Connect with us
DAPA Banner

Tech

Thin Phones Head-to-Head: iPhone Air vs. Galaxy S25 Edge

Published

on

They may not be the highest-selling smartphones out there, but don’t sleep on the advantages that a thin and light phone can give you. Lighter than most, more comfortable to hold — and just plain appealing in terms of design — the Apple iPhone Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge are the future of slim phones (and the foundation for foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and rumored iPhone Fold).

But are you giving up too much else for a slim phone? If you press them together, are they much thicker combined than a regular iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25 (or the new Galaxy S26)? And do they overcome trade-offs in battery life, camera and sound quality that come with a thinner design? I’m here to do the math and compare features for you.

Looking to order the iPhone Air? Check out our order guide to learn if you can get it free and other great deals.

Advertisement

Want to buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge? Find out which carriers and retailers are offering the best deals on Samsung’s slim phone.

iphone Air colors on a white background

The iPhone Air starts at $999.

Apple

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge price comparison

  • iPhone Air: $999. The iPhone Air takes the place formerly held by the iPhone 16 Plus, making it the only model with a screen larger than the iPhone 17 that isn’t an iPhone 17 Pro.

  • Galaxy S25 Edge: $1,100. The S25 Edge joins the S26 and S26 Ultra in this year’s Galaxy lineup.

The iPhone Air includes fewer features than the iPhone 17, such as the number of cameras. However, it features a larger display, an A19 Pro processor, and is equipped with 256GB of storage to begin with. Additionally, Apple has consistently applied premium pricing for minor design changes. The original MacBook Air fit into an inter-office envelope and cost $1,799, despite being underpowered compared to the rest of the MacBook line. (Over a few generations, it would eventually become Apple’s entry-level affordable laptop at $999, where it still resides.)

Advertisement

The Galaxy S25 Edge’s higher price ($101) could be an attempt to capture more dollars from customers looking for a phone that sets them apart, but we’re already seeing occasional steep discounts on it.

In both cases, it’s worth noting that the pricing has held up against the Trump administration tariffs so far.

The Galaxy S25 Edge in Icyblue, silver and Jetblack

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge comes in three colors.

Advertisement

Carly Marsh/CNET

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge dimensions and weight

Now it’s time to go deep — as in, just how thin is the depth of each phone?

No phone manufacturer describes its phones as bulky or chunky, even for extra-large models like the iPhone Pro Max. Yet, the difference between the depths of the iPhone Air and the S25 Edge, as well as the standard phones of each respective family, is stark.

Not counting the camera assembly, which Apple refers to as the “plateau,” most of the iPhone Air’s body is 5.64mm thick. The S25 Edge, at its narrowest point, is a hair thicker at 5.8mm. (Both companies list only the thinnest measurement, not including the cameras.) Compare that to 7.9mm for the iPhone 17 and 7.2mm for the Galaxy S25.

Advertisement
iPhone Air

The iPhone Air is 5.64mm thick.

Celso Bulgatti/Zooey Liao/CNET

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is actually thinner when open, at 4.2mm, but it also has a larger surface area to accommodate its battery and other components. Other foldables from Chinese companies, such as Huawei, Oppo and Honor, also boast thinner bodies than the iPhone Air or S25 Edge, but only when opened.

And when you press the two thin phones together, do they really match up to the typical phone slab you’re carrying now? Combined (and again, excluding the camera bumps), the iPhone Air and S25 Ultra are 11.44mm thick, which is thicker than either the iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25, and even the iPhone 17 Pro Max at 8.75mm. However, if you want to achieve a more vintage feel, the original first-generation iPhone, released in 2007, measured 11.6mm.

Advertisement
An iPhone Air on top of a Galaxy S25 Edge being held in a tastefully-appointed living room.

Stacking the iPhone Air (top) and the S25 Edge (bottom) gives you the same thickness as the original first-generation iPhone (if you ignore the camera bumps, and the awkwardness of not seeing either screen).

Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET

Surprisingly, the less depth translates to only a slight decrease in weight compared to the other models in each lineup. The iPhone Air weighs 165 grams versus 177 grams for the iPhone 17, while the S25 Edge pips in at just 163 grams but gets barely undercut by the Galaxy S25 at 162 grams.

How big is each phone in the hand? While both are similar, the iPhone Air is slightly shorter and narrower, measuring 156.2mm tall and 74.7mm wide, compared to the S25 Edge’s dimensions of 158.2mm tall and 75.6mm wide.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge displays

Apple calls the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch OLED screen a Super Retina XDR display. It features a high resolution of 2,736×1,260 pixels at a density of 460 ppi (pixels per inch) and can output a maximum of 3,000 nits of brightness outdoors, as well as a minimum of 1 nit in the dark.

