Your smartphone has ruined your life. You’re hopelessly addicted to the empty dopamine drip doled out by apps and algorithms that know you better than you know yourself. You recognize this. But also, you’re no hermit: You need to be able to keep in touch with friends and family with phone calls and text messages, just minus the baggage that comes with a modern iPhone or Android. A dumbphone might seem to be the answer to all your problems, but it’s probably not.

I am often inundated with articles and videos trying to convince me that switching to a dumbphone is the key to living a balance, fruitful life—so much so that I really considered getting one. I still might, someday, but the more I’ve thought about the matter, I’ve come to the conclusion that a dumbphone solves a few problems while introducing many more.

Switching might free me from endlessly scrolling my social media accounts, but I’d lose access to a high-quality camera that’s always with me. I wouldn’t need to deal with notifications from apps that only care about maximizing my screen time, but I’d lose my personal GPS. And I’d still be able to call and text, but I’d miss tools like iMessage and FaceTime that are critical for staying connected. I’m not ready to give all that up.

It’s true that the dumbphone market is adapting take care of some of these weaknesses, offering devices with features like cameras, navigation apps, note-taking apps, and more. But why bother dropping a considerable amount of money for a device like that when I already have a device I can make adjustments to instead?

So, that’s what I did—I took my very smart, very addicting) iPhone, and made it dumber. Here are the steps I took, plus some extra tips you can try yourself (while the instructions may vary, these tips will apply to Android phones as well):

I deleted as many apps as possible

Apps accumulate on my phone like cables in a junk drawer. I really only use a handful of them, but after testing apps on my phone for years, they’ve really added up. Making my phone dumber provided an opportunity to go through and clean house.

My advice is to be as brutal as possible here. The first app on my list, AdGuard, stays, because I need an ad blocker to make the modern internet usable. (Yes, I want a working internet on my dumb iPhone, and one that blocks predatory apps to boot.) But Amazon? Bye. Bluesky? Adios. ChatGPT? Lol.

The priority is to eliminate apps that distract you or suck you in for hours of meaningless activity. Social media is a prime target, but even that gets dicey. Can you really ditch all social media on your smartphone? Some can, but others will find that extreme, or borderline impossible. (More on that in the next section.)

Here’s a helpful tip: If you can access a social media site in a web browser, do that instead, and delete the app. Don’t keep Facebook’s predatory app on your iPhone, and if you must visit Meta’s flagship platform, do so on Safari. That way, yu’ll have better privacy protections against Meta’s tracking, and you’ll have a worse experience, since the Facebook web app is terrible. Good—that means you’ll spend less time on it.

I set Screen Time limits for any apps I can’t delete

As much as it wastes my time, I can’t delete Instagram. While 90% of my use involves mindless scrolling, the other 10% is legitimate socializing that I would very much miss should I ditch the app entirely. There are other apps on my iPhone I feel similarly about, and it’s been a daily battle to use them responsibly.

If you have a similar crop of apps you can’t part with, I highly recommend setting up Screen Time limits. It’s easy to do, and lets you choose the amount of time you can use an app each day. For example, I have Instagram set to 35 minutes of daily use, but I could choose to give myself more time on weekends, or any day that I feel like. You can also enable this feature for websites, so if you are accessing Instagram via Safari instead of the app, you can set limits for there too.

With this App Limit set, Instagram will run like it usually does until that 35th minute. Once the time limit is up, the app is replaced by a blank screen, letting me know that I’ve used my time allotment for the day. Hopefully, I then decide to do something else with my time (maybe put away my phone?), but I don’t have to: The feature gives you the option to extend the time limit by one or 15 minutes, or disable it for the rest of the day. It’s not the best solution for anyone lacking willpower, and I’ve definitely been guilty of extending my time limits again and again. But more often than not, the lock-out screen gets me to leave Instagram for the day. If I only burn 35 minutes watching reels instead of two hours, that’s fine by me.

You can get started setting Scrren Time limits via Settings > Screen Time > App Limits.

I disabled notifications for everything

Smartphone notifications are out of control. These alerts should tell me whether I have a new message or when some critical update needs my attention. If you use system notifications to let me know your app has an amazing sale going on, I’m instantly deleting it.

But even when notifications are appropriate, they’re too much. Likely part of what you hate about your iPhone are the constant distractions and disruptions from system alerts—not only are the unnecessary ones annoying, the legitimate ones steal your attention too. Before you know it, you’ve wasted another hour scrolling on Instagram just because someone replied to a message with a thumbs-up.

You don’t need a dumbphone to eliminate these distractions, though: just disable as many notifications as you can. Any time you download a new app—which you should do sparingly on your new dumb iPhone—don’t allow any notifications. For apps already on your phone, go to Settings > Notifications and disable notifications en masse. You can also attack them as the notifications come in: Swipe left on alerts in Notification Center, tap “Options,” then choose “Turn Off All Notifications.”

This too is challenging. I keep notifications on for my chat apps, since I don’t want to miss important (or funny) updates from friends and family. I did manage to disable Instagram notifications, which has its pros and cons. I’m not sucked into each and every alert I get, but I frequently miss DMs from friends. There are always tradeoffs when prioritizing your time.

I made my Lock Screen uninviting

Apple has made it easy to make your Lock Screen look awesome. The consequence, however, is that your iPhone looks a bit too inviting each time you pick it up. There’s an easy solution to that: Make it look boring AF.

