Apple still isn’t done with iOS 26, as the first developer beta of iOS 26.6 adds a new contact-related alert, better protection for Apple Maps users, and more.

While we’re all looking forward to the reveal of iOS 27 at WWDC, the iOS 26 software cycle isn’t over just yet. Following the public release of iOS 26.5, Apple has now deployed iOS 26.6 developer beta 1.

Tuesday’s software update increases the build number to 23G5028e, up from the 23F77 build number of iOS 26.5. Though the iOS 26.6 beta is a relatively light release feature-wise, it does include two significant changes: an Apple Maps security upgrade and a new Contacts feature.

Both are welcome enhancements. However, these are most likely the last features Apple plans to add to iOS 26. The operating system will only receive security updates once the iOS 26.6 beta cycle is complete.

With Tuesday’s developer beta, Apple included a new alert to notify users when they’ve reached the maximum number of blocked contacts. This means once an iPhone or iPad user has 20,000 blocked contacts, they won’t be able to block any more.

“You’ve reached the maximum number of blocked contacts. To block additional callers, remove a blocked contact in Settings,” explains a new alert dubbed “Blocked Contacts Limit Reached.”

To remove blocked contacts, users must navigate to Settings > Apps > Phone > Blocked Contacts. The Contacts and Phone apps on iOS also alert users to duplicate contacts, giving iPhone users the option to remove redundant information.

Apple Maps Blastdoor

With iOS 14, Apple introduced a new sandbox system for iMessage, known as Blastdoor. The framework offers protection against zero-click exploits, keeping conversations and their details private.

iOS 26.6 includes a new Apple Maps Blastdoor framework.

The first developer beta of iOS 26.6 seemingly offers similar protections for the Apple Maps app. A comparison of iOS 26.5 with iOS 26.6 beta 1 reveals that the latter has a new “Maps Blastdoor” framework.

While there are few details about the framework itself, it’s more than likely a security measure, given the existing Blastdoor sandbox system. Apple’s website explains that Blastdoor for iMessage “isolates, parses, transcodes, and validates untrusted data arriving in Messages, IDS, and other vectors to help prevent attacks.”

This is accomplished through “sandbox restrictions and memory-safe validation of output, which creates a significant obstacle for attackers to overcome before reaching other parts of the operating system,” says the Blastdoor description. We can expect similar features with the Maps Blastdoor framework.

iOS 27, meanwhile, is set to deliver more significant changes. The update will enter developer testing during WWDC 2026, which begins with a keynote video on June 8. Expected upgrades include a revamped Siri, improved support for third-party AI, and stability improvements.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights a kind of food that seems very summery to me. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Ketchup or mustard.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Throw it on the grill.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• BAIT, DOLT, TRIG, FOOL, GUFF, DIET, FOOT, BANG, TINE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• BRAT, BANGER, FOOTLONG, WEENIE, FRANKFURTER

Today’s Strands spangram is HOTDIGGITYDOG. To find it, start with the H that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up and then down.

Every Flavor of Robot built Etchbot to stand out at the OpenSauce event. The machine sketches a complete portrait on a regular Etch-a-Sketch in roughly sixty seconds. It also accepts video files and renders them by sketching one frame after another while a camera records each result. The finished time-lapse clips show the classic toy screen updating rapidly enough to convey motion.

The builders started with the basic challenge of any Etch-a-Sketch robot. Two knobs move a stylus that never lifts from the drawing surface. Mechanical play, called backlash, appears whenever a knob changes direction. Friction and slight slippage add more error at higher speeds. Earlier machines handled these problems by moving slowly and carefully.

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However, Etchbot adopted a different approach because it has a lot more muscle and is smarter than the older machines. The team designed a custom motherboard dubbed MotorGo AXIS, which includes two brushless motor drivers as well as an ESP32 microprocessor and simply slides on top of a Raspberry Pi. They chose Gartt drone motors because of their power and ease of use. Each motor was outfitted with a tiny magnet attached to the rotor as well as an encoder board to provide critical real-time feedback. With the MotorGo program conducting the calibration, the brushless motors were quickly turned into trustworthy servos.

These servos just slide into the Etch-a-Sketch knobs, and the Raspberry Pi handles the picture and video preparation. It’s all made simple using a web interface that allows anyone to upload a file. The system then reduces the supplied data to the appropriate size for the toy’s screen, removes any background, converts the output to clean line work, and generates motion commands in GCODE format. There are some further stages that clean up any stray points and determine the most efficient route between various lines so that the stylus does not waste hours retracing the same empty region.

