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Sharing Your YouTube Premium Plan? Your Service Could Be Paused

That popular workaround for sharing a YouTube Premium family plan with friends and relatives in different homes is now squarely in Google's crosshairs. A new wave of enforcement has begun, with subscribers reporting they've received emails warning that their account access will be suspended. The ultimatum is clear: confirm all members live at the same address within 15 days, or lose your premium perks. And now that's something you should watch out for, whether you plan to stream videos or listen

HBO Max is going to get a lot more expensive, CEO promises

David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, plans to make HBO more expensive, and passwords a lot harder to share, according to The Hollywood Reporter . Zaslav shared his general outlook on the state of television at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, with the main theme being that HBO Max's content is good and Zaslav thinks he should be charging a lot more for it. "The fact that this is quality — and that’s true across our company, motion picture, TV production and st

YouTube Cracks Down on Premium Family Plans Used at Different Addresses

Sharing a YouTube Premium or YouTube Music family plan with people who don't live at your address could soon cost you the perks you're used to. Several users have reported receiving warnings that their accounts will be paused within 15 days if they don't comply with YouTube's rules on family plans. The policy isn't new. YouTube required family plan members to share the same household in 2023 but it looks like enforcement is stepping up. If you lose Premium, you can still stream videos and liste

Netflix now lets you (almost) easily share clips of your favorite shows

The Netflix app now lets you select the start and end points of a clip, so you can share it outside the app. Here’s how it works. You can now save a clip, and then share it outside the Netflix app Historically, most streaming services have been allergic to sharing features, as they feared they would facilitate piracy. For many years, even simple screenshots were a no-no. One day, they realized that the potential gains from a random moment of an original movie or show going viral outweighed th

Investors Cheer As Amazon Cracks Down on Prime Accounts

Amazon.com Inc. is cracking down on shared Prime accounts. The company says it is ending a little-known but long-standing feature of its Prime membership that allowed subscribers to extend free shipping benefits to friends and family outside their homes. The move, announced this week, will shutter the company’s “Invitee Program” on Oct. 1, redirecting members to a stricter household-sharing model known as Amazon Family. What exactly are they ending? For years, the Invitee Program quietly let

Sharing Is Scaring: Linking Cloud File-Sharing to Programming Language Semantics

Sharing Is Scaring: Linking Cloud File-Sharing to Programming Language Semantics Skyler Austen, Shriram Krishnamurthi, Kathi Fisler SPLASH Onward!, 2025 Abstract Users often struggle with cloud file-sharing applications. Problems appear to arise not only from interface flaws, but also from misunderstanding the underlying semantics of operations like linking, attaching, downloading, and editing. We argue that these difficulties echo long-standing challenges in understanding concepts in progra

Amazon ends shared Prime shipping

Amazon is shutting down the Prime Invitee program which allowed members to extend free shipping to people outside their household. An updated support page says sharing through Invitee will end on October 1 and that previously invited guests will be notified by September 5 of the changes. The Verge is reporting that users who don't live with the primary account owner will be prompted to create their own Amazon Prime accounts and will be offered a discounted rate of $14.99 for the entire first ye

Wearable devices are sharing your private data - these are the 5 worst offenders

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Several wearable devices are sharing user data. The worst offenders include Meta, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei. Apple, Oura, and Whoop have some of the best data practices. Those shiny new Meta Ray-Bans might be uploading the media you're collecting to train its AI model, according to a new report by VPNMentor highlighting the data-sharing practices of the best and worst wearables. Meta and it

Spotify introduces an in-app messaging feature

My first thought when I heard Spotify had launched a messaging service was, "Why?" But, after looking into it a bit more, I'm intrigued at the idea of sharing recommendations within the app. So, what is Spotify's new Messages feature? Basically, like Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms, Spotify is creating a way for you to share content and thoughts from within its app. You can send playlists, songs and podcasts without having to use a link on another platform. You can see the M

What about using rel="share-url" to expose sharing intents?