Advertisement
iPhone Air iOS 26 lock screen

The iPhone Air’s display can output 3,000 nits of brightness on a sunny day.

Jesse Orrall/CNET

Samsung packed a larger 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen into the S25 Edge, which translates to a high-resolution display measuring 3,120×1,440 pixels at 513 ppi. Its brightness goes up to 2,600 nits.

Both phones’ screens feature adaptive 120Hz refresh rates for smoother performance.

Advertisement
Galaxy S25 Edge display

The Galaxy S25 Edge display has a more dense resolution.

Jesse Orrall/CNET

Comparing the iPhone Air and S25 Edge cameras

So far, many of the specs have been close enough to weigh each phone fairly evenly. Then, we get to the cameras.

The iPhone Air includes a single rear-facing 48-megapixel wide camera with a 26mm-equivalent field of view and a constant f/1.6 aperture. In its default mode, the camera outputs 24-megapixel “fusion” photos that result from an imaging process where the camera captures a 12-megapixel image (using groups of four pixels acting as one larger pixel for improved light gathering, known as “binning”) and a 48-megapixel reference for additional detail.

Advertisement
A closeup of the iPhone Air's 48-megapixel rear camera

The iPhone Air includes just a single 48-megapixel rear camera.

Jesse Orrall/Zooey Liao/CNET

Apple also claims the iPhone Air can capture 2x-zoomed (52mm-equivalent) telephoto images that are 12 megapixels in dimension and represent a crop of the center of the image sensor.

The S25 Edge features two built-in rear cameras: a 200-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. There’s no dedicated telephoto camera, so the S25 Edge also offers a 2x-zoomed crop that shoots photos at 12 megapixels in size.

Advertisement
The two rear cameras on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in silver

The Galaxy S25 Edge has dual cameras.

Jesse Orrall/CNET

The front-facing selfie cameras on each phone differ significantly. The iPhone Air introduces a new 18-megapixel camera with an f/1.9 aperture. But the increased resolution over the S25 Edge’s 12-megapixel selfie camera isn’t what’s notable. 

Apple calls it a Center Stage camera because it features a square sensor that can capture tall or wide shots without requiring the user to physically turn the phone, unlike the 4:3 ratio sensors found in typical selfie cameras. It can adapt the aspect ratio based on the number of people it detects in front of the camera: a traditional portrait orientation when you’re snapping a photo of yourself, for example, or switch to a landscape orientation when two friends stand next to you in the frame.

Advertisement

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge batteries

When it comes to concerns, the battery life of thin phones is at the top of the list. The insides of most phones are packed with as much battery as will fit, so making a phone slimmer naturally means removing space for the battery. With either model, you end up sacrificing battery power for design. But how much?

Apple doesn’t list the iPhone Air’s battery capacity, but claims “all-day battery life” and up to 27 hours of video playback. It also sells a special iPhone Air MagSafe Battery add-on that magnetically snaps to the back of the phone and works only with the iPhone Air. In her review, CNET’s Senior Tech Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti drained the battery in 12 hours over a phone-intensive day, but did end a more typical day with 20% remaining.

A Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air stacked together.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge vs. iPhone Air. 

Advertisement

Jesse Orrall/Zooey Liao/CNET

The S25 Edge features a 3,900-mAh battery, which Samsung claims will support up to 24 hours of video playback. (Come on, phone manufacturers, our phones aren’t televisions left running in the background.) 

In her S25 Edge review, Al-Heeti noted that the phone also generally lived up to Samsung’s own “all-day battery life” boast, saying, “Ultimately, you’ll get less juice out of that slimmer build, but S25 Edge offers just enough battery life to make me happy…But the S25 Edge has shifted my priorities. I’m enjoying the sleek form factor so much that I’m willing to make some compromises, even if that means I have to be sure to charge my phone each night, which is something I tend to do anyway.”

It’s worth noting that both phones support fast charging when used with a 20-watt or higher wired power adapter, allowing them to reach around 50% charge in 30 minutes from a completely discharged state.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge processor, storage and operating system

The iPhone Air is powered by Apple’s latest A19 Pro processor, the same one found in the iPhone 17 Pro models (compared to the A19 in the stock iPhone 17). Apple doesn’t list the built-in memory, but we suspect it includes 8GB of RAM (which is recognized as the minimum amount to run AI features such as Apple Intelligence). The base storage configuration is 256GB, with options to order the iPhone Air with 512GB or 1TB capacity. It ships with iOS 26, the latest version of the operating system that Apple released widely this week.

