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IO Interactive has revealed the launch date for 007 First Light. The James Bond game releases on March 27th, 2026.

Irish actor, Patrick Gibson, best known for playing young Dexter Morgan in Dexter: Original Sin, has been cast in the role of James Bond in the third-person stealth/spy/shooter game.

A new trailer that outlines the gameplay is out on YouTube. But if that 2-minute video doesn't impress you, there is something that might. IO Interactive has published a longer video, a 30-minute premiere showcasing around 20 minutes of gameplay, and 10 minutes of developer commentary. The premiere focuses on the first mission in the game. This also happens to be Bond's first mission in the field, and he has to capture Agent 009, who has gone rogue. You don't work alone, 007 teams up with his associates to take down the villain.

There are multiple ways to get around obstacles like security checks, you don't have to go guns blazing. Sometimes subtlety is important, maybe you can talk your way out of things. Bond has access to some tools and gadgets, he can pick things up to use as a distraction, and combine them with environmental objects to create an opening. Agent 47 may be a Silent Assassin, but Bond's a bit of a chatterbox, narrating his thoughts, often humorously.

Stealth games usually have bad mechanics like enemies and NPCs easily getting distracted, and not noticing the player doing odd things, like climbing a pipe, etc. I mean, that is by design, these distractions are meant to allow the player to get past guards or hostile NPCs. It may look odd in a super-spy game, but it is made by Hitman's devs, so I guess it can't be helped.

007 First Light involves driving vehicles, of course it has to, Bond likes his fancy cars. Unfortunately, this is where things begin to look bad. The high-speed car chase that was featured in the video had significant frame drops, the driving looked jarring, and that motion blur effect was not helping. The gun-fight that follows was impressive, it reminded me a little of Uncharted, the chaotic explosions from Just Cause, the bullet-time of Max Payne, and a bit of Grand Theft Auto. First Light also has melee combat. Performance during these scenes were far from impressive, hopefully these issues will be ironed out before the game is released.

It may be a Bond game, but it definitely has the Hitman vibe, which is a good thing in my book. But unlike Agent 47, Bond being Bond, is often reckless, has a problem with authority, and following orders. The game seems to deliver all these, along with witty humor. I liked the subtle touch when Bond jumped into a tunnel, "License to Kill" appeared on the screen, and he shoots a guy. This is a nod to the iconic intro in Bond movies.

I know it's just an extended trailer, but it felt like a short movie. 007 First Light will be available for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2.

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Linux Mint 22.2 is here. The update is called Zara, here's what's new in it.

Mint 22.2 is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and will be supported 2029. It comes with Linux kernel 6.14.

Sticky notes now have rounded corners, and the app is compatible with Wayland. Android users can use a companion app called StyncyNotes to sync their notes between their Linux system and phone. The app is available for download at F-Droid's repository. It uses SyncThing to sync, hence the name, StyncyNotes.

Linux Mint 22.2 adds a subtle blur effect to the login screen, the background of the login box is blurred. It also displays your user avatar now.

Mint 22.2 comes with a new XApp called Fingwit, which is used for fingerprint authentication. It is used for the screensaver, sudo commands, Admin apps (pkexec). You will need to enter your password to add fingerprints, after which you will need to use your computer's fingerprint reader to add the scans.

Unfortunately, it doesn't progress beyond the first scan for me. My device (04f3:0c4f) is supported by libfprint, so I'm not sure what's wrong. Anyway, I couldn't test it at all. It's also worth mentioning that the login screen still requires you to type a password if you use a home directory encryption or a keyring.

The Software Manager's home page has been redesigned, and the i button on app listings now explains the difference between Flatpak and system packages. The Update Manager will display a reboot button on the taskbar, when an update requires a restart.

Linux Mint 22.2 changes the default Mint-Y theme slightly, it is now less gray and slightly more blue.

(Image courtesy: Linux Mint)

LibAdwaita has been patched to work with themes, and now supports Mint-Y, Mint-X and Mint-L. The LAN based file-sharing app, Warpinator, is now available for iOS.

The IPTV app, Hypnotix, now supports two additional modes. Theater Mode hides the controls and menus, but still displays the title bar.  The hotkey for theater mode is F6.

(Image courtesy: Linux Mint)

Borderless Mode hides everything, including the borders, title bar, though you use the Alt key to move the window around. Borderless mode can be toggled with the F7 keyboard shortcut.

(Image courtesy: Linux Mint)

The app has been updated to startup faster, searching large playlists is also faster. Hypnotix will no longer reset the volume when you switch channels.

For a full list of changes, known issues, please refer to the release notes, and the blog article on Linux Mint's website.

If you don't see the Linux Mint 22.2 update yet, open the Update Manager and click on Edit, and you should see an option to update to 22.2. Or, you can download the ISO of your choice from https://pub.linuxmint.io/stable/22.2/.

It's unclear when Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 (codenamed “Gigi”) will be released.

Have you updated to Mint 22.2 ?

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Amazon has announced that it will end Prime shipping benefits for accounts outside households. The Prime Invitee Program is being replaced by Amazon Family.

