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Using Samsung's texting app on your Galaxy phone? Get ready to move to something else, like Google Messages.
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Netflix just released a free app called Playground for smartphones and tablets. This is a gaming app for kids, aged eight and under. It's available to all Netflix members on any tier, and the company promises it doesn't have ads or in-app purchases.
It also works without a mobile or Wi-Fi connection. Netflix says this makes it the "perfect companion for long airplane rides or grocery trips." Kids do love their screens.
The company promises an "ever-growing library of games" for children. The platform launches with titles based on some massively popular franchises. There's something called Playtime with Peppa Pig, which is a collection of minigames starring the titular Peppa and friends.
There's also a game set on Sesame Street, in which kids get to "hang out with Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar and more beloved puppet pals." This is another minigame collection, with a memory card game, a connect-the-dots game and more.
The catalog also includes a couple of games based on Dr. Seuss properties and a racing title based on the show Bad Dinosaurs. There are other things on the platform, like a sticker book collection and jigsaw puzzles. Again, every title here is intended for young children.
Netflix Playground is available now in the US and many other parts of the world. It launches globally on April 28. The regular Netflix app still offers access to traditional video games, though the streamer's interactive division has been struggling lately. It closed its AAA gaming studio back in 2024 and has since
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Iyaz explains how to safely de-grime and disinfect your phone and earbuds. But the cleaning doesn't stop there. Now it's time to get rid of some apps. We show you built-in tools on Android and iOS that help you make the tough choices.
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Artemis II and its four-person crew have entered the Moon's "sphere of influence," meaning the spacecraft is more affected by lunar gravity than the Earth's pull. The transition occurred at a distance of 39,000 miles from the Moon, four days, six hours and two minutes into the mission. The next and most important phase will happen tomorrow when the craft loops around the Moon's far side, taking humans deeper into space than they've ever been before.
At their apogee, Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Canada's Jeremy Hansen will be 252,757 miles from Earth. That will break the previous record held by the Apollo 13 crew by just over 4,000 miles. They're the first humans to cross the lunar threshold since 1972's Apollo 17 moon landing mission.
The crew spent this weekend carrying out preparations for their lunar flyby. That included manual piloting demonstrations, reviewing their science objectives for the six-hour observation period and evaluating their space suits, which are there for life support in the event of an emergency and for their return home. But, they've had plenty of time to take in the views, too — and those views sure are spectacular. In the latest series of images shared by the space agency, the astronauts are seen gazing at Earth through the windows of the Orion spacecraft.
Orion will reach the moon's vicinity shortly after midnight on Monday, April 6. Later that day, the crew is expected to reach a point farther than any humans have traveled from Earth, surpassing the record of
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Finding the right app on the Google Play Store just got a lot easier. Google is rolling out a new search function for an app's reviews when navigating its Play Store, as first spotted by Android Authority. The new feature only currently searches for exact matches of at least two words, but it should still help users identify if certain apps and games have specific features or gameplay elements.
You can find the search function after hitting the "See all reviews" button on the Play Store, and it will also offer some popular search terms next to the feature. It's similar to Amazon's "Search customer reviews" feature and will bold the search phrase in the reviews.
The ability to search reviews is a welcome addition to the Play Store, especially when compared to the App Store that can only sort an app's reviews. Google has also been cracking down on bad apps that violate its policies in recent years, but giving users the ability to search through reviews could offer another layer of scrutiny for any apps that slip through the cracks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadge
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 Three established YouTube channels have sued Apple, alleging that the company violated the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by unlawfully accessing and scraping millions of copyrighted videos from YouTube to train its AI models.
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 The Artemis II crew is almost at the moon, and the astronauts spent this weekend carrying out preparations for their lunar flyby on Monday. That included manual piloting demonstrations, reviewing their science objectives for the six-hour observation period and evaluating their space suits, which are there for life support in the event of an emergency and for their return home. But, they've had plenty of time to take in the views, too — and those views sure are spectacular. In the latest series of images shared by the space agency, the astronauts are seen gazing at Earth through the windows of the Orion spacecraft.
Orion will reach the moon's vicinity shortly after midnight on Monday, April 6. Later that day, the crew is expected to reach a point farther than any humans have traveled from Earth, surpassing the record of 248,655 miles from Earth set by the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970.
Mission specialist Christina Koch takes in the view.NASAThe lunar observation period will start at 2:45PM ET, and a few hours later, they'll be behind the moon and
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These smart mowers are expensive alternatives to some good old-fashioned yard work, but they're finally good enough to consider if you'd rather sip an iced tea and watch the robot go by.
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Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 6 No. 1,030.
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Samsung is putting the final nail in the coffin for its own messaging app. The smartphone maker posted an "End of Service Announcement" on its website, revealing that the Samsung Messages app will no longer be available by July of this year. Samsung also recommended that anyone still using Samsung Messages switch over to Google Messages as the default messaging app.
For Samsung Messages users in the US, the switch to Google offers RCS messaging that lets you send high-quality media, join group chats and get real-time typing indicators no matter the smartphone's OS. Galaxy smartphone owners may lose out on some of the Samsung Messages customization options, but Google Messages will make up for it generative AI from Gemini that can remix your photos in chats. On top of those features, Google Messages makes it easier for Samsung users to switch chats between a smartphone, tablet or smartwatch.
It's no surprise that Samsung is only using Google Messages from now on, since it has been phasing out Samsung Messages for a few years now. Dating back to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6, and then followed by the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung stopped preloading the Samsung Messages app and instead pre-installed the Google Messages app. The Samsung Messages app is still available on the
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 Amazon has introduced a few new record low prices on the new M5 MacBook Air this week, with up to $84 off these notebooks. The biggest markdowns can be found on the 13-inch MacBook Air, but there are still some solid deals on 15-inch models as well.
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The Roblox-like VR title Rec Room is shutting down after operating for a decade. The free-to-play social game is closing its doors because the developers "never quite figured out" how to make it profitable, despite attracting 150 million players.
"We spent a long time trying to find a way to make the numbers work," the team wrote in a blog post. "But with the recent shift in the VR market, along with broader headwinds in gaming, the path to profitability has gotten tough enough that we've made the difficult decision to shut things down."
The shut down officially happens on June 1, but the platform is already making serious changes. Starting today, users will no longer be able to make friends, create new accounts or subscribe to the premium service. However, many features locked behind that subscription paywall will be free from now until June.
The devs are also allowing users to download some of the assets connected to rooms they created. This could, in theory, let them port their creations to other platforms in the future. Snapchat owner Snap has already bought up a bunch of Rec Room's assets and some employees will join the social media company, according to a report by GeekWire.
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