I set my Lock Screen wallpaper to black, so no graphics or colors catch my eye. I allowed myself to add some Weather widgets, including current conditions, UV index, and sunrise/sunset, as I figure having the weather on my Lock Screen means one less reason to unlock my iPhone. (I used to have a News widget there instead, by it often caused me to open my phone in reaction to crazy headlines, which are in no short supply in 2025.)

My Home Screen is dead simple too

Following suit, my Home Screen is also as bland as possible. I use the same black wallpaper, and I’ve abstained from widgets. As much as I like the aesthetics of the calendar and clock widgets, I don’t want to spend any more time on this page than I have to.

As such, I’ve strategically placed the apps I use most (and which, notably, aren’t brain rot traps) on the Home Screen. I could keep this page totally blank, but why not keep the boring, useful apps at easy reach? That way, my brain doesn’t have extra time to think, “Wait, maybe we should just open YouTube instead” as I swipe to the App Library.

In my dock live my Phone, Messages, Camera, and Music apps. In two layers above it live Notes, Reminders, Maps, and Libby. (My hope is that keeping Libby in sight at all time will encourage me to read more, rather than scroll, scroll, scroll.) For all other apps, I rely on the App Library, which is only a swipe away.

You can really get creative with this. Through different apps or hacks, you can emulate the experience of dumbphones like the Light Phone, which simply shows you a list of app titles to choose from instead of wowing you with graphics and animations. Dumb Phone is one such app: After installing it, you select a group of apps you want to see on your Home Screen, and Dumb Phone lists those in a widget one-by-one. Change the color of your wallpaper to match the widget, adjust a few settings, and presto—you own faux Light Phone.

This isn’t really my cup of tea—I still enjoy a traditional home screen/app icons experience—but if you think you’d prefer the look, give it a try. (Just make sure to hit the “X” in the top right corner during setup if you don’t want to pay for the subscription.)

Go grayscale, baby

If there’s one tip to take away from this piece, it’s that you should turn your phone to grayscale. This color filter makes everything on your smartphone, well, gray, wiping away all of the bright, fun colors that make it engaging and welcoming to use.

This has been common advice for combating smartphone addiction for years, and while it’s certainly not a cure-all, it does really help. Scrolling on Instagram isn’t nearly as addicting when everything looks washed out, and it certainly doesn’t make me want to spend time watching shows or movies on my phone. If you’ve eliminated notifications entirely, you won’t notice the benefit in how a gray notification badge is far less intriguing than its bright red counterpart—but then, you’ve won that battle already.

As always, a caveat: I like my dumb iPhone, but I don’t want to punish myself. If someone sends me a video, or if I see something cool online that deserves to be seen in color, I’ll switch off grayscale temporarily. Does that defeat the purpose of my dumb iPhone? Possibly, but I’m making my own rules here.

Set a greyscale shortcut

The best compromise I’ve found is to assign the grayscale filter to the power button’s accessibility shortcut. You’ll find this under Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut. Choose “Color Filters,” then triple-click the power button any time you want to toggle grayscale on or off.

Other ways to make your iPhone dumber and less fun to use

The above is what I’ve done to make my iPhone less addicting, and, overall, it’s helped. I’m not sure if it’s the changes themselves, or how the changes constantly remind me to use my device with intention, but, either way, I’ve been reducing my screen time, and making what remains more productive. That’s a win-win.

There are other ways you can make your iPhone less appealing to use, and, thus, reclaim your screen time as well. Here are some suggestions:

• Use a matte screen protector: These screen protectors cut down on glare, but also emulate the experience of an e-ink screen. That might help any other Libby users out there who want a more soothing reading experience.

• Disable Face ID/Touch ID: Remember the days of punching in your passcode each and every time you unlocked your iPhone? It sucked. Force yourself to do it again. Knowing that you’ll need to enter your passcode any time you want to check your phone might break the habit of mindless pickups. (Better yet, set an alphanumeric password. That’ll show you.)

• Keep Low Battery Mode on at all times: If you have a Pro iPhone, your display has a buttery-smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Turning on Low Power Mode drops it down to 60Hz, which, while standard for many iPhone users, looks choppy after you’re used to 120Hz.

Will I keep my iPhone dumb forever?

Am I committed to my new dumber iPhone lifestyle? I’m not sure. If I could wager a guess, I think what’s going to happen is this: I’ll eventually switch off grayscale, add a nice Lock Screen and a well-curated Home Screen, but keep my minimal notifications and limited app selection. I like the idea of maintaining a “normal” iPhone experience, but without many of the things that make it a distraction—even if that means ditching some of the more extreme dumbphone-like measures.

Knowing that, I’m thus far happy I did not spend hundreds of dollars on a dedicated dumbphone. Something tells me that I would be itching to switch back to my iPhone in a heartbeat.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Garmin’s Forerunner 265 was the first modern running watch I spent a lot of time with—you can read my review here about how it drew me back into tracking all my run data, for better or for worse. But there are some things that, in hindsight, I wish I had understood better at the start of the journey. Here are the biggest ones that you might like to know about.

Why it has so many dang buttons

The 265 (and other recent Forerunners) seem to have too many buttons. What do we need five of them for, when we’re doing most things from the touchscreen anyway? Garmin’s Vivoactive line gets away with having just two, as do the Coros Pace 3 and Pace Pro, which have all the same main functions as the 265. 