Advertisement

The S25 Edge is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, the same one that powers the other S25 models. It includes 12GB of RAM and is available in storage capacities of 256GB and 512GB. The phone comes preinstalled with Android 15.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge all specs

Apple iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

Apple iPhone Air Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate 6.5-inch OLED; 2,736 x 1,260 pixel resolution; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate 6.7-inch QHD+  AMOLED display; 120Hz refresh rate
Pixel density 460ppi 513 ppi
Dimensions (inches) 6.15 x 2.94 x 0.22 in 2.98 x 6.23 x 0.23 inches
Dimensions (millimeters) 156.2 x 74.7 x 5.64 mm 75.6 X 158.2 X 5.8mm
Weight (grams, ounces) 165 g (5.82 oz) 163g (5.75 oz)
Mobile software iOS 26 Android 15
Camera 48-megapixel (wide) 200-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)
Front-facing camera 18-megapixel 12-megapixel
Video capture 4K 8K
Processor Apple A19 Pro Snapdragon 8 Elite
RAM + storage RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB
Expandable storage None No
Battery Up to 27 hours video playback; up to 22 hours video playback (streamed). Up to 40 hours video playback, up to 35 hours video playback (streamed) with iPhone Air MagSafe Battery 3,900 mAh
Fingerprint sensor None (Face ID) Under display
Connector USB-C USB-C
Headphone jack None None
Special features Apple N1 wireless networking chip (Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO), Bluetooth 6, Thread. Action button. Apple C1X cellular modem. Camera Control button. Dynamic Island. Apple Intelligence. Visual Intelligence. Dual eSIM. 1 to 3,000 nits brightness display range. IP68 resistance. Colors: space black, cloud white, light gold, sky blue. Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 20W adapter or higher via charging cable. Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger. IP88 rating, 5G, One UI 7, 25-watt wired charging, 15-watt wireless charging, Galaxy AI, Gemini, Circle to Search, Wi-Fi 7.
US price starts at $999 (256GB) $1,100 (256GB)

Watch this: iPhone Air Review: A Joy to Hold, at a Cost

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Tech

BYD’s Denza Z Drops Its Roof on Over a Thousand Electric Horsepower

Published

on

BYD Denza Z Electric Supercar Open-Top
Attendees at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show strolled inside the main hall and were greeted by BYD’s Denza Z series convertible, a four-seater with a soft top that neatly folds up into the rear deck. Much of the automobile, including body panels, seats, and structural components, is made of carbon fiber, which helps to reduce weight and improve handling. When things get really fast, a tiny air vent on the bonnet helps to increase airflow and give the car a little extra downforce.



This car’s design was penned by a team directed by Wolfgang Egger, Audi’s former head of styling, who has a keen sense of style. Smooth curves and exquisite features combine to make the car look attractive without going overboard. The doors are beautiful and long, with no handles visible, but the large wheels and brilliant brake calipers provide a good idea about the beast of a car hiding underneath. We noticed one car painted in a wonderful sheen blue-green that looked amazing in the hall.

Sale


Segway Ninebot S2 Electric Self-Balancing Scooter – Master Your Commute w/t 11.2 mph Max. Speed, 21.7 Mi…
  • Speed & Range: Experience exhilarating rides with the Ninebot S2’s impressive top speed of 11.2 mph and range of 21.7 miles.
  • Beginner-Friendly: Perfect for riders aged 16-50, the Segway S2 features a user-friendly learning mode, providing a smooth and gradual introduction.
  • Adjustable & Supportive: Enjoy a customized fit tailored to your needs, as the Segway S2 accommodates heights ranging from 4’3″ to 6’6″ and supports…


Under the hood, or rather, beneath the floor, is a trio of electric motors that work together to drive all four wheels using Denza’s E3 system. And what a power bump, with well over 1,000 horsepower. It can accelerate from zero to sixty-two miles per hour in less than two seconds flat! They used the DiSus-M magnetorheological suspension from the Yangwang U9 and added features such as predictive road scanning and full chassis control, allowing the car to corner like a dream even while the roof was down. The steering is also steer-by-wire, which keeps things feeling quite sharp and responsive.

Advertisement

BYD Denza Z Electric Supercar Convertible
The car is powered by BYD’s latest Blade Battery, which rests low on the floor and supports Flash Charging 2.0. That means a full charge can be achieved in as little as five minutes at the appropriate charging station. The same battery pack is used in a few different models, providing ample range while remaining smooth on the inside. They also have several advanced driving aids, all gathered under the Eye of the God suite, which supports in day-to-day tasks while also adding some extra safety measures for longer journeys.