The GCODE is then delivered over WiFi to the MotorGo board, where it is translated into motor movement by a motion controller, but it also includes an extra bit of logic that corrects for backlash whenever the direction changes. To keep things pleasant and stable, acceleration restrictions are set so that the internal mechanism does not receive any abrupt jolts. Between each drawing, the algorithm simply returns the pen to a known safe location, ensuring that any subsequent sketches remain fully visible. The video mode just repeats the same process, one frame at a time, which is essentially the same as sketching a single picture but for dozens or hundreds of images. The camera captures each final frame, which is then stitched together to generate a video clip.

Speed is all about the mix of powerful servos and tailored compensation, rather than any single magic component that makes it all work. Portraits that took minutes to complete now take only one minute. The video side works in the same way, with the hardware keeping up with video frames because each drawing is completed before the next one begins, and to keep the surface looking decent, an eraser function or screen clear step is added between each frame. The entire project is open source, with all of the driver code, server backend, web interface, and MotorGo board design files available on GitHub. In addition to the custom board design files, everyone has access to the printed parts and assembly notes.
[Source]

After more than three months of renovations, the doors of the Passeig de Gracia Apple Store in Barcelona are open, with updated interior, bigger Genius Bar, and a dedicated online order pickup area.

Opened in 2012, Apple’s Passeig de Gracia store is the company’s second retail location in Barcelona. It’s located in a historic 32,000-square-foot five-story building, dating back to the 1800s. The building itself is near the Mandarin Oriental hotel, and is on one of Barcelona’s most expensive commercial streets.

Though the stone exterior of the store location remains unchanged, Apple has made significant updates to the interior of its Barcelona store. The ground floor is more spacious, as the Forum area has been removed. The store’s iconic staircase is also more visible.

The Passeig de Gracia Apple Store has a new online order pickup area. Image Credit: AppleSfera

As AppleSfera points out, underneath the glass staircase is a new area where customers can pick up the Apple products they’ve ordered online. The area is easy to identify, with an Apple Store logo on the glass and the word “pickup” displayed beneath it.

This pickup area replaces the store’s video section, previously known as the Forum. Instead of large groups sitting in front of a screen, Apple customers in need of information can now participate in workshops held on the first floor.

The Forum area has been moved to the first floor of Apple’s Passeig de Gracia store. Image Credit: AppleSfera

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Other changes include custom-made white flooring, which appears seamless, and is built to reduce ambient noise in the store. The metal walls of the store remain unchanged, though.

The Apple Store at Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 AM to 9:00 PM CEST.

Eric Min wrapped up his senior year at Purdue with a project that keeps every curve and button of the original Game Boy Pocket exactly where people remember them, called StereoBoy. The red or pink shell still slips into a pocket the same way it did in the late 90s. Flip the power switch and the device wakes up ready to play music instead of games.

The space previously occupied by the old monochrome display is now dominated by a color screen. It generates silky-smooth images that precisely track the sound as it plays in real time. A live stereo volume meter is displayed adjacent to that screen via a line of LEDs. The lights dance around, fluctuating in brightness and color in perfect sync with the music; there’s no need to navigate to additional screens or apps for a fast visual check.

Inside the familiar case is a custom board based on the RP2350 microprocessor, which is essentially running the show. It handles all of the graphics, maintains everything clean and responsive, and even runs the main software. They also have a separate audio processor and a high-quality digital-to-analog converter that converts saved data into perfect stereo sound that you may listen to directly through headphones

Music and programs are stored on the same small cartridges that were used for games, and they slide right into the same slot that once held your favorite Game Boy games. Simply insert a cartridge and the player will display the tracks stored on it, or consider how it could transport extra signals from the main CPU to facilitate future add-ons, such as visual output or connecting to other music gear. The options are limitless…

It is powered by a small rechargeable battery that is meant to fit inside the original compartment. As expected, they were able to achieve many hours of playback from a single charge, which should be plenty to get you through a decent walk or train ride without having to put it in again. A small thumbwheel on the side allows you to adjust volume or navigate the menus, while the classic buttons control playback, pause, and navigation. Min created all of this as his final project and won first place, because the idea was always to preserve the look and feel that people already knew and loved, and then just add actual stereo playback, responsive visuals, and a way to exchange music and updates the old school manner.
[Source]

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Rare U.S. bills
Answer: TWOS

5A clue: 94-foot-long model at the American Museum of Natural History
Answer: WHALE

6A clue: “Cool it, okay!”
Answer: RELAX

7A clue: Bohemian
Answer: ARTY

8A clue: Candy in a dispenser
Answer: PEZ

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: When repeated, “It’ll be all right”
Answer: THERE

2D clue: Classic ballroom dance
Answer: WALTZ

3D clue: Maker of the Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream
Answer: OLAY

4D clue: Reason for an R rating
Answer: SEX

5D clue: Tortilla sandwich
Answer: WRAP