But as soon as I saw the previous generation—the Forerunner 255—I understood. The 265 stands on the shoulders of giants, as the Forerunner 2xx series has long been beloved by runners—before the 265 was the 255, and before that the 245, and before that the 235. (Remember when Strava reported that the 235, then an eight-year-old watch, was the most popular running watch worldwide?) 

The 255 and its ancestors did not have a touchscreen, nor did they have AMOLED displays. They used a “light” button in the top left to turn on the backlight so you could read the screen in the dark, and two buttons below that (“up” and “down”) to scroll through menu options. And once you have five buttons, why not use them for more? Long pressing the light button now brings up a shortcut menu, long pressing the “up” button brings up settings, and long pressing the bottom button can bring up your music controls. 

Once you know what the buttons are used for—or assign your own shortcuts, which you can do in settings—they’re pretty handy.

Why it thinks I need so much “recovery” time

After each workout, the 265 (and many other Garmins) will tell you how many hours of recovery it thinks you need. That makes it sound like you should rest until time is up—so if I have a 24-hour recovery time, I should wait until tomorrow for my next workout. Makes sense, since I was probably going to do that anyway. 

But sometimes, after a hard effort, the watch will give me a recovery time of, say, 78 hours. I’m really not supposed to run again for that long? Not even an easy run? 

That’s not what it means, of course. As Garmin explains, recovery time is the amount of time until you will maximally benefit from another similarly hard workout. So if I just did an hour’s worth of brutal track intervals, I won’t get much benefit from doing the same workout tomorrow. I could go ahead and do an easy run tomorrow, and schedule another track session a few days from now. 

In other words, the “recovery” time is just how long you should wait before doing another very hard workout, not until you can work out at all.

The daily suggested workouts should only be taken as suggestions

Daily suggested workouts are a great feature of the Forerunner 265 and several other Garmin watches. DSW, as I call them, live on the watch and can’t be accessed directly from the Garmin Connect app—at least in theory. 

There is a “Garmin coach” feature that you can set up in the app, which works the same way as the DSW, giving you a workout each day based on what it thinks you need. The factors that go into this include how recovered you are, and what races you have on your calendar. 

I love the DSW when I’m not sure what run to do on a given day, or if I know I want a certain type of workout but don’t want to have to design it myself. But I don’t follow them slavishly, for two reasons. 

One is that you can’t plan for DSW. You might see that tomorrow is a seven-mile long run, but then you wake up to find it’s been switched to a two-mile recovery run because you didn’t sleep so well. On these days, just go run the seven-miler anyway, and don’t worry about what Garmin says. Or preview the upcoming workouts (under Training > Workouts > Daily Suggestions) and pick a future workout that speaks to you. 

The other problem is that, without long-term planning, you don’t know if the DSW will actually get you ready for the race you’re training for. Garmin forums and subreddits are full of people who are getting unsettlingly close to their marathon date and haven’t yet had any seriously long runs. You need mileage to be ready for a long-distance race, both in terms of your long runs and your total weekly workload. 

If you want to use Garmin workouts to train you for a long race, do yourself a favor and grab a tried-and-true marathon plan, like one of these from Hal Higdon. Make sure you get in a similar amount of mileage each week, whether your Garmin tells you to or not.

You can download some pretty sweet watch faces

I’m not sure why I spent so long using the stock watch faces, even though I found them kind of boring. The 265 doesn’t have as many color options for them as later watches like the 570, so there are only a handful of designs and a handful of (mostly neon) color options to choose from. 

But if you’re willing to venture into the Connect IQ store, you have more options. It feels a bit sketchy if you’re purchasing a watch face—payment isn’t handled through the platform directly—but there are some real gems in there, including some that are made by Garmin and some that are free or have a free version. Around Christmas time I went for this cheesy wreath, and my everyday favorite is Big Easy with the blue theme. It’s the one you can see in the photo above, and unlike most third-party faces, it can show all my favorite complications, including weekly running mileage, which I have at the bottom.

In Gemini’s settings, you’ll find an option called “Saved Info.” Google describes this as a place where you can store information “about your life and preferences” to get better results from its chatbot. I’m here to tell you that might be the least useful way to use this feature. It’s much more powerful as a way to build your own shortcuts right into Gemini.

You can find this feature by selecting Settings in your Gemini app or on the web. Click “Saved info” and you’ll find an empty page and an Add button. Click this and you’ll be given an empty box, where you can write a sort of pre-prompt instruction. Each block seems to have a limit of around 1,500 characters, though there doesn’t seem to be a limit on how many of these blocks you can store.

Google shows examples that include simple instructions, like “I prefer short, concise responses” or only recommending vegetarian recipes. But this space is a lot more powerful than that.

How Gemini uses the “Saved Info” prompts

I first noticed this when I was trying out Gemini’s Canvas for drafting documents. Typing (or saying) “Convert all the subheadings in this document to H2s” is often more cumbersome than just doing it myself. But with Saved Info, I can write a variation of that instruction that tells Gemini to carry out that action if I simply type “H2s”. 

This works because every chat you start with Gemini will reference anything stored here as a set of universal context blocks. Before processing whatever prompt you give, Gemini will read your Saved Info first and treat it as instructions that come before anything in the conversation itself.