Users could not join the Prime Invitee program since 2015. It has existed for ten years, to allow users to continue sharing the free shipping benefits. However, a support page on Amazon's website mentions that the Prime Invitee program will end on 1 October 2025. Users who aren't in the same household will no longer be able to access the Prime delivery benefit.

Instead, they are being directed to Amazon Family. Now, this isn't a new program either, it was launched in 2015, and introduced additional benefits. Currently, it allows Family members to share the following perks: free shipping, Prime Video (with ads), Prime Reading, Prime Music, audiobooks, eBooks, games, some third-party benefits like Grubhub.

These benefits are only available for 2 adults, up to four teens (who were added before April 7, 2025), and up to 4 child profiles per household. Amazon Music can only be shared with one adult in the Amazon Family.

So, why is Amazon cutting access to free shipping outside households? They want to attract more subscribers. Reports indicate that Amazon fell slightly short of Prime sign-ups in the U.S. this year (around 5.4 Million users), both in terms of the company's target, and to meet last year's total numbers (around 5.56 Million). The 2% failure happened despite an extended Prime Day sale event, which ran for four days instead of two. Amazon says Prime sign-ups achieved record-breaking numbers in the 25 days around the sales period, though it has not published the data to back this up.

The Verge reports that users who don't live in the same household as the account holder, are being offered a discounted subscription for Amazon Prime, at $14.99 for the first year, after which they will be charged $14.99 per month if they choose to continue.

YouTube Premium Family plan subscribers are being flagged if accounts are from different households. Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max (soon), are all enforcing location based restrictions to prevent users from sharing their passwords, or accounts with members outside their physical location, to drive up more subscriptions. If I were to describe all this in two words, I'd call it "subscription hell", because that's what it feels like for consumers.

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Last year, a U.S. Judge ruled that Google had created an illegal monopoly in the search industry. The Justice Department had recommended severe remedies such as forcing Google to sell Chrome, and split Android away from the Mountain View company.

However, the antitrust trial seems to have taken a bizarre turn. A three-week hearing was held in April by Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Mehta's ruling bars Google from entering into exclusive contracts to distribute its software including Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app.

But, he allowed Google's partnerships to continue, which means it can continue to pay its partners for preloading or placement of Google search, Chrome and GenAI products. Apple earns a cool $20 Billion a year from its partnership with Google. This is also good news for Firefox, since Mozilla had admitted in its testimony it would be doomed without Google's money. It could have played a big role in this ruling.

As for Google Chrome's sale, the Judge stated that the Justice Department had overreached in seeking the forced divestiture of key assets (Chrome), which Google had not used to effect any illegal restraints. The Court said that it will not include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment.

The ruling says Google is not allowed to enter agreements that require the distribution, preloading, or placement of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or the Gemini app on devices, for licensing of the Play Store or any Google app. So, Android manufacturers won't need to preload all the apps to get their device verified for Play Store access? I think that's what it means. I wonder whether this will affect Google's upcoming sideloading restrictions. Google does not have to present users with choice screens on its products, nor does it have to ask its Android OEM partners to do the same. You can read the entire ruling on CourtListener.

The only remedy that was against Google's favor is that it is now required to share certain search index and user-interaction data to its competitors like Microsoft, DuckDuckGo, OpenAI, etc. Google wasn't happy with this, Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice president of regulatory affairs, said that the company is concerned how these requirements will impact its users and their privacy. Bloomberg reports that the Judge has asked both parties to come back by September 10, with a new remedy proposal that is consistent with his ruling, or submit a status report about any disagreements.

Google seems to have gotten away big time. What are your thoughts about this?

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Opera for iOS has received a major update. It introduces a new tab management system, a customizable main menu, and more.

I know it's called Opera One for iOS, but let's keep it simple and call it Opera, shall we?

Opera for Android added a new tab management system in May 2025. But, since Apple does not allow third party browser engines on iOS, tab management in Opera for iOS is nowhere as good as the Android version which has undo closed tabs, access recently closed tabs, mute tabs, etc. Still, this is a pretty good update.

In July 2025, the iOS version of Opera added some new features for the new tab page, such as support for drag and drop to reorder tabs, and an option to switch between a grid view and list view. Grid view displays thumbnails of each page, and you scroll down to view all your tab. List view is basically vertical tabs view, which I like on a phone. I'm not a tab hoarder per se, people have 100s of tabs open. I usually have like 20 to 30 tabs, even on desktop. On Safari on my iPhone, I make it a habit to close the tab immediately after reading a page, to prevent the list from getting bigger, scrolling the list is a pain. Vertical tabs solve this problem pretty well.

Tap on the tabs icon in Opera, and then on the button in the bottom left-corner to alternate between grid view and list view.

Besides Opera, only DuckDuckGo for iOS has a similar grid/list view. Orion browser has a list-style tab manager, but no option to change to a grid view. I don't think any other iOS browser has a list-based tab management system.

Now, coming to the new features in today's Opera for iOS update, you can group tabs and organize them. Opera is a bit late to the party, Safari, Chrome, Orion, and Vivaldi already supported tab grouping. But Opera's tab groups feature is a little different. Tap on the three-dot button in the bottom right corner, and you can select the tabs.

