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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  My RTX GPU was the best microphone upgrade I never bought

  Upgrading from my aging GTX 1650 to an RTX 4060 Ti was a no-brainer, as it offered better frame rates and DLSS support for demanding titles. But the new GPU also brought an unintended voice improvement with it.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I made Gemini Notebook argue with procrastination experts, and it found real gaps

  When the time comes to put on the elbow grease to write or learn something new, I often find myself getting distracted. I've tried every productivity trick in the book to beat procrastination. It still sticks to me like Velcro and refuses to let go. I thought of an anti-procrastination experiment to understand the root cause.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  10 years later, people are still buying Nvidia’s Android TV streamer because of this

  You have a lot of choices when it comes to picking a streaming device. Most people go with Roku and call it a day, while many others use the streaming offered by their gaming console or built into their smart TV.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I freed up 13GB on my Galaxy without deleting anything I cared about

  My Samsung Galaxy was running out of storage, and I was tired of constantly deleting photos, videos, and important documents just to make room. This time, though, I decided I wouldn't delete any of them. Instead, I wanted to figure out what was really eating up all that space on my phone and whether I could get rid of it without losing anything important.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I made years of scanned PDFs searchable without giving them to the cloud

  I had years of university notes, exam papers, official letters, and lecture handouts sitting on my drive as PDFs, and I’d never given them much thought because they all opened just fine. The problem showed up whenever I tried to search them. Many of those files were basically photographs of pages wearing a PDF costume, so Windows could display every word on the page without knowing any of those words existed.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  Why I ditched my expensive password manager for this excellent free alternative

  After five years and $300 spent on 1Password, I finally made the switch to this excellent free password manager: KeePass. My only regret is not doing it sooner.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  Please stop disabling this Windows feature to “protect” your SSD

  Some SSD guides and forum threads still repeat the same advice: open Optimize Drives and switch off the schedule. The logic seems sound, as the tool still has "defragment" in its name, defragging an SSD performs extra writes for no speed gain, and every write chips away at the drive's lifespan.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  Wondershare’s Filmora 16 automates the most time-consuming parts of video editing

  Ask anyone who edits videos regularly where their time goes, and the answer is rarely "making creative choices." A good chunk of it goes on scrubbing through clips to remember what was shot. More goes into fixing a transcript that has spelled the same name three different ways. Then there's the final stretch, when a client wants a vertical cut as well as the main version, and you sit through one export after another.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  8 new Netflix shows you need to binge this weekend (October 15-18)

  The weekend is upon us! Maybe you're going out with friends, maybe you're spending time with family, and maybe you want a new show to binge before work starts up next week. Netflix has you covered.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I stopped paying for Netflix after discovering these free legal streaming apps

  Netflix was the first streaming service that I subscribed to, and the one that made me realize that we were entering a brave new world of on-demand entertainment, where an entire video rental store could be plucked from the ether. These services began piling up as more "essential" movies, shows, and documentaries came into the fold, and before long, my monthly streaming bill had ballooned to rival most cable packages.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I finally found a better way to save things from the internet

  I’ve accumulated hundreds of bookmarks over the years, but I rarely revisit them, even if I remember they exist. What I really wanted was a proper read-it-later library where everything I want to keep is presented in an attractive UI, properly categorized, and with recognizable thumbnails.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I gave my Fire TV Stick Ethernet without Amazon’s adapter and streaming finally stayed smooth

  If there's one thing that stops me from using my Fire TV Stick as my primary entertainment device, it's the shoddy Wi-Fi connectivity.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  There's a reason expensive motherboards still have this 39-year-old port

  For all the modern tech we know and love, old tech still keeps everything running.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  Google's new Fitbit Edge has me questioning what a smartwatch should be

  I have a love-hate relationship with smartwatches. I love the fitness and health data they provide, but hate the extra screen and bulk they add to my wrist. If you're questioning whether you truly need a smartwatch to monitor your everyday health and track your workouts, you're not alone. That's why minimalist fitness bands are surging in popularity, from brands like Whoop, Google, and Garmin.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  One Windows setting helped me spot a fake PDF before I opened it