Using “Saved Info” to tweak document templates

This trick also works for more complex instructions. For example, let’s imagine you need to write a lot of cover letters and want to tailor them to each job you’re applying to. You could add this block to Saved Info:

“If a prompt begins with ‘cover letter’, create a draft of a cover letter in the Canvas. A cover letter should be no more than 3 paragraphs. If the prompt includes a person’s name, address the letter to that person. If the prompt includes ‘skills:’ then incorporate the skills mentioned after that into the context of the letter. Sign all cover letters as [YOUR NAME].”

With these instructions, you could invoke Gemini to create a draft of a cover letter for you with just a few words. You could even expand this further by providing an entire cover letter template (as long as it’s under the character limit) and instruct Gemini to only make simple changes based on the criteria you provide.

One of the biggest problems with using generative AI to write for you is that it can be a bit dicey for anything other than first drafts. And if you have to babysit it every step of the way, you might as well write the whole thing yourself. This approach, however, gives you more leeway to write for yourself, while still automating the more tedious aspects of tweaking a document for every person you’re sending it to.

Customize your smart home instructions

Another handy example, if you have smart home gadgets connected through Google Home, is that you can turn simple commands into more complex ones. For example, when I sit down to watch a movie, I usually want to turn off the overhead lights, but turn on the LED backlight strip behind my TV. It’s not a huge pain to say “Turn off overhead living room lights and turn on TV backlight” but it’s a bit of a mouthful.

Since Gemini is the default smart assistant on my phone, though, I can add the following prompt to “Saved Info”:

If a prompt consists solely of ‘movie time,’ then turn off overhead lights in the living room, and turn on TV backlight.

Now, I pull up Gemini on my phone, say “movie time” and it translates the instructions and passes it to Google Home. Note: This requires enabling and connecting the Google Home Gemini app (which is, confusingly, not the Google Home mobile app, but an extension inside Gemini itself).

Automate commands in plain English, no code required

We’re pretty big fans of automating tasks, especially with services like IFTTT, but the downside is that sometimes they can get a bit tech-y or complicated. What’s so appealing about this particular trick with Gemini is that you can write instructions in plain, human-readable language.

One of the most interesting use cases I tried was the following prompt:

If a prompt consists of ‘grammar check,’ then read the document at the included link. Check it for grammatical errors. Then, in the Gemini Canvas, create a draft of an email with a brief summary of any issues found. Keep the summary brief.

While this doesn’t work 100% of the time on all links (mainly due to how Gemini filters external text for security concerns), I didn’t need to do any additional coding or messing with settings to make this command work. I wrote two words, “grammar check,” and pasted a link to one of my recent articles. The result was a report that said there were no grammatical issues. (Thanks, Lifehacker editors.)

Be careful with how much you leave in Gemini’s hands

It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Gemini successfully parsing instructions is not the same as successfully carrying out instructions. In the grammar check example above, I was impressed that Gemini understood how to reference longer instructions from shorthand, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it would successfully catch every grammatical issue.

The Saved Info trick is incredibly handy for automating repetitive prompts, but if there’s a task you wouldn’t trust Gemini with before, this won’t make it more trustworthy now. Maybe you don’t trust Gemini to catch grammatical errors to your standards, but think it’s fine for summarizing the contents of a link. With a couple simple tweaks, you can adjust the above command to that task, no coding required.

(Washington, D.C., June 6, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins concluded her trade delegation visit to Rome, Italy. Secretary Rollins reinforced the Trump Administration’s expectations for improved agricultural market access to our ally Italy and encouraged opportunities to expand the reach of the American agricultural industry across the European Union.  

A few key highlights from the trade delegation include:

In the past week, users across Reddit have been raising alarms about a significant shift in how Strava is pulling workout data from your Garmin, Runna, or TrainingPeaks entries. What once appeared as generic activity titles like “Morning Run” are now showing detailed workout descriptions, pacing notes, and even personal coach comments that users never intended to share publicly. And if you’ve been on Strava for a minute, you know it can be a pretty competitive place. It’s social media, after all.

If you wanted your Garmin and Strava titles to be in sync, that’s great. However, for those of us who would prefer to keep our easy days or workout flubs private, here’s what to know about your data being shared for all your Strava friends to see.

The perfect storm of acquisitions and integration

Strava has made two major acquisitions in recent months—first purchasing running training app Runna in April, followed by cycling app The Breakaway in May. And the integration of these apps appears to be happening rapidly and without clear user notification. Runna recently began pushing through workout images and detailed training data to Strava, while Garmin users are seeing their custom workout titles and descriptions automatically imported into their Strava activities.

“Definitely feels like a violation of privacy and also intellectual property as a coach,” wrote one TrainingPeaks user on Reddit. “Pulling through the descriptions of the workouts, where sometimes I write personal notes for athletes, and now it’s showing on Strava for the world to see. I’m going to have to change how I set workouts up in TrainingPeaks.”

Sadly, this sort of privacy concern is nothing new for Strava users. The company has been at the center of several data privacy controversies, including the famous heatmap incident that exposed the location of numerous secret military facilities. The network’s global heatmap showed the locations of sensitive military bases because personnel at those facilities did not switch on privacy settings.

Beyond the military base controversy, users have always called out the app’s “creepy” privacy settings, which can automatically add other runners’ data onto your phone unless changed. As a longtime fan of Strava, I’ve personally watched the company face ongoing criticism about how users can track each other and the default visibility of personal fitness data.

And now, the Runna integration reveals how these acquisitions are creating unexpected data flows. Runna users can now access routes saved in Strava—even all those little nonsense routes created for planning purposes that were never intended for actual use or sharing.