BYD Denza Z Electric Supercar Convertible
The four seats inside the automobile are placed in a way that makes the back row feel functional rather than crowded. A large screen dominates the center of the dashboard, flanked by a digital instrument panel and a wireless charging station. The central console has a neat and easy button layout for climate control and drive mode. The materials seem high-quality while remaining nice and utilitarian, and the tri-color accents on the display model provide a wonderful touch of flair.

BYD Denza Z Electric Supercar Convertible
Denza plans to ship the convertible to Europe first this summer. Following that, it will make a complete global debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. In case you’re wondering, the car will also perform some demonstration laps there. They’re still doing track testing at the Nürburgring, and they anticipate to have proper lap times shortly. Chinese buyers will have to wait till after the worldwide deployment is complete. The car will be available in three versions: normal, open top, and dedicated track edition.

BYD Denza Z Electric Supercar Convertible
In terms of price, it will be significantly less expensive than its competitors. Early estimates in China range between 400,000 and 500,000 yuan, or $59,000 to $73,000. That places the Denza Z in the same category as the Maserati GranCabrio, but with more power and faster charge, making it a really fantastic offer all around. Prices in Europe will be published closer to the time the automobile goes on sale.
[Source]

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for April 27

Published

on

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.


See those circles in the grid of today’s Mini Crossword? All of them will contain the same letter, when you’re done. 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.

Advertisement

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

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

completed-nyt-mini-crossword-puzzle-for-april-27-2026.png

The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for April 27, 2026.

Advertisement

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Word for “dad” in Spanish, Italian, Russian and Hindi
Answer: PAPA

5A clue: Go crazy, as a crowd
Answer: ERUPT

7A clue: Drink with a red, white and blue logo
Answer: PEPSI

Advertisement

8A clue: Philadelphia M.L.S. team
Answer: UNION

9A clue: Buddy
Answer: PAL

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Make more exciting
Answer: PEPUP

2D clue: Madison Square Garden, e.g.
Answer: ARENA

Advertisement

3D clue: Center of the eye
Answer: PUPIL

4D clue: Lhasa ___ (dog breed)
Answer: APSO

5D clue: Element #50
Answer: TIN

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Who is Dr Tan Kim Yong? The founder behind Hao Mart, AIM Corp, & a supermarket legal battle

Published

on

From a Whampoa minimart to Orchard Road: The rapid expansion of Hao Mart under Dr Tan Kim Yong

Once a materials specialist, Dr Tan Kim Yong opted for a completely different career path and opened convenience store Hao Mart in 2016.

Since then, however, the journey of Hao Mart has been a roller coaster ride, fuelled by expansion plans and legal troubles. We take a look back at the journey of Hao Mart founder Dr Tan Kim Yong.

1999: After spending six years as Chief R&D Officer of AGC Multi Material Singapore, Dr Tan Kim Yong founded Advanced Integrated Manufacturing Corporation (AIM). According to their website and LinkedIn page, the firm supplies “Nadcap and AS9100 accredited manufacturing services,” which are used in aerospace, defence, and high-tech industries.

May 26, 2005: As AIM expanded internationally, it became formally listed on the SGX Mainboard in 2005, with Dr Tan serving as Group Chairman and CEO and a substantial shareholder.

Advertisement
Hao Mart’s first minimart in Whampoa./ Image Credit: T T Teo, Saad Chinoy via Google Reviews

2016: In 2016, Dr Tan entered Singapore’s highly competitive grocery space, opening the first Hao Mart outlet in Whampoa. Established with the concept of a “super-mini-mart,” the outlet combines a convenience store concept with the product range of a supermarket.

May 2, 2017: AIM was delisted from SGX due to low trading liquidity, compliance costs, and other factors. Hao Corp—the parent company of Hao Mart—was listed as the offeror of the now-private entity.

2019: Hao Mart began accelerating its retail expansion into multiple formats. Amid the expansion, it filed its first financial statement for FY2019, with a loss of S$2.2 million.

Aug 8, 2019: Hao Megamart opened at The Grandstand. Spanning over 46,000 sq ft, it carried more than 70,000 products, including live seafood, a butchery, bakery, fresh produce, household goods, and branded electronics—positioning itself as a one-stop hypermart alternative to Giant and NTUC FairPrice.

Dec 20, 2019: Another retail format, “Eccellente by Hao Mart,” targeting a more premium, international grocery audience, was launched. Outlets opened in Marina Square, Westgate, and Kinex.

Advertisement

Nov 2021: Hao Mart hits its peak of 51 stores in Singapore. It also signed a 7.5-year lease with department store landlord OG for all five levels of the former OG Orchard Point building. The ambitious deal marked Hao Corp’s biggest expansion yet, bringing its grocery and F&B concept to the heart of the Orchard Road shopping belt.

