Life

There are 3,872 posts filed in Life (this is page 8 of 388).

Why You Shouldn’t Buy Soulja Boy’s ‘AI Smart Glasses’

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Promising to “level up your vision,” rapper/entrepreneur Soulja Boy recently launched a pair of so-called “AI Smart Glasses.” For $64.50, you can own a pair that offers “hands-free music control, live performance enhancements, and seamless social media connectivity.” And if a stylish, inexpensive pair of AI smart glasses for $64.50 sounds too good to be true to you, it almost definitively is.

I’m not knocking Soulja Boy’s hustle, and “Crank That” is an all-time banger, but I am an expert on smart glasses, and I would not recommend that anyone buy these glasses.

Soulja Boy Smart Glasses

Credit: Souljaboy.net

No so smart

Judging from the vague product listing and stock photos, Soulja Boy is likely selling one of the many “AI smart glasses” out there that are essentially cheap bluetooth headsets packed into glasses. Consider these $37 specials from Amazon, or these AI glasses that cost less than ten bucks. Heck, you can even get a pair of glasses with a camera for $55 at Walmart.

Soulja Boy has a history of selling tech products that are less than what they seem, from the Soulja Boy Bluetooth Headphones, to a handheld game console, and more. The (now unavailable) $300 Soulja Phone, for instance, was apparently a Chinese Android phone that retailed for $200. Past Soulja Boy game consoles were actually emulators that could be purchased for less elsewhere.

In other words, Soulja Boy is using his brand to promote products that already exist, drop-shipping them to buyers, and jacking up the price for being the middleman. Past Soulja Boy products haven’t even had his name emblazoned on them, which seems like the only reason to buy a product from Soulja Boy instead of buying it from Amazon for significantly less money.

All the New Features You Can Try Now in macOS 26.1

While I updated my iPhone to iOS 26 as soon as I could, I never pulled the trigger with macOS Tahoe. I love my M1 iMac, but I worry that Apple’s first version of this new update isn’t quite optimized for the five-year-old chip, and have been waiting to see if a future version of Tahoe performs a bit better.

As it happens, that next version is now here—and does seem improved, at that. Apple has been beta testing macOS Tahoe 26.1 alongside iOS 26.1 since September, and officially released it on Monday, Nov. 3. The update only just dropped, but thanks to the beta testing period, we know what features Apple has in store for Mac users who decide to install 26.1. This is a much smaller revision than macOS 26, but the update does bring some interesting new features for users to explore.

Control over Liquid Glass’ appearance

By far the most striking difference between this year’s Apple updates and last year’s is Liquid Glass. This new design language is Apple’s most drastic UI change in years, and while some people love it, others hate it. I’ve enjoyed the new look on my iPhone, but I understand why some users dislike how some elements let the background shine through, in some cases reducing visibility.

Apple seems to have taken the criticism to heart: With macOS Tahoe, as well as iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, the company now gives users the option to control how Liquid Glass looks, at least to a degree. The new toggle, which you can find in System Settings > Appearance, has two options: “Clear,” which retains the original look of Liquid Glass, and “Tinted,” which increases the opacity of your system’s UI elements. With Tinted, you won’t see as much of the background poke through, and whatever does come through doesn’t take over the overlayed element as much.

If you find Liquid Glass in macOS Tahoe too clear and “glassy,” this might be a good option to try.

Expanded support for Apple Music AutoMix

Apple’s latest round of updates introduced a new DJ-like feature to Apple Music. AutoMix will automatically build a transition between songs, fading one song into another. It’s a cool feature (when it works well), and can make transitioning between dissimilar songs a lot smoother.

With macOS 26.1, AutoMix now works over AirPlay. Previously, you lost this feature when beaming your music to an AirPlay device.

Better FaceTime audio quality

Apple says that Mac users updating to 26.1 should experience improved FaceTime audio quality in low-bandwidth conditions. The company doesn’t elaborate, but this is good news on its, uh, face: If you’re calling someone in a low-signal area, or with a weak wifi connection, you should be able to hear each other better.

Communication Safety and Web content filters for child accounts

If your Mac has child accounts (made for ages 13 through 17), Communication Safety and Web content filters will be enabled by default for those accounts after updating to this latest version. These filters are designed to limit adult websites, protecting underage users from content they shouldn’t be accessing.