What’s being shared (and what wasn’t before)

If you use a Garmin device, you may find that workouts with specific pacing instructions, training notes from coaches, and personalized workout descriptions are now appearing in your public Strava feeds. This includes:

• Custom workout titles from Garmin devices

• Detailed training descriptions from TrainingPeaks

• Coach notes and pacing guidance

• Personal performance targets and training phases

The change appears to affect data that was technically always present in activity files but was previously filtered out by Strava’s display logic. Now, that data is being surfaced automatically, catching users off guard.

The frustrating aspect of this situation is that enhanced workout data integration could be genuinely valuable. Seeing detailed training information, coach notes, and structured workout data in Strava could help athletes better track their progress and share meaningful training details with their community.

“This is a very cool feature that I think we would all love if it weren’t implemented by surprise,” captures the sentiment of many users. The technology exists to make fitness data more useful and connected—but only when users understand and consent to what’s being shared.

Plus, for coaches and trainers, this represents a professional concern. Training plans and workout descriptions often contain proprietary methodologies and personalized guidance that coaches consider intellectual property. When these details suddenly become public without warning, it affects how they can do their work.

The bottom line

As a loyal Strava user, the core issue isn’t just about privacy settings or data visibility—it’s about trust and communication. When platforms make significant changes to data-sharing without clear notification, they erode the trust that users need to feel comfortable sharing their fitness activities.

Stay tuned for how exactly to opt out of this data sharing, or whether Strava plans to make a formal announcement. When you log a support ticket with the Strava help desk, you get redirected to this thread as the place where they are currently “collecting feedback.”

Until then, it looks like us athletes are left checking privacy settings more frequently and wondering what other personal details might appear in our public feeds tomorrow.

Welcome to “Best Summer Ever,” your guide to getting the most out of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible, we’ve got you covered. Because the best summer doesn’t just happen—you have to make it happen.

The best summer day I’ve ever had was when I was 15. I rolled out of bed around 11 a.m. and headed to my local beach without a plan. After sunset, my pals and I skateboarded around town. Nothing really happened—just shit-talking and playing SKATE like we’d done a thousand times—but I remember being struck by the fact that I wouldn’t always be doing this. School was starting soon, and The Future was on its way, like it or not, so I’d better enjoy the moment before it melted away like a dropped popsicle. I don’t remember spending any money on my best summer day, and I definitely didn’t worry about it. It was about freedom, not finances.

You don’t need a fat wallet or an Instagram-ready vacation to capture that summer vibe. Whether you’re dead broke, playing it safe because it’s crazy out there, or just looking for a simpler, more relaxed season, there are plenty of ways to have the best summer ever without emptying your bank account. Below are free (or nearly free) things you can do to have a summer that’s about freedom, creativity, laziness, and catching those little moments that make summer feel like summer.

Free (or nearly free) summer activities

• Hiking: They haven’t figured out how to charge people for walking around outside (mostly), so put your zip code into the All Trails website and see what’s out there. You don’t need more than a pair of sneakers and a water bottle for a lot of hikes, so get out there and get you some nature.

• Park life: If a hike sounds too ambitious, go hang out at the park. A lot goes on at the park if you’re open to it. Lay in the grass. Sit on the bench. Feed the birds. People-watch. Pack a picnic. Invite a friend. If someone asked me to go have a lazy picnic in the park, I’d say, “hell yeah.”

• Water hunt: Whether it’s in a community pool, a lake, a river, or just out of your hose, water and summer go together like jam and toast. So get on the googles and figure out the hours of your local community pool, find a lake with no entry fee, or just turn on the hose and load up the water pistols. (Water wars are the only wars I approve of.)

• Summertime events: I don’t know where you live, but most towns offer low or no cost summer entertainment. I’ll bet there are local outdoor movie nights, community concerts, theater in the park, and/or neighborhood festivals, and the organizers really want you to show up. You don’t even have to stay through the whole thing; just stop by. 

The great indoors

• Public air conditioning: Why spend your own dough on cooling when so many places have the A/C blasting: Malls, libraries, museums on free days, matinee movies, or even big-box stores all are delightfully chilly in summer. So walk around like you own the place, stop and get some meatballs at IKEA and pretend you’re shopping for a new kitchen. 

• Stay home: I have great respect for people who never leave their homes, so I’ve gone into great detail about how to have a great summer inside in my Indoor Person’s Guide to Summer.

Mindset and vibe: The real secret to a great summer

Have you ever known anyone who is miserable on vacation? That’s because spending money doesn’t make you happy. The line between a dreary, miserable, hot, boring, broke day and the best damn day of your life is razor thin, and it isn’t for sale. So say “yes” to stupid little plans. Keep your schedule loose. Take time to compliment every cute dog you see. Bring some bongos to the park. Quietly chat with the librarians at your local library. Invite your friends along to share moments instead of splitting checks. Summer is in your heart, baby.

Welcome to “Best Summer Ever,” your guide to getting the most out of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible, we’ve got you covered. Because the best summer doesn’t just happen—you have to make it happen.

Summer is here, and this year is going to be different. This year you’re going to get outside. You’re going to camp, hike, swim, and explore the area you live in. If that’s you, but you don’t know where to get started, you’ve come to the right place. Here are a few of the best websites and apps for getting outside and finding new places to explore this summer.