Mar 2023: Hao Mart reported a loss of S$23.2 million for FY2023, after turning profitable for the previous two financial years.

Aug 4, 2023: OG entered a facility agreement with Dr Tan personally, extending a S$66.2 million loan to fund Taste Orchard’s opening at the former Orchard Point. The loan is secured by a mortgage over Dr Tan’s Good Class Bungalow at Jervois Hill, one of Singapore’s most prestigious neighbourhoods. By this time, the project’s opening had already been delayed by around six months from its original planned commencement in Feb.

Taste OrchardTaste Orchard
Taste Orchard was Hao Mart’s first foray into the Orchard Road belt./ Image Credit: orchardmalls.com

Feb 2024: Taste Orchard opens, featuring three floors occupied by Eccellente by Hao Mart, offering a live seafood station, a butchery & deli counter, and an FYI Live Kitchen. Tenants on other floors include Sushiro, BHC Chicken, Killiney Kopitiam, and Warabimochi Kamakura.

Jan – Nov 2024: According to OG’s lawsuit, Hao Mart failed to pay rent at Taste Orchard from Jan to Nov 2024. The supermarket also allegedly sublets parts of the premises to other tenants without obtaining OG’s prior approval, which OG later claims constitutes a breach of the 7.5-year lease.

Advertisement

Dec 2024: Hao Mart stores dwindled to 20, according to its website.

Jul 2025: The cracks start to appear publicly. at the prime location, and Hao Mart themselves scale down operations at the building. The basement supermarket was shuttered, with products moved elsewhere in the building.

Aug 2025: Hao Mart sues PropNex Realty for alleged misrepresentation over the Taste Orchard lease. This kick-started a series of lawsuits.

Sept 2025: Landlord , demanding that tenants move out by the end of the year. The move comes just 18 months after Taste Orchard opened. No explanation is given for the lease termination.

Advertisement

Oct 2025: OG files a lawsuit against Hao Mart for S$6.6 million, including unpaid rent, taxes, and other charges. Hao Mart files a counterclaim, alleging that OG itself breached a separate oral agreement.

Dec 2025: Taste Orchard officially ceases operations, and the premises are returned to OG.

Jan 2026: Hao Mart, Dr Tan, and his wife sue OG for S$57.5 million in damages. They allege a conspiracy by OG to cause loss to Hao Mart by damaging or destroying their business. In the same period, Hao Mart reported a S$49.6 million loss for FY2025, with the financial statements filed belatedly in Jan 2026.

Apr 2026: Media reports indicate that Hao Mart has been reduced to just seven outlets amid ongoing legal disputes, as the company sinks deeper into losses.

Advertisement
  • Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Featured Image Credit: Hao Mart/Facebook

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Tech

Today’s NYT Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for April 27 #1773

Published

on

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


Today’s Wordle puzzle is kind of crazy. The same letter shows up three times. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025

Advertisement

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter, which appears three times.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Four out of the five letters are vowels, but one of them shows up three times. There are two different vowels: the threepeat, and another one.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with E.

Advertisement

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with E.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to something that’s strange or mysterious.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is EERIE.

Advertisement

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, April 26, No. 1772, was GLOSS.

Recent Wordle answers

April 22, No. 1768: SNORE

April 23, No. 1769: TWEET

April 24, No. 1770: DRUNK

Advertisement

April 25, No. 1771: WOMEN

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Tech

The apps that help me stay on top of my reading goals in 2026

Published

on

I recently wrote about why I chose the Supernote Nomad over other e-ink tablets as my primary reading and writing device. However, while the Supernote handles most of my book reading, it cannot do everything. 

Newsletters pile up, RSS feeds keep rolling, audiobooks need a home, and I need a place to buy ebooks. That means I still depend on a small stack of apps to keep my reading life from falling apart.

Here are the four apps I use every day to stay on top of my reading goals in 2026. 

NetNewsWire: for keeping up with my favorite websites and blogs

If you are not using RSS feeds to follow your favorite websites, you are missing out. Instead of checking five or six sites every morning, or god forbid, creating a news-focused timeline on social media apps, an RSS reader pulls all the new articles into one place. I use NetNewsWire to accomplish this, and the best part is that it is completely free and open source.

Advertisement

It works across all my Apple devices, offers good features, and is fast. There are no ads, no algorithms deciding what I should read, and no social media nonsense. I can subscribe to the feeds I want, and NetNewsWire fetches the articles for me. That is it. I love how simple it is, and I genuinely look forward to opening it every morning with my coffee.

