(Washington, D.C., September 30, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide more than $531 million in Congressionally mandated recovery assistance to Georgia agricultural producers through a block grant agreement with the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) to help producers recover from Hurricane Helene.

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If I told you Apple rolled out a new feature with iOS 26 that allows Maps to track your movements, and save that information for later, what would you think? On the surface, it does sound pretty invasive, especially from a company that typically promotes user privacy. While this really is a new feature, here’s the thing: It isn’t as bad as it sounds. And, if you really don’t like it, you can turn it off.

The feature, “Visited Places,” is actually intended to be a private way to keep tabs on the places you’ve been to, and to easily recall your favorites in the future. When the feature is enabled, Maps will take note of places you visit, even if you don’t use Maps to get there. It’s like a passive, automatic journal, taking note of restaurants, malls, parks, or simply general locations you venture to day-to-day. According to Apple, all of this information is stored on your synced devices only, and is end-to-end encrypted, which means Apple has no way to access this data.

If you have the feature enabled, you’ll find your Visited Places appropriately tucked away in the “Places” menu when you launch Maps. I’ve only had the feature turned on for a day or so, so I only have three locations currently saved, but all three were destinations I visited without using Maps to guide me there.

Personally, I have no issue with keeping this setting turned on: Nobody has access to the data except for me, and I can imagine it reminding me of the places I’ve enjoyed visiting during a future scroll.

Apple says you will be asked to turn on the feature when you open Maps after updating to iOS 26, and, in my experience, that was the case. However, for CNET writer Zachary McAuliffe, the feature was already enabled without his input. As such, it might be smart to double-check that the feature is set to whichever setting you prefer, lest you allow Maps to track your movements without your knowledge.

How to manage ‘Visited Places’ in Apple Maps

To check whether the feature is turned on or off, head to Settings > Apps > Maps > Location. Alternatively, you can go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Maps. Either way, check the toggle next to “Visited Places.”

You can also delete any Visited Places without needing to turn the feature off altogether. Open Maps, tap “Places,” then “Visited Places.” Here, you can swipe left on any place to delete it, or choose “Clear History” to delete them all. Plus, you can choose how long you want Maps to store your Visited Places: The default is “Forever,” but you can also select “3 Months” or “1 Year,” if you wish.

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Summer and fall are the perfect time to prepare for standardized aptitude tests. Prepping through summer will help you be ready for a fall exam, giving you enough time to retake for a higher score it in the spring, if needed, or you can prep through fall and target that spring test. Even if you studied all summer, fall is the ideal time to review and cram down to the last minute. And no matter how you tend to learn, an app can probably help. Here are some of the best ones available on iOS and Android (some are available on a browser, too).

Try Khan Academy if you’re a long-term learner

Credit: Khan Academy

Khan Academy, a nonprofit organization and partner of the College Board, has become synonymous with test prep. They have free courses in various AP classes, a variety of subjects, and, of course, standardized tests like the SAT and LSAT—which means if you start with Khan while you prepare for the SAT, you can stick with it all the way through wherever your educational journey takes you.

Beyond having a deep selection of study materials, Khan Academy serves up information in video form, with clips that go through practice problems similar to the ones you could face on your exam. For real-deal practice questions, you’ll need to use the desktop version of the site, but the app-based videos are great to take on the go.

What I like about Khan is that some of the videos and articles are informational. For instance, you can read about calculator policies for the SAT or watch a quick clip that gives you an overview of what the test is and what to expect. Studying material is one thing, but being prepared for the experience is another, and this app is well-rounded there.

Use Magoosh’s SAT app for customized prep

Credit: Magoosh

Magoosh flashcards and practice quizzes go over English and math concepts you should know for your test. Out of all the apps, the Practice & Prep offering is unique because it’s dedicated purely to the SAT, but it is customizable. The first time you log in, you’re prompted to share when your test is so the app can configure what you should study between now and then. There will be a difference in how you approach it if you have one month or one year to get ready and Magoosh’s app knows that.

Like Khan Academy, this platform gives you information on the test itself, too, offering up a landing page of articles on how to prepare. Beyond that, you get practice questions, videos on the reading and writing sections, and practice tests. While flashcards and study games are useful, practice quizzes are pretty crucial, too, because they give you a better sense of how you’ll perform when you’re facing down a large volume of content.

Bear in mind there are two apps from this company: I like the Practice & Prep, obviously, because it’s so customizable and helpful with the quizzes, but there is a separate flashcard app available if you learn better that way and want to double up on the methods you use for studying.

Use Varsity Tutors’ SAT: Practice, Prep, Flashcards if you want the most variety

Credit: Varsity Tutors

Varsity Tutors is another well-known name in the studying space, and the company’s SAT app is thorough. When you log in, you have the option to take a diagnostic test to see where you’re struggling, run through a practice test, or complete flashcards and other study methods designated by concept.

The underlying goal of Varsity Tutors’ app is to funnel you into working with a paid tutor, so be advised there, but the tests you can take to prepare for English and math are robust. You get a breakdown of your correct and incorrect answers, plus details on how long it took you to answer questions compared to others studying the same thing.

Use Brainscape for a trusted resource

Credit: Brainscape

I love the Brainscape app and use it to study for certification exams or just to learn new things. The beauty of Brainscape is that while it’s a flashcard app and those are a dime a dozen, it has some legitimacy attached to it because the company works directly with the governing bodies that oversee tests when it creates flashcard decks. AP tests, certification exams, and the SAT are just a few of the options you can study with the knowledge that the questions you’re reviewing are actually relevant to the test. Like other apps, Brainscape has an option for reviewing user-generated flashcard decks, too, and that’s great—but start with the deck that’s been created with the SAT organization itself.