Best apps and sites for finding campgrounds

Camping is a classic summer activity—assuming you can find a good spot. I personally recommend finding out about campsites from friends, family, and anyone else with local experience, but that’s hard if you’re new to a place or are just visiting. Fortunately, there are plenty of online tools for finding a place to camp.

If you just want somewhere to put down a tent—and are willing to rough it a little—the website FreeCampsites.net is always worth checking. In the United States, it is perfectly legal to camp on certain public lands, including most National Forests, and there’s no cost. FreeCampsites points out some of the best campsites you can find in such public lands. It also highlights other free campsites offered by municipal governments. Now, this isn’t for everyone: Free campsites usually won’t have bathrooms, and almost certainly won’t have running water or electricity. I’ve personally had a lot of success using this site to find free places to stay during road trips, though.

If you’d prefer a little more in the way of amenities—and are willing to pay for your campsite—there are options. Recreation.gov is a service of the U.S. government that makes it easy to browse and reserve camping options available in federally owned wilderness areas. Most states offer a similar service for state parks, as do most countries where camping is common.

If you don’t have any luck on government sites, though, there are other options. HipCamp is essentially an Airbnb type service for campsites. The advantage here is that you get access to campsites on private property, meaning you’ll have more options and (potentially) amenities. Another similar tool to check out is The Dyrt. As with Airbnb, it’s a good idea to pay close attention to the listing and the customer reviews before booking. It’s also worth using a search engine to see if a given campsite has its own website or even just a phone number—sometimes booking directly can save you money.

Before you head out, check out this guide for all the essential camping gear you need (and some things you’ll just want).

Best apps and sites for finding hiking trails

Summer is the best time to lose yourself in a hike. As with campsites, it’s a good idea to ask people you know for recommendations before checking online, but there are also plenty of tools you can use to find good hikes wherever you are.

All Trails is mentioned a lot in this space, and it does indeed offer a lot of trails. Hikes generally have thorough descriptions with photos, length, and other information. The problem: This website tends to inundate visitors with a lot of pop-ups and upsells. Wikiloc is an alternative service full of user-submitted hikes that’s better on that front. Another thing worth remembering is that, in many places, there is a local database of trails. For example, I live in Oregon and generally find the best hikes using Oregon Hikers—I recommend doing some research and finding out if there’s anything similar in your state or region.

Finally, it’s a good idea to have an offline map handy during the hike itself. When I’m out on the trail, I like to use Organic Maps, a free and open-source application that works entirely offline. I’ve used it on three continents and it am yet to walk on a trail it doesn’t have. I like being able to use turn-by-turn directions, or check how far I am from the next junction. Just make sure to download the region you’re going to hike while you still have data.

Best apps and sites for finding pools

Nothing says summer quite like jumping into a pool, but most people don’t have one of their own. The free website Places 2 Swim is the simplest way I’ve found to local public pools nearby. The site asks for your location and shows you public facilities that are open year round. The site, which is actively curated, includes information about each pool including size, diving options, and price. There’s also a phone number for every pool, making it easy to call someone with questions.

That works for public pools, but what if you want something a bit more private, or to throw a pool party? In that case, you should check out Swimply, a website where pool owners make a little bit of extra money by letting others rent their pool for a few hours. The prices, and the quality of the pools, varies a lot, but it’s invariably cheaper than putting a pool into your own backyard. Just make sure you review the listing details and reviews carefully before booking.

Best apps and sites for wandering the city

Not everyone wants to leave civilization during the summer—that doesn’t mean you can’t spend some time outside. I love a good urban wandering with friends, but what if you’re not sure what’s worth checking out? There are a few apps that can give you some bearings. The website Whats-Near.me points out all buildings, parks, and other landmarks near you that have their own Wikipedia page. I’ve learned a lot about my neighborhood this way.

You could also check out services usually intended for travelers, like Trip Advisor or Atlas Obscura, to find nearby attractions you might otherwise ignore. The idea is to find some excuse to walk around. If you’re more of a game-motivated kind of person, there’s always Pokemon Go. Sure, the app’s heyday is long behind it, but it can still be a fun way to force yourself to do a little bit of exploring. Whatever it takes to get you out there, enjoying your summer.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Welcome to “Best Summer Ever,” your guide to getting the most out of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible, we’ve got you covered. Because the best summer doesn’t just happen—you have to make it happen.

My summer cannot be “best” unless I spend a lot of time on beaches. I crave the time-has-stopped feeling of spending all day in a place where it’s impossible to do anything useful. A lifetime of hanging out on sand near water has taught me that it’s easier to achieve “beach zen” if you plan ahead and bring the right gear—the difference between a great day at the beach and sandy headache comes down to what you pack. Below is everything you need for the best beach day ever, from towels and shades to underwater scooters.

The best beach basics

I’m from a beach town, so I used to roll up to the sand with just a ratty towel—even a pair of flip-flops was extra baggage. There’s something to be said for minimalist beach-bum style, but these days, I like things to be more comfortable. I’m usually bringing the family too, and that requires stuff, so there are a few must-haves I always bring.

Towels and beach mats

Instead of showing up with a bleached out, threadbare towel from 2004, consider a microfiber towel. They’re more absorbent than regular towels, they dry faster, they’re lighter, and they’re super cheap. Less than $10 for a a generous ‎72 x 36 microfiber beach towel with your choice of bold beachy designs.