Get NetNewsWire

Readwise Reader: for saving articles and keeping my newsletters organized

If NetNewsWire is where I discover things to read, Readwise Reader is where I actually read them. It is a read-it-later app, but calling it that feels like calling the iPhone “a phone.” It does a lot more.

I save long articles I do not have time to read right away, and Readwise Reader keeps them neatly organized and waiting for me. What I love about this app is keyboard navigation, an easy way to highlight paragraphs, and its integration with Obsidian, my note-taking app

It ensures that everything I want to retain is automatically synced to my note-taking app, allowing me to easily take notes on them and flesh out the ideas. 

I also love that Readwise Reader lets me pull newsletters directly into the app. So, instead of piling up in my email inbox and getting buried, they appear in my reader app where I can read them at my leisure.

Advertisement

Get Readwise Reader

BookPlayer: for listening to classic audiobooks

When I am doing chores or traveling, I prefer to listen to audiobooks to keep on top of my reading goals. The app I have been using for almost half a decade to do this is BookPlayer.

It is a free audiobook listening app (with in-app purchases to unlock extra features), and I use it to listen to classic audiobooks that are in the public domain or available for free through services like LibriVox

BookPlayer makes listening to those audiobooks genuinely enjoyable. The app is clean, the controls are simple, and it does not ask for a subscription. What more can you want from an app?

Get BookPlayer

Advertisement

Amazon Kindle: for when I have no other choice

I read most of my books on the Supernote Nomad, but not everything is available as a PDF or ePub. A lot of the books I want to read are only available on the Kindle store, so the Kindle app is something I cannot avoid. 

If a book is available anywhere, it is probably on Kindle. Then there are Kindle-exclusive books that I cannot find anywhere else. As much as I want to truly own my e-books, there’s no denying that Kindle’s library is unbeatable, and I still use it to discover and read new books. 

Get Amazon Kindle app

What does your reading setup look like?

These are the four apps keeping my reading life organized in 2026. I am always on the lookout for something better, so if you have a reading app you swear by, don’t forget to share it with us. I would love to know what is working for you.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

What Happens When An Engine Derates? Here’s What You Should Know

Published

on





If the diesel engine in your vehicle suddenly decides not to play ball and loses power, or is restricted to a certain speed, then it’s possible that the engine has been derated. While this is undoubtedly inconvenient, this is actually a feature of modern diesel engines that’s designed to protect them. 

Put simply, engine derating happens when engine sensors detect an issue with it. When this happens, the engine control unit initiates an intentional power drop. Importantly, this power reduction isn’t the failure, it’s a protective response designed to prevent damage or excess emissions. In short, although it probably doesn’t feel like it at the time, this system is there to help and can stop minor issues from becoming wallet-draining trips to the workshop. 

The triggers for this can vary depending on the vehicle, but typically, it happens when engine sensors detect that it’s operating outside of its designed operating limits. High running temperatures are a common cause — excessive heat is never a good thing in engines. Modern engines can also derate in response to emission-related issues. The latter can be caused by blocked diesel particulate filters, or even faults with the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve. 

Advertisement

So, while the loss of performance might feel like something’s gone wrong, the reality is that the system is working exactly as intended. Let’s have a closer look at the double-edged sword that’s both inconvenient, but potentially engine-saving. 

Advertisement

What engine derating feels like behind the wheel

When an engine has been derated, the most obvious symptom is a noticeable drop in performance, often accompanied by the driver simultaneously experiencing a severe sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach. Acceleration might feel sluggish, with a muted throttle response, and engine revs and speed can also be restricted. 

In some instances, the top speed can be restricted to as low as 5 mph. Essentially, this is a self-imposed limp mode that allows the vehicle to keep moving, but only enough to reach a safe location or a workshop. Depending on the particular engine and/or the severity of the issue, dashboard warning lights or messages may appear. Understanding what common dashboard warning lights mean can help you get an idea of what the underlying problem is. 

This is important, as not all derating is equal. In some situations, the power reduction is intermittent and relatively mild. For instance, if the problem is temperature-related, then the restriction may be lifted when the temperature normalizes. Of course, if this is a persistent problem, then a trip to the mechanic is probably wise. Even if the engine appears fine, there are plenty of ways that cars can lose coolant without a leak

What is important to understand when the engine’s power is derated is that although the vehicle may be driveable, it isn’t happy. The reduced performance is there to tell you that things aren’t well under the hood — and how you respond to it is important. 

Advertisement

What to do and what not to do when your engine derates

A derated engine might not always be an immediate emergency.  For instance, if a temperature-related derate occurs when the engine is operating under high loads and in high-ambient temperature situations, then it could be a one-off triggered by those operating conditions. This is especially true if the engine goes back to normal once the temperature normalizes. 

