google Maps whenever it feels like it. It’s also worth noting that while both apps are currently available on Apple devices, you won’t be finding Apple Maps on your Android phone or Windows computer anytime soon, which could be problematic for users who don’t exclusively own Apple products.

On the software side of things, Google tends to have better small city mapping data than Apple. This might just be because Google Maps has been around for longer, but for people who don’t live in a big city, or don’t rely on a car for their primary mode of transportation, it can make a big difference. Google also has information regarding opening times of businesses, descriptions, photos, and user-generated star ratings. Apple has this as well, but less often. Apple does also include TripAdvisor, Yelp, and other third-party app ratings.

So while Apple Maps has made a lot of improvements over the last six years, and works well in major cities, Google Maps is still years ahead of the competition and definitely our top pick. Check out our Google Maps tips and tricks to get even more out of it.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best mind-mapping software
• Apple is completely rebuilding Apple Maps — and it will start in iOS 12
• Google Maps on Android no longer lets you book Uber rides
• New Google Maps update is rolling out with location-based recommendations
• After being down for a few hours, Apple’s Maps app is working again

Everything we know about the Nokia 6.1 Plus

On the heels of the Nokia 6.1, one of our favorite budget phones of 2018, it looks like HMD may be preparing for a global release of its Nokia X6, aka the Nokia 6.1 Plus, in the coming months. The XL version offers some of the best features of its pint-sized predecessor with upgraded specs and a larger display.

While we’re already privy to many of the details for the Nokia 6.1 Plus, there are still a few surprises in store. Here is everything we know about the Nokia 6.1 Plus.

Design and display:

Most of the Nokia handsets released this year have a similar design aesthetic, and the Nokia 6.1 Plus will likely be no exception. The 6.1 Plus will feature a glass over aluminum chassis with the fingerprint sensor centered below the camera module on the back of the phone. And while it won’t be as durable as the all aluminum design on the Nokia 6.1, the Gorilla Glass 3 body should provide adequate protection with a case.

If you love the current top-notch trends, the Nokia 6.1 Plus may be right up your alley. On the phone, you will find a 5.8-inch FHD LCD display. Aspect ratio comes in at 19:9, while the screen resolution is 1,080 x 2,280.

Specs and battery:

Key Specs

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 636

Memory: 4GB / 6GB

Storage: 32GB / 64GB

MicroSD Storage:  Yes

Screen Size: 5.8 inches

Resolution: 2, 280 x 1,080

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0

Battery: 3,060mAh

Size: 8.59 mm x 70.98 mm x 147.2 mm

Weight: 5.40 oz

Operating System: Android 8.1 Oreo

For a budget phone, the Nokia 6.1 Plus features some pretty impressive specs. There will reportedly be two versions of the Nokia 6.1 Plus with both featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor. One version will feature 4GB of RAM along with 32GB of storage while the other will have 6GB of RAM with 64GB of storage. You will also find a MicroSD slot for additional external storage.

While the Nokia 6.1 Plus may have a bigger screen than its smaller sibling, the battery capacity comes just ever so slightly larger at 3,060mAh. You will also find an 18W charger that reportedly adds 50 percent capacity in just 30 minutes.

Software and special features: 

We’re not entirely sure if the Nokia 6.1 Plus will ship with Android 8.1 Oreo or Android P. However, no matter what it ships with, you will be sure to get Android P, since its part of the Android One program.

Android One phones run a stock version of Android and feature Google’s artificial intellignece-powered innovations like Google Lens baked in. Additionally, you get monthly security updates as well as a streamlined Android experience.

Camera:

If you’re looking for a dual-camera setup, there is no need to buy a flagship smartphone. The budget-priced Nokia 6.1 Plus will reportedly include a dual- camera module on the rear. The primary lens will come in at 16 megapixels with an f/2.0 aperture, while the secondary lens is 5 megapixels with an f/2.2 aperture. On the front, you will see a 16-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture.

In addition to interesting camera hardware, the Nokia 6.1 Plus also has some exciting software features. There’s an A.I. camera app for object detection and improved images as well as facial recognition for dynamic stickers, as well as face unlock.

Release date and price:

Since we’re not entirely sure if the Nokia 6.1 Plus is making its way to the U.S., we don’t have a release date just yet.

Since the phone is only scheduled to be released in China thus far, we don’t have pricing details yet. However, the Nokia X6 site states the phone will start at approximately 1299 Chinese won, which is about $200.

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An Apple fan took six months to cross-stitch the original Mac’s Control Panel

Clearly one of Apple’s biggest fans, Glenda Adams recently jumped on Twitter to showcase a hand-stitched version of the original MacOS Control Panel. More specifically, she stitched each pixel as seen on the original screen, taking nearly six months of “on and off” hand stitching. The completed project measures around 14 by 8 inches and uses one black thread in a 22-count Aida cloth.

The Twitter post pays homage to Susan Kare, who was responsible for most of what you see in the now-classic Control Panel. Apple hired Kare in 1982 to design icons and fonts for the user interface and then promoted her to serve as the company’s Creative Director in Apple Creative Services. Typefaces designed by Kane include Chicago, Geneva, and Monaco. She even designed the Command key icon, among others.