This picnic blanket with an attached strap is a higher-end option. It’s easy to carry, waterproof, and versatile.

If you’re staking out a lot of ground, nylon beach mats are a great option. I don’t love how they feel lying on them, but you can get a 10′ by 9′ beach mat that packs up small and weighs little, then put your (generously sun-blocked) toddler in the middle of it and watch them crawl around.

Sun shades

I like shade, but I hate beach umbrellas. They’re a bear to set up, and a sudden gust of wind can cause them to take flight, turning them into dangerous projectiles. There are better options.

I really like the Shibumi Shade. I was a little skeptical of whether this ultralight piece of fabric would float on the breeze as advertised, but I got one, and it works, no cap. If there’s no breeze on your beach (lucky), you can pick up an accessory that makes wind for you.

Personal sun protection

Sun hat: Big straw hats like this one from Quiksilver have been a staple among Southern California surfers since the 1960s and absolutely can’t be improved upon. Generous sun protection and a cool, locals only, look.

Sunglasses: I love my Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses, even after wearing them regularly for over six months. They hover around $300, but they do a lot, including letting you capture video on the fly that looks like this.

Sunscreen: I always use Banana Boat sunscreen because it’s what they tend to have at the drug store, and my face has never burned off. But I’m not refined. If you want a sunscreen that’s actually good for your face, Marlowe’s 128 is niiiice.

Coolers

I want to tell you about my dream cooler: The KoolMAX is a ridiculous, maximalist dream of a cooler. It can chill your drinks like any cooler, but it also has a built in 350W Bluetooth-compatible sound system, a guitar amplifier, and it’s karaoke-ready. These features won’t come in handy very often, but there may come a time when you need to start an instant beach party, and you’ll be ready.

If you’re only packing a few things and you don’t need loudspeaker, over-the-shoulder carried coolers like this Polarbox 1 Ice Chest have a retro appeal.

What to bring for fun in the water

With the basics settled, let’s talk about fun things you can do at the beach, starting with the thing that differentiates a beach from a pile of dirt: the water.

Electric hydrofoils and underwater scooters

Over the last few years, electric hydrofoils have taken over the waves off Southern California (at least the beaches for people with disposable income), and whenever I see one, I think, “Yeah, humanity has reached its peak.” I don’t know whether this Waydoo Flyer One is a great example of an electric hydrofoil, but please buy me one and I’ll let you know.

I’m not sure what the most fun thing you can do in water is, but snorkeling comes close, especially snorkeling with an underwater scooter. These things are amazing. They’re about the size of a soda bottle, and can pull you along with over 14 pounds of thrust. You can even clip one on a paddle board and use it like a little outboard engine.

For less adrenaline-packed water fun, paddleboards, many say, are awesome. I don’t love them personally—too much work—but hey, that’s just me. They’ve come down in price so much lately that you can get a nice inflatable paddle board for a decent price.

Fun things don’t have to be expensive, though. The Surfer Dudes Wave Powered Mini-Surfer costs around $25, but it’s hours of fun for kids, as long as you’re at a beach with any kind of waves. You can throw it into the surf at random and it will catch a wave, or you can get skillful with it and try to catch one just as it breaks, like real surfers.

What to bring for fun in the sand

I might say doing nothing on the sand is the personal goal, but you don’t want absolutely nothing to do. So pack these “almost nothing” things to do:

An e-reader

I used to always bring a book to the beach. Now I pack a Kindle Paperwhite. Kindles are better than books in every way. They can stay under the lake for an hour and still work (try that with a copy of War and Peace). Unlike antique paper books, Kindles are Bluetooth-compatible for when you decide you’d rather listen to a podcast anyway. (The Kindle will be OK if you drop it in fresh water, but salt and sand is a different story, so get a screen protector.)

A camera

It’s not a day at the beach if you don’t have a record of it, right? So bring a camera (unless there’s one in your sunglasses) I love my GoPro. This small camera is rugged as hell, fully waterproof, mounts onto literally anything, and has almost no learning curve. Check out this glowing GoPro Hero 13 review for a lot more detail.

A deck of cards

Little is more beach-zen than breaking out the cards and playing spades on the beach. I like these waterproof playing cards from Hoyle. They’re practically indestructible, so you can play Bridge while whitewater rafting.

A guitar

Bringing a guitar to the beach is like wearing sunglasses at night. Most people shouldn’t do it, but some people should always do it. “The beach will damage my delicate guitar!” you might be saying. Yeah, that’s why you need a carbon fiber guitar, like this Klos Deluxe acoustic/electric. They can plug right into your cooler, and they’re practically indestructible—a feature that will come in handy if you’re playing “Wonderwall” through a cooler.

A Bluetooth speaker

If you like a little music at the beach, but a cooler-based sound system is a bit much for your personal style, pick up one of these beach-ready SoundLink Flex speakers from Bose. They’re IP67 waterproof, so they can be fully immersed in water with no ill effects, and they’re designed to resist outdoor threats like dust, sand, and UV light.

An extra charger

You will be the hero of the beach if you can whip out a charger when someone’s phone dies. I like this Poseidon Nano Charger. It’s small, but packs eight hours of go-juice. Plus, it’s water-resistant, and it holds a charge for up to two years. 

Speaking of phones, they overheat at the beach—but not if you pack them in a thermal phone case. Not only do they reflect sunlight and heat in the summer, they protect your phone from extreme cold in the winter too. 