However, if the problem is more persistent, or the vehicle has entered a restrictive limp mode, then this isn’t something that can be tucked away as next week’s problem. Continuing to drive the vehicle in these circumstances, especially over long distances, can turn a relatively minor issue into an expensive and sob-inducing one. Warning lights, repeated derating, any indications of low-oil pressure or persistent overheating should always be treated seriously. 

It’s also worth noting that what a derate does to your vehicle’s performance today, might not be the case tomorrow. For instance, if the derate is linked to high-emissions from a vehicle, then the control system can add further restrictions until the underlying cause is addressed. 

Advertisement

Ultimately, while it might not seem like it, an engine derating might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Frustrations aside, in most cases, this is the system stepping in to prevent a much more serious failure from developing. 



Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Sunday Reboot: Big change, DOJ sassiness, and the Apple Vision Pro

Published

on

In this week’s “Sunday Reboot,” a changing of the guard, the DOJ becomes a tattling schoolchild, and the expensive Apple Vision Pro saves Disney money.

Man standing on a subway holding a pole, large virtual reality headset in foreground, and a prominent United States Department of Justice seal with eagle emblem in the background
John Ternus, the DOJ, and the Apple Vision Pro

Sunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.
This week, Apple Music users aren’t listening to AI-generated music that’s now flooding the service, Apple won’t benefit from the tariff refunds for months, and the company faces a $38 billion fine in India as part of an App Store antitrust investigation.
Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

iPhone Fold leak predicts a foldable phone that could defy thinness expectations

Published

on

Apple just might make a big aesthetic splash with its debut foldable. A new leak has added more shape to Apple’s long-rumored foldable iPhone, and this time the focus is on thickness. Renders shared by South Korean tipster yeux1122 on Naver, reportedly sourced from an Apple casing supplier, show the device with a folded body thickness of about 9.23mm. That is slimmer than the roughly 9.6mm figure mentioned in earlier rumors.

The renders also point to a maximum thickness of about 13mm when the camera area is included. That would make the camera module a major part of the phone’s profile, even if the folded body remains surprisingly thin for a book-style foldable. The same leak also repeats earlier claims that Apple is preparing two color options, silver and black.

Just how thin are we talking about here?

For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 measures 8.9mm when folded and 4.2mm when unfolded. That would still make Samsung’s current foldable slightly thinner in its folded form, but the leaked figure would place the iPhone Fold surprisingly close to a well-established product.

Honor’s Magic V6 and the Oppo Find N6 also fall in the same slimness ballpark as their Samsung rival, and soon, Apple, as well. Samsung’s rumored Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide has also been tipped at 9.8mm folded and 4.3mm unfolded, which would make Apple’s first-ever foldable iPhone thinner, at least before accounting for the camera bump.

What else is on the table?

Reports around Apple’s foldable have pointed to a book-style design with a 5.5-inch outer display and a 7.8-inch inner screen, giving it a tablet-like layout when opened. Another recent claim from Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested that Apple may include the Camera Control button despite the slim frame.

On the software front, it could borrow some multi-tasking tricks from iPadOS, but don’t expect any functional fireworks like Stage Manager appearing on the foldable. Pricing is still unconfirmed, but current reports have suggested a starting price above $2,000. Apple is reportedly targeting a September 2026 introduction for the iPhone Fold. Availability may be limited at first, and the device could ship later than the iPhone 18 Pro models.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

The Stanford freshmen who want to rule the world . . . will probably read this book and try even harder

Published

on

Theo Baker is graduating from Stanford this spring with something most seniors don’t have: a book deal, a George Polk Award that he received for his investigative reporting as a student journalist, and a front-row account of one of the most romanticized institutions in the world.

His forthcoming How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University was excerpted Friday in The Atlantic and based on that alone, I can’t wait to see the rest. The only question worth asking is the same one Baker himself might be too close to answer, which is: Can a book like this actually change anything? Or does the spotlight, as it always seems to, send more students racing to the place?

The parallel that keeps coming to my mind is “The Social Network.” Aaron Sorkin wrote a film that was an indictment in many ways of the particular sociopathy that Silicon Valley tends to reward. What it seemingly did was make a generation of young people want to be Mark Zuckerberg. The cautionary tale became a recruitment video. The story of the guy who — in the movie, at least — steamrolled his best friend on his way to billions didn’t discourage ambition; it further glamorized it.