A new Network icon

As spotted by the MacOSBeta subreddit, Apple has updated the Network icon for macOS 26.1. The new icon looks great, in my opinion, sporting a blue theme with glow effects:

The new Network icon on Tahoe 26.1 Beta 1 is beautiful! It looks straight out of the OS X days…
byu/nitzukai inMacOSBeta

A new Macintosh HD icon

Similarly, the Macintosh HD icon gets a small refresh. The original Tahoe icon was a major redesign over the previous, iconic icon. Now, Apple has removed the additional elements to simplify the design. (I still miss the original.)

A few security updates, probably

Apple hasn’t announced security updates for macOS 26.1 yet, but in all likelihood, they will. Apple doesn’t often issue true security patches like other companies, barring an emergency patch. Instead, the company usually bundles its security patches within point updates like 26.1. Once the official update drops, expect Apple to update its security release notes to include details about these patches.

How Apple Plans to Improve AI Image Editors

Apple might be dead last in the AI race—at least when you consider competition from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta—but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t working on the tech. In fact, it seems most of the work Apple does on AI is behind the scenes: While Apple Intelligence is, well, there, the company’s researchers are working on other ways to improve AI models for everyone, not just Apple users. The latest project? Improving AI image editors based on text prompts.

In a paper published last week, researchers introduced Pico-Banana-400K, a dataset of 400,000 “text-guided” images selected to improve AI-based image editing. Apple believes its image dataset improves upon existing sets by including higher quality images with more diversity: The researchers found that existing datasets either use images produced by AI models, or are not varied enough, which can hinder efforts to improve the models.

Funnily enough, Pico-Banana-400K is designed to work with Nano Banana, Google’s image editing model. Researchers say using Nano Banana, their dataset can generate 35 different types of edits, as well as tap into Gemini-2.5-Pro to asses quality the edits, and whether those edits should remain as part of the overall dataset.

As part of these 400,000 images, there are 258,000 samples of single edits (where Apple compares the original images to one with edits); 56,000 “preference pairs,” which distinguishes between failed and successful edit generations; and 72,000 “multi-turn sequences,” which walks through two to five edits.

Researchers note that different functions had different success rates in this dataset. Global edits and stylization are “easy,” achieving the highest success rates; object semantics and scene context are “moderate;” while precise geometry, layout, and typography are “hard.” The highest performing function, “strong artistic style transfer,” which could include changing an image’s style to “Van Gogh” or anime, has a 93% success rate. The lowest performing function, “change font style or color of visible text if there is text,” only succeeded 58% of the time. Other tested functions include “add new text” (67% success rate), “zoom in” (74% success rate), and “add film grain or vintage filter” (91% success rate).

Unlike many of Apple’s products, which are typically closed to the company’s own platforms, Pico-Banana-400K is open for all researchers and AI developers to use. It’s cool to see Apple researchers contributing to open research like this, especially in an area Apple is generally behind in. Will we actually get an AI-powered Siri anytime soon? Unclear. But it is clear Apple is actively working on AI, perhaps just in its own way.

Best Buy’s Early Black Friday Deals Are Live, and They’re Good

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

The holiday season sales have officially started. This year, Best Buy is having a whopping six sales starting on Halloween and leading up to Christmas. The early (very early) Black Friday deals are already live, and they’re good. Here are the best ones I’ve found so far.

LG – 48″ Class B5 Series OLED AI 4K UHD Smart webOS TV (2025)

LG - 48" Class B5 Series OLED AI 4K UHD Smart webOS TV (2025)


$529.99
at Best Buy
$1,299.99
Save $770.00

Samsung – 65″ Class S84F OLED 4K UHD Vision AI Smart Tizen TV (2025)

Samsung - 65" Class S84F OLED 4K UHD Vision AI Smart Tizen TV (2025)


$949.99
$1,999.99
Save $1,050.00

JBL – PartyBox Stage 320 Portable Wireless Party Speaker

JBL - PartyBox Stage 320 Portable Wireless Party Speaker


$549.99
at Best Buy
$629.99
Save $80.00

Apple – MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop – Apple M2 chip

Apple - MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop - Apple M2 chip Built for Apple Intelligence - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD


$649.00
at Best Buy
$799.00
Save $150.00

Lenovo – Ideapad 1i 15.6″ Full HD Touchscreen Laptop

Lenovo - Ideapad 1i 15.6" Full HD Touchscreen Laptop - Intel Core i5-1334U - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD


$399.99
at Best Buy
$699.99
Save $300.00

Bose – QuietComfort Ultra

Bose - QuietComfort Ultra


$329.00
at Best Buy
$429.00
Save $100.00

Great prices on OLED TVs

I’m impressed by the price cut on the LG 48″ Class B5 Series OLED. You can get it for $529.99 (originally $1,299.99), the lowest price it has ever been, and a great price point to get an OLED TV, most of which easily start in the $1,000s. If you can spend a bit more, the Samsung 65″ Class S84F OLED is $949.99 (originally $1999.99)—that’s a mindblowingly good price for a 65-inch OLED.