  Cybercriminals are getting smarter by the day, and PDF phishing is one of the ways they try to infiltrate your PC. I almost fell victim to this a few days ago when I unknowingly downloaded a "PDF" file onto my laptop. But what saved me wasn't even the mighty Microsoft Defender. It was a simple setting in File Explorer that I've had turned on for months.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  Opera's new browser deliberately has no features, but gives you a free VPN

  Opera has relaunched its minimalist web browser, Opera Air, focused on minimizing visual clutter and reducing background distractions. Opera Air keeps distractions to a minimum, giving you more room to focus on what matters. The interface starts clean, but you can add new tools like music and ambient sounds to help you focus or unwind, as well as a Breaks feature to force you to take a... Well, a break from your computer.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I ditched OneNote for another app, and it wasn’t because of privacy or sync

  Whenever someone migrates from OneNote to Joplin (or any other note-taking app), they're usually talking about data privacy or escaping Microsoft's cloud ecosystem. Synchronization is another thing people are pretty vocal about, and honestly, that one is a bit warranted.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-15✓ Read

  I own too many Ryobi batteries, but these are the only ones I would buy again

  My garage shelf holds more Ryobi batteries than I ever run at once. Most came inside tool kits, and a few I bought on price before I understood what separated one pack from another. I've written about how the battery became the real investment in my Ryobi setup, and that lesson got sharper in August when Ryobi reshuffled its 18V lineup.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  My offline music library finally has Spotify-style lyrics, without Spotify

  I’ve kept a local music library for years because I like knowing the files are actually mine, even when my internet connection decides to become ornamental. Plenty of great open-source, free music players for Windows make my large library easy to manage, too. Unfortunately, the one feature that kept making streaming apps look annoyingly sophisticated was synchronized lyrics.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  These 4 free apps make an old PC worth leaving on

  An old PC might feel painfully slow for everyday work, but that alone doesn't doom it to the e-waste pile. In fact, aging hardware can be surprisingly capable when it's no longer required to run a full desktop environment, dozens of browser tabs, and everyday programs.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  I disabled these phone features, and Android Auto stopped draining my battery so fast

  Android Auto brings your phone to your car's interface. Calls, messages, and music, all without touching your phone when driving. However, this convenience comes at a cost. First, it makes your phone hot, which some car manufacturers have tried to fix with a fan in the wireless charging pad. But the bigger issue is battery drain, which is partially due to the heat, but mainly due to the heavy processing your phone has to do to work with Android Auto.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  These Ryobi tools are worth owning even if you never do DIY

  There's always a reason to have an inventory of tools at your disposal at home. You never know when you might need one, especially if you're a homeowner. Even if you aren't, you probably can hang a picture or tighten a screw wherever you live.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  Google Play now lets anyone upload private, vibe-coded Android apps

  You can now upload your own vibe-coded apps straight to the Google Play Store and launch them from any device, without jumping through the usual hoops.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  Windows said my SSD was healthy until I looked at the numbers the drive reports

  Windows told me my 512GB Samsung NVMe SSD was Healthy, which sounds reassuring until you realize how much information that one word leaves out. The drive has spent years tracking its own writes, wear, temperatures, shutdowns, and errors, and Windows boils it all down to a verdict that's basically the storage equivalent of "looks fine to me."

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  I turned on one Galaxy setting, and my mobile bill got much smaller

  Words can’t describe how frustrating it was to run out of mobile data on my Galaxy phone. It meant being more restricted in what I could do with my apps. And when you run out early, the usual fix is paying your carrier for more data. After that experience, I promised myself it wouldn’t happen again.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  I tested Chrome Remote Desktop, RustDesk, and Windows RDP before trusting one with my PC

  When I’m away from home, I want to reach my Windows PC and actually use it like a desktop. I need readable text and real-time responsiveness, not a desktop full of pixels. I also want to get back in after a restart and not be left wondering what happened to the PC if I get disconnected.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  5 Roku tips I wish I knew about sooner

  I admit that I'm something of a Roku newbie, at least when it comes to actually utilizing my smart TV properly. But lately, I've been craving applications and oddball streaming channels that offer way more than I would have expected. Normally, I use an Xbox Series X for all my streaming, and it can feel a bit limiting at times, especially in terms of the apps that are actually available.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  Your Mac’s best productivity tools are hiding in plain sight