Judging by the excerpt, Baker’s portrait of Stanford is far more granular. He talks with hundreds of people to roundly describe the “Stanford inside Stanford.” “You sort of join it freshman year or you don’t,” one student tells Baker. It’s an invite-only world where venture capitalists wine and dine 18-year-olds, where “pre-idea funding” worth hundreds of thousands of dollars gets handed to students before they’ve had an original idea, and where the boundary between mentorship and predation is nearly impossible to discern. (The shame of chasing teenage founders, if it ever existed, is gone; not chasing them is no longer an option for most VCs.) Steve Blank, who teaches the school’s legendary startup course, tells Baker that “Stanford is an incubator with dorms,” which is not meant as a compliment.

Advertisement

What’s new isn’t that this pressure exists but that it has been fully internalized. There was a time, maybe 10, maybe 15 years ago, when Stanford students felt the weight of Silicon Valley expectation pressing down on them from outside. Now, many of them arrive on campus already expecting, as a matter of course, to launch a startup, to raise money, to become rich.

I think about a friend — I’ll call him D — who dropped out of Stanford a few years ago, partway through his first two years, to launch a startup. He was barely past his teens. The words “I’m thinking of take a leave of absence” had just escaped his mouth before the university, by his own account, gave him its cheerful blessing to dive full bore into the startup. Stanford doesn’t fight this anymore, if it ever did. Departures like his are an expected outcome.

D is now in his mid-twenties. His company has raised what would register in any normal context as an astonishing amount of money. He almost certainly knows more about cap tables, venture dynamics, and product-market fit than most people learn in a decade of conventional careers. By every metric the Valley uses, he’s a success story. But he also doesn’t see his family (no time), has barely dated (no time), and the company, which keeps growing, doesn’t seem inclined to provide him with that kind of balance anytime soon. He is already, in some meaningful sense, behind on his own life.

Techcrunch event

Advertisement

San Francisco, CA
|
October 13-15, 2026

This is the part that Baker’s excerpt hints at without fully landing on, maybe because he’s still inside it himself. The costs of this system aren’t just distributed in the form of fraud — though Baker is direct about this, describing it as pervasive and largely consequence-free. The costs are also more personal: the relationships not formed, the ordinary milestones of early adulthood traded away in exchange for a billion-dollar vision that, statistically, almost certainly won’t materialize. “100% of entrepreneurs think they’re visionaries,” Blank tells Baker. “The data say 99% aren’t.”

Advertisement

What happens to the 99% at age 30? At age 40? These aren’t questions Silicon Valley is set up to answer, and they’re certainly not questions Stanford is about to start asking.

Baker also surfaces something that Sam Altman articulates best. Altman — OpenAI CEO, former Y Combinator head, precisely the kind of person these students aspire to become — tells Baker that the VC dinner circuit has become an “anti-signal” to the people who actually know what talent looks like. The students doing the rounds, performing founder-ness for rooms full of investors, tend not to be the real builders. The real builders, presumably, are somewhere else, building things. The performance of ambition and the thing itself are increasingly hard to tell apart, and the system that was ostensibly designed to find genius has gotten very good at finding people who are good at seeming like geniuses.

How to Rule the World sounds like exactly the right book for this moment in time. But there’s a certain irony in the strong likelihood that this critically minded book about Stanford’s relationship to power and money will be celebrated by the same class of people it critiques, and — if it does well (it has already been optioned for a movie) — used as further evidence that Stanford produces not just founders and fraudsters but important writers and journalists, too.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Elon Musk Vies to Turn X Into Super App With Banking Tool Near Launch

Published

on

An anonymous reader shared this report from Bloomberg:


More than three years after acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk says he’s nearing his long-stated goal of turning it into an “everything app” with a new financial services tool that he pledged to launch for the public this month… Early users testing the service have touted competitive perks, including 3% cash back on eligible purchases and a 6% interest rate on cash savings — the latter of which is roughly 15 times the national average. Musk’s new product is also expected to offer free peer-to-peer transfers, a metal Visa debit card personalised with a user’s X handle, and an AI concierge built by Musk’s xAI startup that tracks spending and sorts through past transactions, according to reports from users with early access.

Musk, who first rose to prominence in Silicon Valley by co-founding PayPal Holdings Inc, sees payments as crucial to creating a so-called super app similar to social products that have flourished in China. WeChat, for example, lets users hail a ride, book a flight and pay off their credit card… If it works, X Money would sit at the intersection of social media and finance in a way no American product has attempted at this scale… Creators who currently receive payments from X for engagement will be switched from Stripe to X Money as their payment platform, according to early users — a move that guarantees an initial base of active accounts. Some have already been testing X Money to send payments to one another through the app’s chat feature or directly through their profiles, according to early participants in the rollout…

X currently holds licences in 44 states, according to its website, and likely won’t be able to operate in states where it hasn’t obtained a licence.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025