This can also be done by tapping the checkmark button on the bottom bar. Then tap on "add to" and you can create a group. Alternatively, you can also use the three-dot menu to close all tabs in a single tap, or select some tabs and choose to close them. You may also long press on a tab to create a new group. Give the group a name, choose a color, and you're good to go.

I don't have an iPad anymore so I can't test it, but according to Opera, the new update for iPadOS brings Tab Islands for iPads. These are basically tab groups accessed via the tab bar on the desktop version.

(image courtesy: Opera)

Opera for iOS now has a tab search bar, so if you have dozens of tabs open and want to find something specific. Just tap on the search icon in the new tab page and type the name or title of the tab, the list is filtered as you type.

Opera says that the update adds a shortcut for Aria AI to the bottom bar. I don't like that, but here's the thing, the update doesn't seem to have added the icon for me. But if you see it on your phone, there is a way to disable it. Go to the Settings > Aria Browser AI. The first option here says "Bottom Bar Shortcut", this is enabled by default and will replace the "search" button on the bottom bar. Disable the option, and it should restore the search button and remove the Aria shortcut.

Staying with Opera's new tab page, it has a couple of icons at the top of the screen. The first one with the hat and glasses represents Private Browsing, the other option which shows a counter with the number of tabs that are open is regular browsing mode. Opera's blog (and the app itself) mentions that you can now swipe on the icons to switch between private browsing and regular browsing mode, but I couldn't get the feature to work. It was then I realized you have to swipe the screen left or right, not directly on the icons.

Note: You may see a third button at the top, which is the synced tabs icon. It only appears when you sign in to Opera Flow.

Let's go back to the Settings menu, there is a new section here called "Customize Menu". You can disable or enable any option here, to add or remove the shortcuts that appear when you tap on the three-dot button in the bottom bar. The options that you can toggle include: Aria AI, Bookmarks, History, Downloads, Flow, Send to Flow, Find in Page, Site Options, Translate and Show Desktop Version. Tap and drag an item in the list to reorder the entry. For example, if you use "show desktop version, or translate" frequently, you may want to drag these options to the top of the list. Use the Reset button to set the menu to its default settings.

It is now possible to import your bookmarks and speed dials from Opera for desktop to Opera for iOS. Tap on Settings, and the very first option here is new, it's called Account. Sign in to your account and it will import the data. This is not a two-way sync feature, Opera says it's still working on it. Will it replace Flow?

Download Opera for iOS from the App Store.

That was way longer than I expected, but those are a lot of quality-of-life improvements, which are always welcome. I wish Firefox on iOS added some of these, or Apple allows third party browser engines.

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Phishing and its many variants are still a major threat on today's Internet. Email phishing is still a dominant attack type. You receive an email that usually claims to come from a legitimate company or service, in order to steal your passwords, other data, or gain access to information.

Experienced Internet users may detect most phishing emails immediately. One look at the sender's email address or the content of the email, and they know whether it is legitimate or not. Yes, a deep dive into the mail headers is usually the better option to determine whether an email is real or fake, but often, that is not necessary. If you get a claim from a company that you do not do business with, you can almost be certain that the email that you received is not legitimate.

Decade-old best practices against phishing still reign supreme. Do not click on links, do not use information to call someone, send them a message, or open a website listed in the phishing email. Bad grammar or spelling used to be a good indicator, but the increased use of AI by threat actors is eliminating most of that in emails.

If you are unsure, you may also hover with the mouse over links in phishing emails. At least on desktop systems, you see the link target. Often, it is a destination that has nothing to do with the entity the email supposedly came from. Even if an URL shortener is used or a new strategy is implemented, like showing mailto links instead of web links, it should ring the alarm bells loud and clear immediately.

On mobile, you may be able to long-press on links to display a context menu with options or information. There is still the risk of accidentally opening a link that you want to check though.

The following email, for example, has quite a few red flags. The sender claims that the recipient has to pay customs duties for a parcel transported by DHL.

Apart from the sender's email, it is the link that provides you with additional information. It screams fake, and if you used DHL before, you know that the company does not use the t.co URL shortening service.

Hovering over links may give help you distinguish fake emails from real ones. I still recommend that you open links manually only. If you get an email from your bank, a shopping site, or any other service or site that you use, you could still open it manually in your browser instead of clicking on a link, if you believe that there is a high chance that the email is legitimate.

Now You: How do you handle the threat of phishing? Do you use specialized security tools to protect against phishing attacks? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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There is certainly no shortage of password managers for all modern operating systems. From traditional password managers like Keepass that save passwords locally to cloud-based solutions like Bitwarden that sync data between devices to increase the convenience of using a password manager.

The makers of the open source authenticator 2Fas Auth have expanded this year into password manager territories. Their 2Fas Pass application is open source and was launched just a few months ago.

2Fas Pass uses the same design principles as the oganization's authenticator app. It is designed with security and privacy in mind and follows the organization's local-first principle. Its zero-knowledge architecture protects data at rest and while in transit.

First, the basics. The password manager is available as a native app for Android and iOS only. You can install browser extensions to integrate it with desktop operating systems, but still need to run the mobile app as data needs to be retrieved from the application.

You can install the app free of charge and are not required to create an account. The very first thing you need to do after installation of the password manager is to generate secret words and set a master password. The first part happens automatically, the second asks for a password that needs to be at least nine characters long.