  I bought my first Mac 25 years ago (an iconic iMac G4 with a whopping 512 MB of RAM), and recently unboxing my shiny new MacBook Air M5 gave me the same rush of excitement I felt back then. As I explored its features and started customizing it to suit my needs, I realized some of macOS’s most useful tools hide in menus and settings you might not think to explore. Some are relatively new, while others have been around for years.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  4 Google Photos settings you need to turn off immediately before screenshots eat your storage

  Your Google storage is filling up, and the photos you actually took aren’t the main reason. Somewhere between routine syncs and daily phone use, screenshots start slipping into the cloud, eating into the same storage you share with Gmail and Drive. Every screen grab, shipping label, and confirmation page takes up the same space as an actual photo, yet most of them are useless within hours. A few settings buried across your phone are the reason why.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  This $39 touchscreen packs a powerful new ESP32 chip with Wi-Fi 6, Zigbee, and Thread

  If you're into DIY tech projects, Espressif's newly released ESP32-S31 platform has definitely been on your radar. Now, VIEWE has launched a $38.99 touchscreen development board built around it that packs plenty of features into one compact unit.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  TV fans and critics ranked the century’s best shows, and the disagreements are wild

  In September, The New York Times published its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, meaning shows that started airing after January 1, 2000. The paper determined the list based on a poll of actors, showrunners, creators, executives, and craftspeople working in TV. This was the professionals' take.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  This is the one CAPTCHA you should never complete

  CAPTCHAs are such a normal part of online life that we complete them without thinking. And while there’s nothing malicious about clicking matching images or entering skewed text, you can’t trust every CAPTCHA you see either.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  Ryobi’s more powerful drill isn’t the one I’d buy again

  Ryobi sells two full-size 18V drills that look nearly alike on the shelf. One is the plain brushed ONE+ drill/driver that has lived in my garage for years. The other wears an HP badge, runs a brushless motor, and beats mine in every row of the comparison chart.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  These 4 apps give your Windows right-click menu superpowers

  Windows 11’s right-click menu gets talked about a lot, and rarely for good reasons. Its biggest problem is that it’s unnecessarily long and yet doesn’t offer anything useful. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With the right apps, you can turn the Windows 11 context menu into a hub for your favorite shortcuts.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  Excel is better on desktop, except for these things my phone does better

  Excel is one of the few apps I almost always want to use on a desktop. That's where the serious work happens: macros, Power Query, Solver, Goal Seek, multiple workbooks, dense spreadsheets, and those life-saving Excel keyboard shortcuts. Besides, building or repairing a complicated workbook on a phone is usually an exercise in frustration.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  Google Play promoted a fake Chrome app, and you should check yours now

  A user on Reddit spotted a fake Chrome app above the genuine version as a sponsored search result in Google Play. According to the post on Reddit, the copycat shows up using the same icon, product name, screenshots, and description, with over 100,000 downloads.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-14✓ Read

  I ignored Samsung Now Brief until One UI 9 made it useful

  Anyone who’s used Now Brief probably knows how mediocre the experience can be, and it mostly comes down to the suggestions it serves up by default. More often than not, they’re just irrelevant.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  Google Photos’ most annoying issue finally has a fix

  An independent software developer just launched a browser-based tool called Doppelgone that solves a massive pain point Google Photos users know all too well: finding and deleting duplicate photos.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  Popular Microsoft app is retired after 35 years, here’s what to do with your files now

  After a remarkable 35-year run, Microsoft Publisher has officially retired. Microsoft’s planned phase-out schedule reaches end of support in October 2026; removal for Microsoft 365 apps began rolling out on or shortly after October 1, 2026. Today, 13th October 2026, perpetual license versions (like Office LTSC 2021) are finally ending support.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  I put all my daily feeds and server stats on one page, and now I barely open anything else

  I have a bad habit of opening the same cluster of sites before I’ve even worked out what I came to the browser for. News feeds, GitHub, YouTube, weather, system information, then whatever side road happens to catch my eye. By the time I’m ready to do anything useful, the tab bar already looks like a small administrative failure.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  Google now lets you check if an image, audio, or video is AI slop, right in your browser

  Since Google DeepMind first launched SynthID in 2023, the technology has gradually embedded invisible watermarks in AI-generated images, audio, and video files. Up to now, inspecting these files has generally necessitated the use of specialized tools which are only available to media professionals and journalists.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  Apple and Google keep trying to take Roku down, but it’s the biggest name in US streaming for these 6 reasons

