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Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Aug. 3

Gael Cooper CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 2, #783

Gael Cooper CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

Today's Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 3, #1506

Gael Cooper CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

6 ridiculous promises we were sold about 5G

Kris Carlon / Android Authority Despite some speed and network coverage improvements, 5G hasn’t really lived up to the hype. You know it, I know it, and deep down, even the carriers know it. In fact, a few of the industry’s bigwigs would probably rather we all forget about some of the absolutely outlandish claims and overenthusiastic visions they tried to sell us about 5G. But the internet never forgets, so it’s time for us to play “where are they now” with some of the worst nonsense from the

Microsoft Authenticator won't manage your passwords anymore - or most passkeys

D3Damon/Getty Images For most of this year, Microsoft has been warning users that they will no longer be able to use its Authenticator mobile application for user ID and password management. As reported by CNET on July 29, 2025, "In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator…. And starting Aug. 1, you'll no longer be able to use saved passwords." Also: How passkeys work: The complete guide to your inevitable passwordless future To me, the dire warnings of this pend

Proton now offers a two-factor authentication app

Things have been busy for the privacy-first company, Proton. Just last week, they released the AI chatbot Lumo, and today, the company rolled out Proton Authenticator, its open-source and multiplatform 2FA app. What’s 2FA again? Two-factor authentication is a login method that adds an extra layer of security to further make sure that you are the legitimate owner of the account you’re trying to access. With 2FA activated, you’re usually asked for a code from a 2FA app after entering your passwo

Proton launches free and open-source Authenticator app to take on Google and Microsoft

What just happened? Swiss technology company Proton has expanded its privacy-focused software lineup with the launch of Proton Authenticator, a free and open-source two-factor authentication app. Best known for its encrypted webmail service, Proton also offers a VPN, password manager, cloud storage, and an online document editor. Proton Authenticator is positioned as a privacy-focused alternative to authentication apps from Google, Microsoft, Authy, and Duo. It replaces legacy SMS-based verific

Proton just dropped a 2FA app that does a few things others don’t

Tushar Mehta / Android Authority TL;DR Proton Authenticator is a new free, open-source 2FA app for mobile and desktop. It supports encrypted multi-device sync, local-only storage, and easy import/export of 2FA tokens. The app works with or without a Proton account and avoids things like ads and trackers. Authenticator apps are a great way to help keep your accounts secure, but some of them come with annoying trade-offs. That could be ads, missing features, or making it hard to switch to anot

Proton launches free standalone cross-platform Authenticator app

Proton has launched Proton Authenticator, a free standalone two-factor authentication (2FA) application for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. 2FA authenticator apps are offline tools that generate time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) that expire every 30 seconds, and which can be used alongside passwords when logging into online accounts, providing the second factor authentication. Proton is a Swiss technology company known for privacy-focused end-to-end encrypted services like Proton

4 AI tools on Android I actually use and 3 I can’t stand

Robert Triggs / Android Authority You unlock your phone and bam, you’re greeted by an AI widget showing you the weather. Utter “Ok Google,” and there’s Gemini, ready to chat with you in whatever language you speak. Make a circular gesture on your screen, and voila, you’ve got information on whatever you were just staring at in wonder. We’re surrounded by AI tools, so much so that we often stumble into them without even meaning to. So instead of resisting AI, I’ve been leaning into it — and how

Proton releases a new app for two-factor authentication

Privacy-focused productivity tool company Proton released a new authenticator app today, allowing users to log in to services using dynamically generated two-factor authentication codes. The free app is available on all platforms starting today, including iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. The app allows users to sync codes and accounts across devices. The company said that just like its other products, Proton Authenticator is open source and uses end-to-end encryption to protect user dat

Wallpaper Wednesday: More great phone wallpapers for all to share (July 30)

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority Welcome to Wallpaper Wednesday! In this weekly roundup, we’ll give you a handful of Android wallpapers you can download and use on your phone, tablet, or even your laptop/PC. The images will come from folks here at Android Authority as well as our readers. All are free to use and come without watermarks. File formats are JPG and PNG, and we’ll provide images in both landscape and portrait modes, so they’ll be optimized for various screens. For the newest wall

Tired of Google Photos filling up your cloud? A new backup setting could help (APK teardown)

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Google Photos could soon introduce a new feature allowing users to back up only their favorite photos and videos. This feature could provide a middle ground between full auto-backup and manual selection, saving storage space. Google Photos is a great photo editing and media management app. I have a Google One subscription, so I turn on Google Photos cloud backup on all my devices, which automatically backs up every photo and video I take. It’s a handy

Playing with more user-friendly methods for multi-factor authentication

When I tell people I work on authentication software, I nearly always hear some version of the same story: I hate multifactor authentication. No, really. People hate this stuff. So I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can make MFA a better user experience. We don't always need MFA to be airtight, after all. Sometimes, the Google match-a-number MFA flow is good enough. I thought I'd share here my best ideas for the future of multi-factor authentication. Here they are. The big blind We

Topics: auth chess just like user

Google is testing a cooler, darker design for Gemini Live’s overlay (Update: Video)

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Google is testing a visual refresh for Gemini Live’s compact overlay in the latest app beta. The redesigned UI includes rounded corners, smaller icons, and a dark background. The corner widget has also been updated to be circular with a more vibrant waveform. Update, July 28, 2025 (12:31 PM ET): We’re still waiting to see Google push this new look for Gemini Live’s overlay public, but ahead of its formal debut, we’ve got a new, better look at it — now

9 signs its time to upgrade to a new phone

Tushar Mehta / Android Authority The question “Should I buy a new phone?” holds more weight than we imagine. For most of us, phones are our trusted associates, and parting with them isn’t easy. For others, the upgrade to a new phone may be too insignificant to warrant the expense. Regardless of the emotional value your phone holds, getting a new one every few years can be a cathartic experience. Besides addressing some of the issues of your older phone, a new Android phone will bring a variety