To understand the beauty of the original Control Panel’s simplicity, look at the current System Preferences panel. It plays host to around 30 aspects of your Macintosh device spanning your language and region, your displays, the keyboard, mouse and/or touchpad, network connection, internet accounts, Siri control, and loads more. Compared to the original Control Panel, there is nothing simple about this all-in-one hub.

But the original Control Panel was all about simplicity, relying on icons and numbers. In just one panel you could adjust the Mac’s volume level, switch the background pattern, switch on/off mouse tracking, change the double-click speed for the mouse, change the keyboard’s key repeat rate and its delay, change the blinking rate of the insertion point, change the blink rate of menus, and see the current time and date. Simple stuff for simpler times.

Look closely at Adams’ cross-stitched Control Panel and you’ll see the date set at January 24, 1984. That was the day Steve Jobs went on stage to officially launch the very first Macintosh (128K) personal computer. The company originally introduced the Mac 128K in October 1983 followed by Ridley Scott’s famous “1984” teaser trailer during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984 — two days before hitting the market.

The first Macintosh consisted of a nine-inch built-in CRT display powered by a Motorola 68000 processor clocked at 6MHz and 128KB of system memory. It measured 13.6 inches tall, weighed 16.5 pounds, and cost $2,495 at the time. In 2018, that out-of-pocket cost would be $6,041 due to inflation. As a reference, Apple’s latest iMac Pro has a 27-inch screen, weighs 21.5 pounds, and has a starting price of $4,999.

As for the cross-stitched Control Panel, Adams doesn’t say what she has planned for her creation although presumably she will frame it and hang it on a wall. She also doesn’t appear to have any plans to cross-stitch additional Control Panels and sell them through ecommerce.

Still, one fan already requested that she cross-stitch Arthur, the first release of an entirely different operating system called RISC OS from 1987. Perhaps we’ll see more Apple-related cross-stitched artwork in the near future.

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Six Reasons Why I Subscribe To Amazon Prime

Wait — aren’t you signed up for Amazon Prime at birth? That’s how it works, right?

I don’t remember when I first signed up for Amazon Prime. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. It’s kind of like, I dunno. Shaving. It was a thing that you just started doing at some point. (Erm, and that I stopped doing a few years ago.)

Probably it had to do with faster shipping. That’s a pretty unsexy answer, but years ago that was the main perk, right? Free two-day shipping, and inexpensive options for next-day shipping.

The easier question is why I’ve continued re-upping Amazon Prime every year. That’s become an easier decision, and it’s never been one that I had to spend too much time on.

Sign up for a free Amazon Prime Trial

1. Cheaper shipping, usually …

Here’s the thing about shipping and Amazon. It’s one part black magic, another part FOMO. Depending on where you live you might get free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime. Or you might even get free same-day or one-day delivery. Or if you’re really lucky you might even get free two-hour delivery.

And for preorders, you’ll get free release-date delivery.

You’ll have to pay attention to the options when you’re checking out, but this is what got me to be a Prime member in the first place. And if I need something in a hurry, discounted one-day shipping (again, where I live) doesn’t hurt.

2. Other Prime Member discounts

By the way, there are plenty of times when I’ve found that prices have been discounted for Amazon Prime members. Again, there’s a little bit of black magic. Is the price really lower? Or is it just not as high? Am I just fooling myself here?

Doesn’t matter. If I need it and it’s “discounted,” I’ll be buying it, thank you very much.

3. Prime Video content

If you’re a cord-cutter (oh, hey, we’ve got an entire site for that now) and you’re looking to save some more money, there’s a ton of video ready to watch from Amazon Prime Video. As in, free with your subscription. And it’s available on pretty much any device you can think of.

What’s good? How about Amazon Prime Originals like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Bosch. Or Goliath.

Looking for free movies? That’s easy enough, with titles like *The Big Sick and Lady Bird — and that’s hardly scratching the surface.

Plus — and this is one you should really check out — Amazon Prime Video Channels makes subscribing to all sorts of things even easier. Premium movie channels like HBO and Showtime. Niche channels like yoga and British content. There’s a world of video out there, all billed right to your Amazon account.

4. Free music

If you’re looking for some music but don’t want to subscribe to yet another music service, Amazon Prime Music gets you more than 2 million songs, free with your Prime subscriptions.

Plus they’re ad-free, and you can play them back through your phone, Fire TV, or through an Amazon Echo.

5. Books, more books, and other things to read

And finally, I’m a huge believer in the importance of reading, both for fun and for information. Amazon’s got a bunch of free reads, including a sort of old-school lending library.

And maybe even more important is that an Amazon Prime subscription gets you a free six-month subscription to The Washington Post. (The newspaper is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos but is a separate entity from Amazon itself.) And, yeah, I’m now paying for my WaPo sub.

So, yeah. That’s why I’ve still got Amazon Prime. Figure I’m easily getting back the $99 a year I spend to be a “member.” That part’s on me, though. If I wasn’t taking advantage of all that free content and those services, I’d be wasting the money.

For me and my family, though, it’s absolutely been worth it.

6. Amazon Prime Day!

If you thought Amazon was crazy-good 364 days out of the year, just wait until June 16. Amazon Prime Day is the one day (OK, one-and-a-half days this year) where Amazon really rips the lid off and can save you some money.

And the really cool thing is that they’re starting the savings even earlier this year.

Check out every Amazon Prime Day 2018 Deal!

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