A personal air conditioner

I have heard rumors that there are people who don’t like the beach, who don’t see the fun of doing nothing all day in the hot sun. Those people need to hang a personal air conditioners around their necks. It will keep them cool until they can convince everyone else it’s time to leave.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Welcome to “Best Summer Ever,” your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we’ve got you covered, because the best summer doesn’t just happen. You have to make it happen.

Picture this scene: It’s a summer backyard party. The weather’s perfect and everyone showed up. Even Gary from IT made it, rocking a Hawaiian shirt. The blender’s full of rum and sugar water, tiki torches flicker in the breeze, and a full moon glows over the lawn. You cue up some old-school Chaka Khan, back when she was funky, but the music that oozes out of the Bluetooth speaker you got for free at a trade show is weak. Tinny. Wind-compromised. It sounds like a party dying. Do not let this happen to you. 

Whether you’re throwing a red cup bash, relaxing at the beach, or just hanging out with the kids by the pool, you need decent audio to have a decent life: A good outdoor sound system doesn’t just make music louder—it sets the vibe and saves the day. So here’s a guide to building the perfect outdoor sound setup for summer.

How good can outdoor sound get?

Outdoors, even flawlessly reproduced audio loses quality with wind, landscape, and other hard-to-control acoustic challenges, so speaker placement, volume, and bass response matter more than expensive gear. Good outdoor sounds isn’t about tube amps, turntables, and acoustic baffles hanging from the trees. Instead, think Bluetooth-based, battery-powered outdoor speakers you can control from your phone, then toss into the trunk and take to the beach.

What to consider when buying outdoor bluetooth speakers

• Weather resistance and ruggedness: Can it handle an accidental splash or a surprise summer shower?

• Sound quality: Balanced audio with clear highs, decent mids, and bass that kicks. At least a little. 

• Battery life: A speaker that dies before the second margarita doesn’t make the scene. 

• Portability: Can you carry it solo and put it in the trunk?

• Output (volume): It is enough sound for your backyard?

• Multi-speaker sync: We’re getting into the high end here, but some speakers can pair together to spread sound wider. It makes a difference. 

• Bluetooth range: You want to DJ from your phone without hanging around the speaker.

It’s a lot, but you can find something in just any price range that checks all these boxes (or most of them, anyway).

Best overall outdoor bluetooth speaker: JBL PartyBox Stage 320

Cutting to the chase, my pick for best Bluetooth speaker overall is the JBL PartyBox Stage 320. It offers 240 watts of output power outputting up to 100 decibels, a microphone support for karaoke, a guitar input, and a light show. It’s a true party-in-a-box. Check out Lifehacker’s full review for more details.

Below are some other options.

The best outdoor Bluetooth speakers for under $100

• Anker Soundcore Motion+: This speaker is small but powerful enough for intimate outdoor gatherings; it’s waterproof, dust-proof, and you can control the EQ from an app. Not too shabby for $80.

• JBL Clip 4: This speaker is rugged. It fits in the palm of your hand, costs less than $40, and sounds great (if you don’t mind a little lack of low end). Best of all, the Clip’s built-in carabiner lets you attach it to bike handlebars, trees, or anything else.

• Ultimate Ears Boom 3: This waterproof and dust-proof speaker sounds amazing given its small size, and it can be synced with another Boom 3 for stereo sound—or pair it with 148 more Booms if you want.

The best outdoor Bluetooth speakers for $100-300

• it.innovative technology Outdoor Rock Speakers: If you really like rock music, these stereo bluetooth speakers are for you. Because they look like rocks. They’re also solar powered and can be left outside all year.

• Sonos Roam 2: For smaller speakers, Sonos Roam 2’s sound great, and of course they’re compatible with other Sonos equipment.

• Marshall Middleton Portable Bluetooth Speaker: These might be the coolest looking Bluetooth speakers out there, and the sound lives up to the Marshall name.

The best outdoor Bluetooth speakers for $300–$1,000

• Sonos Move 2: This Bluetooth speaker features dual tweeters for almost full-stereo sound in one speaker. Of course, it integrates with the rest of your Sonos system. PCMag rated the Sonos Move 2 “excellent.”

• Soundboks Go: With a maximum output of 121db and 10 hours of continuous-play battery life, Soundboks Go is a serious speaker. Check out Lifehacker’s review to go more in-depth.

• Brane X: If you like the low-end, this bass-heavy portable smart speaker will blow you away. It features the best bass of any wifi speaker. Check out our full review here.

• Sony ULT Tower 10 Bluetooth Karaoke Party Speaker: It’s not portable, but this tower-of-power will rattle your windows with its 1,000W output. It’s got a karaoke mic, light show, and a guitar input.

Other outdoor music extras

Summer is not a competition, but the little details are how you win it, so consider going a little overboard with these tips:

• Use a higher-quality streaming service: If you’re just vibing outdoors, paying a little extra to stream lossless FLACs from Tidal probably doesn’t matter, but it definitely won’t hurt.

• Multi-speaker pairing: All of the “more than $100” Bluetooth speakers above either are already a pair of speakers (Bose, it.innovations) or can be paired up with another speaker for true stereo. This makes a huge difference.

• Take your playlist offline: To ensure the tunes don’t end because of internet issues, save your playlist to your phone or laptop before the party.

• Power tip: If things are going to go late, consider a portable power station like the Ecoflow 2 or the Jackery Explorer 300.