Deals on speakers and headphones

I absolutely love my JBL PartyBox Stage 320 speaker, and everyone who hears it playing asks me about it. It’s a fun, loud, feature-packed speaker that I loved reviewing. You can get it for $549.99 (originally $629.99) right now.

Best Buy also has a lot of Bose headphones on sale. I recommend their flagship headphones, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, which are $329 (originally $429) right now.

Laptops at great prices

Apple laptops are seeing great prices across the board. The MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop M2 with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD is $649 (originally $799). This is the lowest price I’ve seen for this excellent laptop.

For PC people, I recommend the 15.6″ Lenovo Ideapad with an Intel Core i5 and 16GB RAM with 512GB SSD of storage. It’s going for $399.99 (originally $699.99), which is a great price for the hardware.

What other sales is Best Buy having this holiday season?

Best Buy has announced the following events:

  • Doorbusters: On Oct. 31, the “DoorBOOsters” event will take place with tech deals.

  • New doorbusters every Friday: Then, every Friday of the holiday season (leading up to Dec. 24) will have new deals on select tech.

  • Early Black Friday sale: The early Black Friday sale will start on Oct. 31 and run until Nov. 19.

  • Black Friday sale: Best Buy says this will be its main sale, starting on Thursday, Nov. 20 and running until Nov. 29 with deals on “computing, gaming, home theater, wearables, and more.”

  • Cyber Sunday and Monday: Best Buy is extending Cyber Monday to two days and says you can find deals going up to 50% off select tech.

  • Last-minute savings: The Christmas sale will run from Dec. 15 until Dec. 24.

What deals can you expect during the Holiday Sale Events?

Best Buy says it’ll have deals and in-store demos on Meta Ray-Ban Display; XXL TVs; Copilot+ PCs; small appliance sales from Shark, Ninja, Dyson, and Breville. Best Buy says it will also have its usual price-match guarantee, so if the price of something you bought from Best Buy goes down to a lower price during the holiday season, it’ll match it. It’s also extending store hours, which will vary by location.

Do you need to be a member to shop Best Buy’s holiday sales?

While you don’t need a Best Buy membership to shop deals, members can get better savings. It is free to sign up for a My Best Buy membership, which will give you free shipping, but if you join one of its paid subscriptions (My Best Buy Plus for $49.99 per year or My Best Buy Total for $179.99 per year), you’ll get faster free shipping, exclusive prices and deals, an extended 60-day return window on most products, and access to select sales. Paid members will also earn extra rewards.

What to Do If You’re Hearing Static in Your AirPods Pro 3

If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, AirPods Pro are just about the best earbuds you can buy. They sound great, work across your various Apple devices, and ship with features like Adaptive Transparency and a built-in heart rate sensor. They’re even FDA-certified hearing aids. Not bad for $249.

But all those perks don’t mean Apple’s AirPods Pro are perfect. In fact, you can ask any of the customers complaining of a static noise coming from their AirPods Pro 3, when nothing is actually playing at all. As reported by MacRumors, it appears this is affecting some AirPods Pro 3 users when using Active Noise Cancellation, Adaptive Transparency, and Transparency modes, but only when there’s no active audio playback. (That said, one user claims they can’t even use their AirPods when they play music at 30 dB or below, because the static overtakes it.)

Some users think the noise sounds like static, white noise, a hiss, rain, or like holding a seashell up to your ear, though it’s not clear exactly what’s causing it. There are varying reports as to whether both earbuds are equally affected, or whether the static comes through one earbud in particular, and resetting the AirPods doesn’t appear to help.

It can be tempting to read headlines like this and assume this is a problem plaguing AirPods Pro 3, but these types of anecdotal problems can be tough to gauge. Perhaps a small percentage of AirPods Pro 3 do indeed have this problem, and the affected users are vocal about it on forums and social media. However, I will say I’m a bit taken aback by the number of users who claim to be experiencing the issue in this Reddit thread.

What to do if you hear static with your AirPods Pro 3

If you’re among those experiencing this issue, the first thing you should do is contact Apple Support. If you’re able, take the AirPods directly to the Apple Store. There’s no guarantee this will apply to everyone, but it seems Apple is swapping out affected AirPods for some users. According to this MacRumors contributor, the Apple Store specialist they talked to confirmed that Apple was directing employees to swap out affected units, even if they passed a diagnostic test.