Let's say that you've visited a website and want to share it with your friends. At the bottom of the article is a list of popular sharing destinations - Facebook, BlueSky, LinkedIn, Telegram, Reddit, HackerNews etc. You click the relevant icon and get taken to the site with the sharing details pre-filled. The problem is, every different site has a different intent for sharing links and text. For example: https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=…&t=… https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsi

Instagram adds Spotify integration to Stories and Notes

Spotify and Instagram are cozying up for more seamless music sharing. Two new features make it easier for Spotify's nearly 700 million users to share their favorite tunes. When sharing a Spotify track to Instagram Stories, a short snippet of the song will now be included. When people view the story, they'll have an option to open the track in Spotify. They can do that by tapping the music sticker on your post. Spotify Along similar lines, Instagram Notes now lets you show your friends what yo

How to use (or turn off) your Instagram Map

Instagram Map, the new Instagram feature copying Snapchat's Snap Map, makes it simple to share your location with friends. So simple you might not understand who you're sharing it without digging into your settings. That's naturally led to confusion from some Instagram users as to how the feature works. If you already spend a lot of time on Instagram and are looking for a way to see where your friends have been, it's worth familiarizing yourself with how Instagram Map works. And if you're worri

Gemini’s getting a nice usability upgrade for its text responses (Updated)

Rita El Khoury / Android Authority TL;DR Google is working on an easier process for sharing text responses from Gemini. The new workflow can be initiated by double tapping or dragging to select specific text, and users can bypass the “Select text” option. However, this new method won’t work on text in a list, only the text before or after it. Update, August 14, 2025 (10:42 AM ET): After first identifying Google’s work towards bringing Gemini a greatly improved interface for text sharing a fe

Google will help you pester your friends into turning location sharing on (APK teardown)

TL;DR Google’s Find Hub combines resources for tracking devices and sharing location with friends and family. Users need to positively consent first before their location is shared with anyone. The app is working to build an easy way for you to request your friends grant that access. Smartphones are picking up new features and abilities all the time, and while some of those are pushed out to us enabled by default, others are going to require us to make the intentional choice to opt in. And wh

Prominent Al Jazeera journalist killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza

A prominent Al Jazeera journalist who had raised concerns about being killed has died in an Israeli airstrike. Anas al-Sharif, known for documenting the release of hostages and for removing his body armour after a ceasefire, was killed while inside a tent for journalists outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City along with three colleagues. “Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh were killed along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Moh

HBO Max is going to get even more annoying about password sharing

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. HBO Max’s password-sharing crackdown is about to get stricter. During an earnings call on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery streaming head JB Perette said prompts surrounding account sharing will become more persistent starting next month, pushing people toward p

Instagram's new location sharing feature sure looks a lot like the Snap Map

Instagram just announced an update with some long-requested features. The most notable is the introduction of a location-sharing tool for friends. Once opted into, the map shares a user's last active location with chosen contacts. The location sharing feature is turned off until selected and there are numerous customization controls. For instance, Instagram users can choose to share location data with all friends, Close Friends, selected accounts or nobody at all. This data can be restricted wh

Instagram adds two familiar social media features to its app

Meta is updating Instagram today with some familiar social network features from other services. For example, the photo- and video-sharing service is basically getting its own version of the classic retweet. Separately, Instagram continues to take inspiration from Snapchat with its own social map feature. Instagram is two months shy of turning 15, and as a sign of maturity, we’re getting the first official repost button: With reposts, you can repost public reels and feed posts, making it easie

Android’s Apple-inspired Handoff feature is moving closer to completion (Updated)

Google TL;DR Android’s Handoff functionality is taking shape, with new options for cross-device file sharing now visible. We also saw glimpses of app sharing, which could allow you to access apps installed on other devices. The toggles and buttons are not active, which suggests that Google may still modify how these features function. Update, August 1, 2025 (05:25PM ET): Google still isn’t quite ready to launch Handoff, but we’ve spotted some further progress on the tool. AssembleDebug / An

TikTok launches ‘TikTok Pro’ in Europe with built-in charity program

In Brief TikTok is launching a new version of its app called “TikTok Pro” in Germany, Portugal, and Spain. The app features TikTok’s new “Sunshine Programme,” which allows users to support charitable organizations. Users can earn ‘virtual sunshine’ by inviting others to join and by interacting with charity-related content, such as liking or reposting videos, following charity accounts, or searching for charitable causes. They can then use this virtual sunshine on a charity, after which TikTok

The case for memes as a new form of comics

It's undeniable that the rise of the Internet had a profound impact on cartooning as a profession, giving cartoonists both new tools and a new publishing and/or distribution medium. Online culture also spawned the emergence of viral memes in the late 1990s. Michelle Ann Abate, an English professor at The Ohio State University, argues in a paper published in INKS: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, that memes—specifically, image macros—represent a new type of digital comic, right down to

Katharine Graham: The Washington Post

The Knowledge Project Podcast When Katharine Graham took over the Washington Post in 1963, she was a shy socialite who’d never run anything. By retirement, she’d taken down a president, ended the most violent strike in a generation, and built one of the best-performing companies in American history. Graham had no training, no experience, not even confidence. Just a newspaper bleeding money and a government that expected her to fall in line. Public Release: July 29. Members have access now .