Once you have set the local password you are good to go. You need to download the vault decryption kit as a PDF or print it. This is the only option to restore access to the password database if you forget the password.

The password manager can import or export passwords. It supports a wide range of password services, including 1Password, Bitwarden, browsers like Chrome or Firefox, or LastPass. There is also an option to import a backup of 2Fas Pass passwords, for instance to move the database to another device.

The free version has three main restrictions. First, you can only save up to 200 items in the password manager. Second, you can't sync the passwords between devices. Third, you can only install and use one browser extension. The paid version removes the restrictions and costs about $10 per year. It is for you to decide whether the restrictions are too limiting.

One interesting feature of 2Fas Pass is the ability to set security tiers for passwords.  The password manager supports secret, highly secret, and top secret tiers.

The main differentiating factor is access to the passwords. Secret passwords work with autofill and are also available in the browser extensions. Highly secret passwords become available only after you complete an additional confirmation step. Top secret passwords, finally, are isolated and they do not support autofill at all.

2Fas Pass is a new open source password with an interesting option to set the security level of individual passwords and a security- and local-first design. Desktop users may find the lack of dedicated desktop apps problematic. The limits of the free version may also keep some users from making the switch. While many may not run into the 200 passwords limit, restricting extension installations to just one browser could keep some users from even trying the password manager.

The price of a subscription is reasonable on the other hand and the only way for the organization to fund development and support.

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Over the past couple of weeks, some reports claimed that Google had sent an emergency warning to all Gmail users after a security breach. Google says that these claims are false.

Here's what happened. In early August 2025, the Google Threat Intelligence Group confirmed that Google had been hacked in June this year, by a ransomware threat group called ShinyHunters, aka UNC6040.

After the attack, Google had performed an impact analysis, and prepared mitigations. Its analysis revealed that one of its corporate Salesforce instances (Salesforce Drift) had been breached. This instance had been used to store contact details for small and medium businesses, and the attackers managed to retrieve some of it. Google said the data the hackers accessed during a small window of time was limited to basic and largely publicly available business information, such as business names and contact details.

The words "largely publicly" do suggest some private data was stolen. Google says that the threat actors also compromised OAuth tokens for the "Drift Email" integration. Perhaps that's the private data that was affected?

Google said it had notified those affected by the breach by August 8. More details about this incident are available on Google's blog. Here's another article by Google that explains more about the attack.

A few weeks ago, some reports alleged that Google had sent out warnings to all Gmail users. I can't find the exact source where this rumor began. It doesn't make sense, the attack wasn't even related to Gmail. I mean, there are over 2.5 Billion Gmail users around the world. If Google had issued a warning for "all users", surely we would have seen one by now, right? Still, the number of articles that began reporting the news kept rising without quoting any shred of evidence. I rarely defend Google or any big tech for that matter, but spreading panic and fake news is wrong, and irresponsible.  It wasn't just blogs that were doing this.

As Forbes says, it was unusual for Google to put out a statement to clarify the situation. "Several inaccurate claims surfaced recently that incorrectly stated that we issued a broad warning to all Gmail users about a major Gmail security issue. This is entirely false. "It also mentions that phishers are always on the lookout for finding ways to breach inboxes, but Google's security blocks 99.9% of the attempts from affecting users.

Google is advising users to use secure password alternatives like Passkeys to secure their accounts.

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YouTube has started cracking down on Premium Family plan accounts that are not located under the same roof. The streaming service has required users to be in the same household, but it didn't really enforce the rule until now.

A month's subscription of YouTube Family Premium costs $23, and allows up to five family members to share the subscription, and includes YouTube Music, Background Play, Downloads, and ad-free YouTube. A regular YouTube Premium plan for individuals costs $13.99 per month. I wonder why people want to share the accounts?

Google's support page related to the subscription says, "To be eligible to share a YouTube family membership, each family members must live at the same residential address as the family manager. Every 30 days, an electronic check-in will confirm this requirement."

Reports from users reveal that YouTube is sending emails to users warning them that they may not be in the same household, and that their membership will be paused in 14 days. Users will remain in the family group, and watch YouTube with ads, but won't get any Premium benefits.  So it appears Google is tracking the location of the accounts, to determine whether they are in the same house. This is probably done by monitoring and comparing the IP addresses of each member, as well as some other location-based data.

Netflix does it, so does Disney+, Hulu as well. HBO Max is about to tighten its rules about account sharing this month. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just pointing out that it's a common practice by streaming services. Frankly, I'm surprised it took Google this long to do implement this rule, given how aggressively it has been pushing YouTube Premium for those who use ad blockers. Android Police points out that this Family rule change could be related to the new two-person Premium plan that YouTube introduced a few months ago.

If you don't need to download videos for offline viewing, or any of the other Premium benefits, just watch YouTube with an ad blocker on. I use Firefox and uBlock Origin on my computer, and Safari with uBlock Origin Lite on my iPhone. You can do the same with any Chromium based browser with uBlock Origin Lite. As for mobile apps, there's NewPipe, Revanced. Want to watch YouTube on your Android TV? Use SmartTube. There's also AdGuard, Pihole, etc.