Crucially, Brainscape uses a version of the Leitner method to quiz you. When you finish answering a flashcard, you indicate how well you knew the answer on a scale of one to five. That determines how often that same card is shown to you, with the lesser-known cards cropping up more frequently and the better-mastered cards popping up less often— it forces you to study more effectively, which is a winning strategy.

Use NotebookLM to shake things up

Credit: Google

Finally, if you’re a student or learner of any kind, not just an SAT-prepper, I recommend Google’s NotebookLM AI tool. It’s like any other AI chatbot except that it doesn’t pull its responses from the Internet. Instead, it relies only on information you feed it. If you have SAT prep tests or study materials from school, a tutor, a guidance counselor, or online, you can upload them into NotebookLM and ask the software to generate a practice quiz, flashcards, summary, or even a “podcast” that features two voices discussing the content. No matter how you learn best, NotebookLM has a feature to support you.

Importantly, it only uses the materials you upload, like I said. This means you won’t get any random or incorrect content from the far reaches of the Internet; you’ll only get information you select and input. ChatGPT gets things wrong all the time (and I have seen it generate complete nonsense when dealing with people I tutor in writing), so this is a welcome resource if you like using AI but are worried about being misled. It’s available on iOS, Android, and your desktop browser.

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When you install a major update like iOS 26, you find yourself discovering things the more you use it. You might find a new way to boost your battery life, or stop those spam calls and texts for good. For me, however, one of my favorite discoveries was a small but excellent change to group chats—which doubles as a way to discover which of your contacts have also updated to iOS 26.

Typing indicators join the group chat

Once people update their iPhones to iOS 26, group chats start supporting typing indicators, or, in other words, those tiny typing bubbles you see in one-on-one chats in Messages. The first time you’re in a group chat after updating your iPhone and see someone typing, it’s a bit jarring, since that feature has been exclusive to single chats for all of iMessage history. To me, it almost seemed like a glitch—that’s not supposed to happen.

But it’s actually a great update. Now, group chats aren’t just dead air in-between messages: You can tell when other people are working on responses to one of your messages, so you won’t be surprised the next time a host of new texts start flooding in. On the flip side, if you don’t see these chat bubbles, you’ll know no one is actually working on anything to say. Dead air means dead air.

What’s interesting, though, is that since you need to be running iOS 26 in order to get typing indicators, this new feature serves as a bit of a tell to know which of your contacts has updated to the latest OS. That’s what I’m finding after a couple weeks of iOS 26: I’ll be in group chats where messages come in without warning, as per usual, but one contact will appear as a typing bubble. I’m sure someday not that long from now, that won’t be the norm, and I’ll see most contacts typing in group texts. But for now, it’s a neat observation.

Just remember: If you’re running iOS 26, anyone else running iOS 26 can see that you’re typing in the group chat. It might require some new muscle memory. Until now, you’ve been able to take as long as you want to type and send messages in group chats without notice. But now, some (if not all) of the chat members will be able to see when you start crafting a text.

This is far from the only change Apple made to messaging in iOS 26. In fact, there’s a lot new here, including chat background, the ability to copy individual words from messages, and polls like you might find on other chat apps and social media platforms.

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The internet isn’t private, but that doesn’t mean you have to willingly give up all of your information to use it. By default, trackers steal a lot of your data while you browse the web, but simple settings can block a lot of those trackers from functioning. As it turns out, by updating to iOS 26, your iPhone gets an upgraded tool against tracking.

The feature, called Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection, is an option in Safari that hides certain browser and device data trackers typically use to build a digital “fingerprint” of users. In this case, a fingerprint is a profile companies use to track your movements across the web. Your fingerprint may be made up of data like your device’s IP address, the device itself, your browser, fonts, plug-ins, as well as its screen resolution. All of these data points come together to build a unique picture of who you are; the more unique your fingerprint, the easier it is to track you, since the odds of someone else with your exact same details is slim.

Fingerprinting has a number of applications across the web, but perhaps the largest is for targeted advertising. The reason many of the ads you see are so relevant to your interests and browsing history is because of fingerprinting. Trackers know your internet habits, and can identify and deliver the advertisements you’re most likely to click or tap on. Companies can also sell these fingerprinting profiles to brokers and advertisers, making money on both your engagement with ads, as well as your raw data.

Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection simplifies each Safari user’s data, so our fingerprints aren’t quite so unique. By doing so, it’s harder for trackers to identify individuals, and, as such, makes it possible to browser the web more privately.

This feature was already a thing on iPhone before iOS 26. However, it was limited to Private Browsing by default. If you didn’t do all your browsing in a private tab, you likely lost some of these privacy protections, unless you knew to manually change the setting to cover all browsing. The same goes for iPadOS and macOS as well. Most of us probably didn’t change the setting, since it’s quite buried in each OS’ respective settings.

Once you update your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the latest OS, however, your browsing gets these added tracking protections by default. Whether you browse in a private or a normal window, trackers will have a difficult time identifying your device.

How to check your Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection settings

This setting should be enabled by default when you update your device. But if you want to make sure it’s on, here’s where to find it. On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings, then head to Apps > Safari > Advanced. On your Mac, open Safari, press Command + , to pull up Safari’s settings, then choose the Advanced tab.

From here, ensure Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection is set to “All Browsing” (iOS/iPadOS) or “in all browsing” (macOS).