These 8 features on my Pixel secretly boost my daily productivity

Ryan Haines / Android Authority Android is a treasure trove of features — Pixels even more so. The deeper you dig, the more you find. Our own Mishaal Rahman can probably vouch for that, considering he manages to unearth more features than Google even advertises. And that says a lot about a platform most of us rely on daily, on our primary devices, our phones. After spending years immersed in the bright and colorful world of Android, I’ve naturally developed a few personal favorites; features t

Today's Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 26, #1498

Gael Cooper CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

Google Contacts Calling Cards sound more and more like iOS Contact Posters (APK teardown)

Adamya Sharma / Android Authority TL;DR Google Contacts has been working on a new “Calling Cards” feature for a few versions now. Earlier analysis has suggested that this could function very similarly to iOS Contact Posters. New text strings and a promo image add further support to that interpretation. What is it they say about mobile operating systems? Good platforms copy, but great platforms steal? Android and iOS have definitely traded ideas more than a few times over the years, and just

Android might soon trust your smartwatch to help verify your identity (APK teardown)

Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Google may be working on smartwatch support for Android’s Identity Check feature. A connected watch could serve as a second authentication factor outside trusted locations. The feature was spotted in the latest version of Google Play Services beta. Google recently introduced a feature called Identity Check on Android 15 and later devices, designed to add extra protection from phone theft when you’re outside of predefined trusted locations. Now it looks l

Today's Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 24, #1496

Gael Cooper CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

Ukrainians arrest alleged admin of major crime forum XSS

Yesterday, Ukrainian authorities arrested the suspected administrator of a notorious Russian-language crime forum, XSS.is. In an X post, the Paris Prosecutor's Office announced that Ukrainian authorities detained the suspect after an investigation conducted with French authorities' and Europol's help that began almost exactly four years ago. XSS has been "one of the main hubs of global cybercrime" since 2013, French authorities said, allowing "the sale of malware, access to compromised systems

We have a new Android Authority YouTube channel hosted by C. Scott Brown!

Hello, Android Authority readers! I am excited to announce that I have a new YouTube channel. You can watch the introduction to the channel above or pay it a visit directly by heading to @cscottbrown. Don’t forget to subscribe when you’re there! As with the two other Android Authority channels — @androidauthority and @androidauthority2 — the new C. Scott Brown channel will focus heavily on smartphones and consumer tech. The chief differences will be that I will host every video and operate auto

Wallpaper Wednesday: More great phone wallpapers for all to share (July 23)

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority Welcome to Wallpaper Wednesday! In this weekly roundup, we’ll give you a handful of Android wallpapers you can download and use on your phone, tablet, or even your laptop/PC. The images will come from folks here at Android Authority as well as our readers. All are free to use and come without watermarks. File formats are JPG and PNG, and we’ll provide images in both landscape and portrait modes, so they’ll be optimized for various screens. For the newest wall

TODOs aren't for doing

July 21, 2025 Some teams require that every TODO comment in a codebase gets logged in the bug tracker. Others automatically delete any “stale” TODO that has been in the codebase for over a year. Don’t do it! TODO comments don’t need to get done in order to be valuable. If you have // TODO: Write the second half of this file so next week's launch won't explode then sure, you should probably track that somewhere. But to me, a good TODO looks more like this: // TODO: If the user triple-clicks

Microsoft Will Wipe Out Your Passwords on Aug. 1. What to Do Now

Microsoft is getting rid of passwords in less than two weeks. On Aug. 1, the Microsoft Authenticator app will no longer store or manage passwords, which could be a problem for a lot of users. Microsoft Authenticator has been one of the best password managers for years. You were able to save passwords, enable two-factor authentication and auto-fill. This change means that if you're using the Authenticator app as a password manager, you'll need to look for another option soon. At the same time,

Better Auth (YC X25) Is Hiring

About us We’re a tiny group of engineers on a mission to democratize high‑quality authentication and to make auth something every developer can truly own. Our open‑source framework is already one of the fastest‑growing auth solutions in the world. It’s trusted by thousands of developers and rapidly adopted by startups and YC companies alike. We’ve grown our community and impact faster than our team and now we’re looking to align the two quickly. What you’ll work on here Collaborating across

TODOs Aren't for Doing

July 21, 2025 Some teams require that every TODO comment in a codebase gets logged in the bug tracker. Others automatically delete any “stale” TODO that has been in the codebase for over a year. Don’t do it! TODO comments don’t need to get done in order to be valuable. If you have // TODO: Write the second half of this file so next week's launch won't explode then sure, you should probably track that somewhere. But to me, a good TODO looks more like this: // TODO: If the user triple-clicks

Google Messages may extend its nudity-scanning photo filter to also work on video (APK teardown)

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Last year Google announced Sensitive Content Warnings for Messages. The opt-in system runs on-device and can detect nudity in still images. Google now appears to be working to extend this system to also work on video content. Modern communication truly is a double-edged sword, and for as easy as it makes it for us to keep in contact with our loved ones, privately sharing all the important details of our lives, these systems can make it just as easy f

Google wants Search Live to feel like a phone call (APK teardown)

Lanh Nguyen / Android Authority TL;DR An Android Authority teardown has revealed some UI tweaks potentially coming to Google’s Search Live feature. The Search Live notification could get interface changes to make your session feel more like a phone call. This change comes as Google brings visual tweaks to its other Android apps. Google announced a new Search Live feature at its I/O event earlier this year. This lets you have a natural conversation with Google Search, akin to Gemini Live. Now