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Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 version 25H2 is now available in the Release Preview Channel. This is the final version of the software, before it hits general availability later this year.

Usually, when Microsoft releases an annual feature update, there is a lot of discussion about what's new in it. Well, things are a little different this time around. Windows 11 25H2 won't have any new features.

A blog post on Microsoft's website says, "Windows 11, version 24H2 and version 25H2 use a shared servicing branch. It also means that they also share the same new features and enhancements..."

So, why bother with an annual release? Each feature update receives two years of security updates, after which users will need to upgrade to a newer version. Here is a reminder for those who are still on Windows 11 23H2, Microsoft is ending support for this version on Nov 11, 2025. You will need to upgrade to Windows 11 24H2 or above to continue receiving updates. Version 24H2 will be supported until October 13, 2026. Likewise, Windows 11 25H2 will be supported until, you guessed it, 2027.

Version 25H2 does not have a launch date yet. Microsoft itself points out that Windows 11 25H2 removes some features, namely PowerShell 2.0 and Windows Management Instrumentation command-line (WMIC).

It's not a bug, it's a feature. Only, when it comes to Windows, it's mostly bugs. Windows 11 24H2 had plenty of bugs related to gaming, incompatibility with apps.

Recently, reports emerged stating that the KB5063878 Windows update was making SSDs inaccessible while writing large files. Some SSDs would reappear after a restart, but some SSDs were bricked permanently. Rumors suggested that SSDs with Phison controllers were primarily affected by the issue, but Phison has denied allegations that its controllers were faulty. In a statement to Tom's Hardware, Phison said that it was not able to reproduce the reported issue in over 4,500 cumulative testing hours and over 2,200 test cycles on potentially impacted drives.

Microsoft denied that it was a faulty Windows update, stating that it found no connection between the August 2025 Windows security update and the types of hard drive failures that were being reported on social media. Whodunnit?

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Wondering what Hollow Knight: Silksong will cost you? $20 bucks, that's not a joke!

Fans of the original Hollow Knight game have been eagerly waiting for the 2nd title ever since it was announced in 2019. A couple of weeks ago, Team Cherry finally revealed the launch date for Silksong, saying that the game will be released on the fourth of September 2025.

That didn't necessarily calm down the game's cult following, who were rejoicing the news about the much awaited sequel. One question that was raised among the community was how much the game would cost? This wasn't really a concern because it is an Indie game, and hence was expected to be affordable.

Many fans were expecting the game to be priced somewhere between $25 to $40. Team Cherry has surprised everyone by announcing a much lower price than expected. Silksong has been priced at $19.99 in the United States, €19.99 in Europe, and ¥2300 in Japan. It's unclear how much the game will cost in other regions, here is the listing on SteamDB, which will be updated in the coming days.

Hollow Knight sold 15 million copies worldwide. Of course, not all of them would have been sold at the full price, which was $15 BTW. Still, that is a lot of sales, very impressive for a small studio. There's no reason why Silksong can't achieve the same, or even break that record.

According to today's announcement, Hollow Knight: Silksong will release on September 4 at 7:00AM Pacific Time (PT) | 10:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) | 4:00 PM Central European Summer Time (CEST) | 11:00 PM Japan Standard Time (JST).

The Hollow Knight community has been celebrating the pricing announcement, and can you blame them? It's a rare win for gamers in these days, where game prices are reaching $80 or $90. Game console prices are being increased like crazy. Meanwhile, Team Cherry is not even doing preorders. It's refreshing to see something positive for a change.

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Apple has taken down iTorrent, a torrent client for iOS. The open source app was distributed via the AltStore PAL in the EU.

It wasn't even hosted on the App Store? Why do this?

Initially, things were unclear when the app disappeared from the AltStore PAL in July. iTorrent developer, Daniil Vinogradov (aka XITRIX), confirmed that Apple had removed Alternative Distribution functionality from iTorrent's Developer Portal, and that no warning was given. The dev also expressed concern that Apple had not responded properly, beyond saying that "their escalation team is looking into it." AltStore PAL Co-founder Shane Gill also requested Apple to clarify the issue.

Many people believed it was the fact that the app was a torrent client, that led Apple to take the app down. That is a fair assumption, given that Apple has a rough history with torrent apps. It has been banning torrent clients since 2009. Torrent clients are not illegal, neither is the act of downloading stuff via torrents. Ever heard of Linux ISO torrents? LibreOffice? Public domain media? What steps the legal boundaries, is the act of downloading and distributing copyrighted content without permission. That's when the issue of piracy arises. A torrent client is in its basic form, like a download manager, a tool which is used by the person responsible for downloading the torrent, aka the user, not the app developer.

After two months of emails, Apple finally revealed what had happened. As it turns out, Apple didn't block iTorrent for its torrent capabilities. According to a statement provided by Apple to TorrentFreak, “Notarization for this app was removed in order to comply with government sanctions-related rules in various jurisdictions. We have communicated this to the developer.”

What does that mean? Well, Vinogradov has a Russia-based Apple account, which is against the sanctions, so the app's EU distribution permissions had been revoked. But here is the thing, the developer has been living in Malta for over 3 years, with an EU Residence permit. In a comment on GitHub, Vinogradov explained that the account wasn't updated with the new details, and the fault lies with them, not Apple. While Vinogradov acknowledged the ban is far, the developer was frustrated why Apple not notifying about the ban, and the long time it took to get a response from the company. The developer hopes to reintroduce the app in AltStore PAL soon.