Android’s Apple-inspired Handoff feature is moving closer to completion (APK teardown)

Google TL;DR Android’s Handoff functionality is taking shape, with new options for cross-device file sharing now visible. We also saw glimpses of app sharing, which could allow you to access apps installed on other devices. The toggles and buttons are not active, which suggests that Google may still modify how these features function. Apple’s ecosystem is one of its most compelling selling points, and Google is eyeing the same success by working on its adaptation in Android. Some of the feat

Feature Request: Apple should make these three changes to the Find My app

We saw recently that many Gen Z people have a much more relaxed attitude to location privacy than the rest of us, happily sharing their location 24/7 with entire groups of friends. But for those of us who prefer a more restrained approach to sharing our location, I’d like to see one basic change, and a couple of intelligent features added to the Find My app … 9to5Mac is brought to you by Incogni: Protect your personal info from prying eyes. With Incogni, you can scrub your deeply sensitive inf

Even ‘Foundation’ Star Jared Harris Can’t Explain That Big Hari Seldon Mystery

Foundation returns to Apple TV+ this week, jumping ahead 152 years and plunging its characters into an end-of-the-world scenario. One of the key figures is Hari Seldon, played by Jared Harris. He created the Foundation in season one as a way to preserve civilization after his “psychohistory” predicted a coming age of darkness. In the wild drama that’s followed, we’ve seen Hari die and then resurrect as separate digital clones, one of which ended up getting a new human body in season two. It’s c

Atomic "Bomb" Ring from KiX, 1947 (2020)

Release date: 1947 | Where to purchase: eBay 1947 | “It’s a seething scientific sensation!” In 1947, General Mills’ KiX cereal brand offered the Atomic “Bomb” Ring as a premium in exchange for 15 cents plus a cereal box top. Also known as the Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring, it was a reflection of the public’s preoccupation with the power and potential of atomic energy at the time. The ring had an adjustable gold-coloured band with lightning-blast explosions on its sides. An aluminum warhead was

Atomic "Bomb" Ring from KiX (1947)

Release date: 1947 | Where to purchase: eBay 1947 | “It’s a seething scientific sensation!” In 1947, General Mills’ KiX cereal brand offered the Atomic “Bomb” Ring as a premium in exchange for 15 cents plus a cereal box top. Also known as the Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring, it was a reflection of the public’s preoccupation with the power and potential of atomic energy at the time. The ring had an adjustable gold-coloured band with lightning-blast explosions on its sides. An aluminum warhead was

Wispr Flow raises $30M from Menlo Ventures for its AI-powered dictation app

Startups developing voice AI technology and applications are having their moment. Model builders like ElevenLabs and Cartesia have raised millions of dollars in the last few months. Applications such as AI-powered notetaker Granola and meeting tools Read AI and Fireflies AI have also received investor attention and backing. Continuing the trend, dictation app Wispr Flow announced today that it is raising $30 million in Series A funding from Menlo Ventures with participation from NEA, 8VC, Opal

iOS 26 to let third-party apps build their own AirDrop alternative

Apple’s tight grip on local wireless sharing is finally loosening, even if rather reactively. With iOS 26, developers are getting a new API that allows third-party apps to discover and connect nearby devices over Wi-Fi, without needing an internet connection. Here’s how it’ll work. Wi-Fi Aware As observed by iHelpBR, the core of this news boils down to Wi-Fi Aware, which will allow nearby devices to find each other and create a direct peer-to-peer connection over Wi-Fi, even when they’re not o

Everything to Remember About ‘Foundation’ Season 2 Ahead of Season 3

Foundation season three will pick up 152 years after the end of season two, which means a new set of supporting characters is on the way. However, given Foundation’s fondness for clones (be they organic or digital) and robots—as well as people who endure extended cryosleep—all the main faces will also be back. That time jump will advance the action to a time of great unrest, as predicted in season two by Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) using a combination of mathematics, the “prime radiant” quantum