  I primarily own Apple devices. As such, I have an iPhone, iPad, Mac, and many other Cupertino devices. This list also includes an Apple TV. And yet, I can see the appeal of Roku streamers. In fact, I have a Roku Streaming Stick (primarily for testing) and find it excellent hardware.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  I can’t use a Galaxy phone without swapping this Samsung app for a Google one

  Duplicate apps in One UI are a problem on Samsung Galaxy phones. Often, you'll get both the Google and Samsung versions of an app pre-installed on your device. As soon as I set up a new Galaxy phone, I immediately start trimming the fat. I keep the Samsung apps I use, remove the unnecessary junk, and disable the ones Galaxy phones won't let you uninstall easily. However, as much as I despise the duplicate app situation, there's one Google app I wish came pre-installed on Galaxy phones: Gboard.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  The most influential AI filmmaker is finally coming to the big screen, and it could change everything

  Depending on who you talk to, artificial intelligence is either the greatest technological advancement of the past 100 years or a dystopian nightmare that will make us all homeless at best or kill us all at worst. Like everyone else, filmmakers are split on the question. Some swear off AI altogether, some incorporate it so long as it doesn't replace human labor, and some are using it to rewrite the rules of filmmaking altogether.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  These accessories made my budget power tools feel much more capable

  Budget power tools arrive with very little in the box. You get the tool, maybe a single driver bit, and a battery if you paid for the kit. For years I judged my Ryobi ONE+ tools by what they could do as shipped, and that sold them short. I’ve already covered how worn bits and blades made my Ryobi feel underpowered, and this is the other half of that story.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  If you’re still using Windows’ default clipboard, you’re missing out

  Copying and pasting is something most of us do without even thinking. The Windows clipboard makes this process a bit smoother by saving your recently copied items, so you’re not stuck copying one thing at a time.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  9 iPhone privacy settings you should turn on right now

  Apple does a better job than most when it comes to privacy. But not all your iPhone's default settings are in your best interest. Some prioritize convenience over security, while others assume you're fine sharing more information than you might expect.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  I never trust someone else’s Excel file until I check these 5 things

  A colleague sends over a quarterly sales report; the totals look tidy, and the deadline says I should paste them straight into my own slides. I don't. A workbook someone else built tends to carry quiet problems that never show up as errors, so the numbers on screen can be wrong while every cell looks fine.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  These Gemini automations are actually worth setting up on your Android phone

  I don’t like typing the same prompt into Gemini every day just to get the information I want. That’s why I set up automations in Gemini so it can do it for me, and I just wait for it to arrive. Having used them for a while, now I know for sure that they save me a lot of time.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  4 Windows features that don't exist unless you use PowerShell

  Your Windows computer can do far more than Microsoft's graphical interface reveals. Hidden beneath the familiar point-and-click experience lies PowerShell, a powerful command-line tool that unlocks features completely absent from Windows' regular menus and settings. While Microsoft has spent decades perfecting the visual interface of Windows, some of its most practical tools remain accessible only through the command line.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  I use ChatGPT every day, and even I didn’t know it could do this

  AI is evolving so quickly that it feels like there’s a new feature to discover every other day. And because I use ChatGPT so often, I’ve always felt like I know my way around it pretty well. But a few days ago, while editing an image, I stumbled across something I had no idea ChatGPT could do, and it totally caught me off guard.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  I gave my phone back its headphone jack without the annoying dongle

  With the headphone jack absent from modern flagship phones, users need a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter to connect their favorite wired headphones. Initially, that solution sounds like a hassle, but it can provide better audio quality than you've ever heard out of a phone's built-in headphone jack. That is, with the right USB-C digital-to-analog converter (DAC). USB-C DACs don't just adapt your phone's USB port to an analog 3.5mm jack — they also provide more amplification power while delivering bit-perfect reproduction of lossless audio files.

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• MakeUseOf2026-10-13✓ Read

  Google Play has a better answer than uninstalling apps just to get storage back

  Most of us have a few apps on our phones that we don’t open every day but still keep around. It could be an app you use only occasionally or something that’s too much of a hassle to set up from scratch.

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