I still feel Apple is overreaching with its power. Apple's compliance with the Digital Markets Act has been questionable.

Sadly, things like this might happen to Android apps too, as Google wants developers to sign their apps, and verify their identities.

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WhatsApp has fixed a security flaw in its app for iOS and macOS. A zero-click exploit had been used by hackers to target users in spyware attacks.

Last week, Apple released iOS 16.8.2, iPadOS 16.8.2, macOS Sequoia 15.6.1, macOS Sonoma 14.7.8 and macOS Ventura 13.7.8 updates to fix a zero-day threat. This was referred to as CVE-2025-43300, and the Cupertino company acknowledged that the exploit may have been used by hackers in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.

Apple did not provide details about the attack, but WhatsApp says that attackers exploited this OS-level security flaw, along with a vulnerability in its own app to attack some users. The vulnerability, which has now been fixed by WhatsApp, has been tracked as CVE-2025-55177. Its description says that an incomplete authorization of linked device synchronization messages in WhatsApp could have allowed attackers to trigger processing of content from an arbitrary URL on a target’s device. Since it was a zero-click attack, it did not require any action from a user, such as clicking on a link. The attackers exploited both security flaws to compromise the victim's device, and steal data from it, including messages

Affected app versions include WhatsApp for iOS prior to v2.25.21.73, WhatsApp Business for iOS v2.25.21.78, and WhatsApp for Mac v2.25.21.78. WhatsApp credited its own security experts for discovering and patching the exploit.

TechCrunch reports that Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, the head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab, called the attack "an advanced spyware campaign" that had been targeting users for over 90 days, since the end of May. It is not clear who the attackers were.

Margarita Franklin, a Meta spokesperson has confirmed that the vulnerability was detected and patched a few weeks ago. As for the impact, Meta says it notified affected WhatsApp users, and this number was less than 200.

Spyware campaigns against WhatsApp users aren't new. WhatsApp managed to disrupt a Paragon spyware campaign earlier this year, that had targeted journalists, civil society members in Italy. WhatsApp had sued the infamous NSO Group, which created the Pegasus spyware, for compromising the security of over 1400 users in an attack campaign in 2019. In May 2024, a U.S. court ordered the NSO Group to $167 million in damages to WhatsApp.

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Some makers of browser display promotional messages to users sometimes or regularly. This may be done to promote some of their other products or services, for advertisement, or, rather rarely, to provide users with helpful recommendations and tips.

These features are usually enabled by default, which means that you need to become active to turn them off. While some may like to keep all of these enabled in their preferred browser, many users might prefer a cleaner browser without that content.

Google is using promotions in its Chrome web browser on Windows. You may have encountered the "What's new page" of the browser already, which Google uses to highlight some of the new features of the browser. But Google may also use the feature to advertise new features or suggest that users sign in to their Google account.

Google has not added an option to the browser's settings to disable all promotional content. Good news is that there is a policy that you may set to disable it.

Note that it is easy enough to restore the status quo at any time.

Here is how that is done:

1. Open the Start menu on the Windows PC.
2. Type regedit.exe and press the Enter-key.
3. Confirm the security prompt by selecting Yes; this opens the Registry Editor.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies, if you want to disable promotions for all users, or to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies to disable promotions just for the signed in user.
5. Right-click on Policies and select New > Key.
6. Name the key Google.
7. Right-click on the newly created Google key, and select New > Key.
8. Name the key Chrome.
9. Right-click on Chrome and select New > Dword (32-bit) value.
10. Name it PromotionsEnabled.
11. Double-click on PromotionsEnabled. The value should be 0 by default; this disables promotions for all users or the signed in user, depending on the path that you have taken under 4.
12. Restart the computer.

Chrome will stop showing promotional content on Windows. You can undo the change at any time by deleting the PromotionsEnabled Dword in the Registry Editor on Windows. Just right-click on the name and select the delete option from the context menu to do so.

Now You: what is your take on promotions, tips, and recommendations in browsers? Do they get on your nerves or do you find them useful? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Reports about damaged solid state drives (SSD) started to appear online shortly after the release of the August 2025 security updates for Windows. According to the report, the issue was caused after installation of the latest updates for Windows 11, version 24H2.

It was reproducibly according to the reports and involved copying large number of files or large files to the drives continuously.  The SSDs would become inaccessible in worst case, which a reboot sometimes, but reportedly not all the time, would fix.

Microsoft confirmed that it was aware of the reports and investigating the issue. At least one manufacturer, Phison, also confirmed that it was investigating the issue.

Earlier this week, Phison published a statement on the issue. The company said that it could not reproduce the issue after running over 4,500 cumulative testing hours on drives that were said to be affected by the issue. Also, it stated that no customers or partners came forward with claims that their drives were affected during that time.

Microsoft published an update on the Admin Portal claiming that the Windows 11 update has nothing to do with the SSD problem. Microsoft writes: "After thorough investigation, Microsoft has found no connection between the August 2025 Windows security update and the types of hard drive failures reported on social media. As always, we continue to monitor feedback after the release of every Windows update, and will investigate any future reports."