If true, that might suggest this is a hardware issue, one that Apple hasn’t been able to identify yet. However, I’m holding out hope this is a software problem that Apple could fix with an update down the line. Speaking of software, the issue does seem to go away when you turn off noise controls. As a short-term solution, you could avoid using Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency modes, though that takes away quite a few features that make the AirPods Pro so appealing.

Disney Might Pull Its Channels From YouTube TV

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Update 10/31/2025 at 2:00 PM:

Disney and YouTube have reached the Oct. 31 deadline without an end to negotiations in sight. As such, more than 20+ Disney owned channels have been pulled from YouTube TV. For more, read on here.

Nothing says Halloween quite like an ominous countdown. Right now, subscribers to YouTube TV, the company’s live TV service, are waiting to learn if they’ll still have access to Disney-operated channels, including ABC and ESPN, come Oct.31. It’s the latest conflict in ongoing fee disputes between Google and its various content providers, but even if Disney takes its ball and goes home, you won’t be left entirely without options.

When could Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV?

According to Variety, if Disney and Google are unable to reach a deal by the end of Thursday, all Disney networks will vanish from YouTube TV on Oct. 30 at midnight ET. These include Disney Channel, ESPN, ABC News, Disney Jr., FX, FXX, FRXM, NatGeo, Freefrom, and even local ABC stations.

It’s not the first time YouTube has been through something like this. Last February, Paramount made a similar threat before eventually reaching an agreement that saw no pause in customer access to its channels. Since then, YouTube has had similar conflicts with Fox Corp., NBC Universal, and Univision, with only the Spanish-language network failing to reach a deal before its channels went dark.

It’s all about licensing fees

What’s happening here all comes down to licensing fees. To offer channels like the cable providers it’s trying to replace, YouTube TV has to continually pay fees to content providers, and occasionally, those providers propose higher fees. That leaves YouTube in a bit of a lurch, as it tries to navigate between paying a fair price to its partners while also avoiding raising prices for its subscribers.

Disney told Variety that, “[t]his is the latest example of Google exploiting is position as the expense of their own customers,” implying that Google was risking stripping away channels its customers had paid for by refusing to compensate Disney with “fair rates.” Google in turn argues that giving into Disney’s “costly economic terms” would force the company to “raise prices on YouTube TV,” as well as leave the service in a rough spot when compared to Disney’s own Live TV offering, Hulu + Live TV.

What happens if a deal isn’t reached

Personally, I wouldn’t take either company’s statement too seriously, at least if the earlier Paramount and NBC Universal conflicts are anything to go by—there’s a good chance a deal will be reached before YouTube TV subscribers are affected. But as with those earlier conflicts, YouTube is willing to make it up to its customers if they lose access to Disney content.

“If it [Disney content] remains unavailable for an extended period of time, we will offer subscribers a $20 credit,” YouTube said. That would be enough to subscribe to a month of the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN bundle with ads, although YouTube hasn’t said if the credit will be recurring.

Currently, a YouTube TV Base Plan starts at $72.99/month for your first three months, then jumps up to $82.99/month after that, making it slightly less expensive than Hulu + Live TV in the long term ($64.99/month for the first three months, then $89.99/month after that). Whether prices will stay the same if Disney pulls its channels remains to be seen.

The Best Smart Glasses for Every Type of Person

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Everyone’s talking about AI, but smart glasses are quietly breaking big in 2025. With Meta, Apple, and Google vying for dominance, and the hardware finally powerful enough to be practical instead of mere gimmicky, smart specs are transitioning from awkward face computers for tech-heads, into something potentially useful for everyone.

If you’re thinking of jumping in, the sheer range of styles, features, and price points can be daunting, so I put together this guide to help you find your perfect pair.

What smart glasses can do

The term “smart glasses” is almost too broad to be useful. It’s been applied to everything from AI-enabled sunglasses to augmented reality display glasses, so before you buy, it’s worth considering what you want your glasses to do.

Roughly speaking, smart glasses exist across the following categories, although most straddle a few classifications:

Audio-first smart glasses

These are basically earbuds embedded in glasses. They usually look like “normal” glasses, and they’re designed to play music, take calls, and often to let you talk to an AI assistant. They don’t have screens or AR overlays.

Who they’re for: Anyone who wants to take hands-free phone calls or listen to podcasts without the hassle of earbuds. Example: Reebok Smart Audio Glasses

Camera-first smart glasses

Camera glasses produce high-quality stills and video from almost invisible cameras. They’re like a lighter Go Pro.