The root cause of the issue remains unclear. Both Microsoft and Phison suggest that it could be related to another, yet unknown, issue that affects the systems of users who noticed the problems.

This pretty much leaves affected Windows users on their own in finding the root cause of the issue. Since the issue is caused by copying large amounts of data to an SSD that is at least 60 percent full, it is advised to avoid this scenario, if possible. This could involve using a different internal or external hard drive for larger write operations, if available, or postponing certain operations, such as the installation of a large game, or larger updates.

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Xbox has added a new feature called Cross-Device Play History. The feature syncs your game play history across all devices that you own, allowing you to quickly get back to recently played titles.

Microsoft had previewed the feature last month for Xbox Insiders, before releasing it for everyone today.

The important part is that it doesn't just sync between your computers, you can also access your play history on your Xbox console, or Windows handheld. This should be pretty useful for the ROG Xbox Ally that is launching in October.

On Windows computers, all you need to do is just open the Xbox PC app, the play history is listed under the Most Recent section, as well as the My Library page. Xbox console users can access their recently played games under the Play History tile. Microsoft's announcement says that this feature also syncs your cloud playable games across devices, including original Xbox classics to Xbox Series X/S exclusives, games that you own, and those that are available to stream/play via Game Pass plans.

Microsoft began testing an aggregated gaming library for Xbox a couple of months ago, adding support for storefronts like Steam, GOG, Epic Games, Battle.net, allowing users to access installed games quickly. The new My apps tab improves this experience. It adds a new tab in the Xbox PC app, which you can use to find your most used apps quickly. Players can quickly open browsers, storefronts, and utilities right from their Xbox library. The My Apps experience is now available for Xbox Insiders. The Xbox PC app now has better support for controllers and keyboards. The new navigation controls let you press A to select, B to go back, Y to search. The Xbox app should now scroll faster, looks cleaner.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced Xbox Cloud Gaming for Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers.

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Anthropic has announced some updates to its Consumer Terms and Privacy Policy. It will start training its AI models if users choose to accept the new policies, but you can opt out of it.

Up until now, Claude AI did not train its language models on user data. This policy is changing, your chats with the AI will be used to improve Claude. The company says this helps strengthen its safeguards against scams, abuse and other harmful content. I guess every company is playing the security card to collect user data. This change does not affect existing chats (providing you have not accepted the new terms), however it will apply to new and resumed chats, coding sessions after accepting the terms.

Users have until September 28. 2025 to accept the new terms. Accepting the new policies now brings them into effect immediately. You can opt out of Claude's AI training from the Privacy Settings page, which is https://claude.ai/settings/data-privacy-controls

You will see a pop-up like the one in the screenshot, it has an option that says "You can help improve Claude". This toggle is enabled by default. Turn it off. Click on Accept to agree to the new terms. If you do not opt out before then, your data will be used to train the AI.

New users will be asked to make their choice when they sign up for an account. In addition to this, Anthropic will also store your data for a long period. The official wording says, "To help us improve our AI models and safety protections, we’re extending data retention to 5 years." That seems like an unusually long time to hold on to user data. The new terms say that the data isn't stored if users do not agree to provide their data for model training.

Anthropic says it does not sell user data to third-parties. As The Verge notes, Claude AI will filter or obfuscate sensitive data by using some tools and automated processes.

These changes to their privacy policy aren't exclusive to the Claude Free plan, they also apply to the Pro and Max plans. However, these rules do not apply to so services under "Anthropic's Commercial Terms, including Claude for Work, Claude Gov, Claude for Education, or API use, including via third parties such as Amazon Bedrock and Google Cloud’s Vertex AI".

It's never good to make privacy changes opt-out by default. I'm not entirely sure why there is a deadline for opting out.

Vivaldi says it won't add AI features to its browser, while a respected AI service has turned heel on privacy.

What do you think about this move by Anthropic?

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Vivaldi has announced that it won't add AI features to its browser. The Norway-based company's CEO, Jon von Tetzchner, says users are becoming spectators as AI is taking over browsers.

Here is a quote from the article published on Vivaldi's blog,

"We’re taking a stand, choosing humans over hype, and we will not turn the joy of exploring into inactive spectatorship. Without exploration, the web becomes far less interesting. Our curiosity loses oxygen and the diversity of the web dies."

Tetzchner took some shots at Google and Microsoft for bundling AI into Chrome, and Edge and letting them perform actions on the user's behalf, scan what is on the screen, etc. He also pointed out how AI summaries are affecting web publishers, they lose traffic because users don't visit the website if they find the information in an AI-generated summary. Tetzchner warns that the future of web browsers is based on "who controls the pathway to information, and who gets to monetize you".

Vivaldi will "not add an LLM to add a chatbot, a summarization solution or a suggestion engine to fill up forms for you, until more rigorous ways to do those things are available."

He nailed it. OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and the others have created a lot of hype, they have convinced people that not using AI is inconvenient, slow, boring, and in the way of progress. Unfortunately, many people have fallen for such marketing tactics, without an ounce of care about their privacy.

Is Vivaldi making a mistake? I don't think so, a browser does not need a built-in AI. Most AI-powered features in browsers provide options to summarize web pages, contextual answers, offer quick access to the chatbot in a sidebar, and writing tools via generative AI. All of these things can be done via web versions of chat services.

I find AI features like search, translate, subtitle generation to be useful for learning and discovering things. When I want to use an AI, I open a new tab to get the information I want, not at the cost of privacy, i.e. running in the background. Sometimes I run the same query on multiple AI services to compare their answers, accuracy, etc. This may not be as convenient as clicking on a button, but it works. If you want to use an AI service as your search engine, just add it to your browser.

On the other hand, generative AI is of little value to me, but I'm sure others find it helpful along with features like chatting with the AI, automating tasks, etc. But the same logic applies here, if you want to use these features, you can do so directly on the AI's website. Why depend on a browser's button? You have the freedom to use whatever you want.

Some browsers use AI for special features, for example to manage tabs, tab groups, both Firefox and Edge do this, though their functionalities vary greatly. Such features can be useful for some users, while others may consider them as bloat.

Many people have voiced their concerns about Mozilla adding AI features in Firefox.  I'm not particularly concerned about the recent AI additions to the browser, considering that it uses local language models. But I'll admit, the only reasons why I'm sticking to Firefox are uBlock Origin and Containers. If Mozilla were to shove cloud-based AI, or other bloat into Firefox, that would be a different story.

Not everyone needs or wants AI. And even for those who like AI, their needs may differ greatly. You can't please everyone, but you can't afford to anger users either, or you risk losing them. Remaining neutral is the sensible thing to do, just let the user decide what they want to do. It's their computer, and their browser. If you want to use AI services, use them, or don't. That's why I think Vivaldi's decision is sensible.

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Microsoft has announced that Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available for Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers. However, you will need to opt into the Insider Program to access the streaming feature, since it is still in beta.

A couple of months ago, I reported that Cloud Gaming is available for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. That's what's changing now, you don't need to subscribe to the most expensive tier to stream games across your devices, which BTW costs $19.99. Microsoft is now allowing Xbox Game Pass Core or Standard to stream games that they own, and select cloud playable games on any supported device, be it a smartphone, tablet, computer, or TV.

To enable preview features, go to xbox.com/play, or open the Xbox app on your TV > Settings > Account. Then you will be able to access Xbox Cloud Gaming on your devices, and stream whatever games are available to you.

Xbox Game Pass Core costs $10 per month, while Xbox Game Pass Standard costs $15 per month. Neither of these console-only tiers offer day one access to new games, that perk is still exclusive to the Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscriptions.

Note: Because there are multiple plans, it can be a little confusing, but let me state this for clarity. Xbox Cloud Gaming is not available in PC Game Pass.

With that in mind, let's proceed with the next bit of news. Microsoft says that Insiders who are Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers can play some PC games on their devices. The key difference here is that these titles can be downloaded on your device, instead of streaming them. To download PC versions of games on your PC or Windows handheld, use the Xbox PC app. Whew! Can they stop slapping Xbox to every name? Well...

The ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are launching on October 16, 2025, so now you can probably understand why these improvements are being tested for Game Pass Core and Standard. They are likely to attract more Windows handheld users to subscribe to the plans, once they are available across the board.

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If you play games on Android, then you may have come across the option to sign in with a gamer profile provided by Google Play. Google announced enhanced gaming profiles this week that have wide-reaching consequences for gaming on Android.

Starting in less than four weeks, on September 23, 2025, Google is rolling out enhanced gaming profiles globally. The only exception are Android gamers from the UK and the European Economic Area, as their rollout is delayed by a week and starts at October 1, 2025. The change affects anyone with a Google Play account, including those who use it on PC only.

Google claims that the change introduces a "a suite of new features", including "showcasing and tracking your game progress and stats" and "new ways to build your gaming community". Gaming profiles can be made public, which means that it can be accessed by others.

Google notes that it is changing how it is handline the gaming data of players "to power the new features". The following data may be collected by Google under the new gaming profile feature:

• Information about your game activity. The Google Play games you have installed and played on your devices, when you played them, and for how long.
• Information from "certain games" that provide google with information. This may include information about a player's in-game activity, e.g., saved progress, achievements or leaderboard rankings.
• A one-time option to import historic game data into the new profile.

Google says that the data is essential to enable the new features. The data will be used to "provide Play Games profile features and services", including stats and progress tracking. Also, to "improve the overall Google Play gaming experience", and to improve and develop additional features.

Is the data also being used for advertisement? Google makes no mention of advertisement in the announcement, which means that it is unclear at this point.

Google says that the change won't modify privacy settings of users. If a profile is set to private, it won't suddenly become public after the migration.

Google Play users may select Settings > Google > Settings for Google apps > Play Games > Profile and privacy, to check and change the privacy setting. The three options are "Everyone on Google Play Mobile App", "Friends only", and "Only you".  The first option makes the profile public, the two other options limit visibility.

Note that the path and names of the settings may be slightly different depending on the Android device that you are using. You find an option to delete the gaming profile and game data there as well.

Now You: do you play games on your mobile devices? What is your take on the change? More data for Google or something that is truly useful to gamers? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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