Who they’re for: Anyone who wants to capture life on the fly and/or record a concert without holding up their phone. Example: Ray-Ban Metas.

Display-first smart glasses

Glasses designed for video or augmented reality display high-def video and/or digital information like directions, messages, video or even 3D animations directly in your field of view.

Who they’re for: Cutting edge tech fans and frequent travelers. Example: XReal One Pro.

Vision-first smart glasses

The purpose of vision-first glasses isn’t to let you listen to podcasts, but to enhance your vision. There aren’t any vision-first smart glasses on the market in the U.S., but the future could hold cyborg-style upgrades for your eyes, from automatic zoom to automatically adjusting bifocals.

Who they’re for: People who need glasses to see better.

So those are the basics. Here are my picks for the best smart glasses in each category.

Best overall smart glasses for most people: Ray-Ban Meta

Ray-Ban Meta glasses

Credit: Stephen Johnson

I’ve tested a ton of different smart glasses for Lifehacker, from super high-tech AR shades like the XReal One Pro to amusing novelties like the Chamelo Music Shield, but the smart glasses I wear every day are Ray-Ban Metas. They look good, they’re comfortable, and they do everything I want a pair of smart glasses to do. They play music, take pictures and video, stream content, and allow access to an AI agent, all painlessly. I haven’t had a chance to try out Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses yet, but my choice for most useful pair of smart glasses in 2025 are the Ray-Ban Metas. Check out my full review for more details.

Ray-Ban Meta – Wayfarer Large glasses with Meta AI, Audio, Photo, Video Compatibility – Polarized Gradient Graphite Lens (Refurbished) – Matte Black

Ray-Ban Meta - Wayfarer Large glasses with Meta AI, Audio, Photo, Video Compatibility - Polarized Gradient Graphite Lens (Refurbished) - Matte Black


$263.00
at Best Buy

Best display smart glasses: Xreal One Pro

XReal One Pro smart glasses

Credit: Stephen Johnson

XReal’s One Pro smart glasses let you watch movies, play games, and answer emails from inside your eyeglasses. You just plug them into any device with USB-C video and you’re in business. The display is impressive—the equivalent of a big-screen TV at 1080p—and they include an onboard chip for rudimentary augmented reality too. On the downside, they are not everyday glasses. You can’t reasonably wear them around town, and they have to be tethered to another device to work. But if you’re taking a long plane trip or you want a separate display for your computer, XReal glasses are a great option. Check out my full review for more details.

XREAL ONE PRO AR Glasses M (IPD 57-66mm) and Beam Pro WiFi (6G+128G) Bundle– Supports All Google Play Store Apps, Elevate Your Spatial Experience

XREAL ONE PRO AR Glasses M (IPD 57-66mm) and Beam Pro WiFi (6G+128G) Bundle– Supports All Google Play Store Apps, Elevate Your Spatial Experience


$798.00
at Amazon
$968.00
Save $170.00

Best everyday display glasses: Even Realities G1 smart glasses

Even Realities g1 smart glasses

Credit: Stephen Johnson

You can’t watch video or play games on them, but Even Realities G1 smart glasses can be worn every day, and give users a HUD—glancing upwards turns on a monochrome screen that can display a map, news feed, and other information. They have built-in AI that you can access instantly without anyone knowing, which opens a range of possibilities, both ethical and unethical. Unlike other AR-style glasses, G1s are lightweight and made to be worn as everyday glasses. Check out my full review for more details.

Best sports smart glasses: Bleequp Rangers

BleeqUp Ranger smart glasses

Credit: Stephen Johnson

The $379 Bleequp Rangers don’t have an AI voice assistant or any kind of display, but if you want to document your runs or bike rides, these lightweight sports glasses take 16MP still images and hi-def video, and feature open-ear audio, turn-by-turn navigation, and a walkie-talkie. It’s everything you need on a long ride, and the optional battery pack gives you up to four hours of recording time. Check out my full review for more details.

Best audio-only/fashion smart glasses: Chamelo Music Shield

Chamelo Music Shield

Credit: Stephen Johnson

I’m not sure Chamelo’s Music Shield even counts as a pair of “smart glasses,” but they’re so cool, I had to include them. They don’t have AI, a camera, or an in-lens display, but they play music, and the lenses change from light to dark with a swipe of a finger, so you can choose the best tint for light conditions or coordinate with your outfit, but mostly, impress your friends with your slick, novelty specs. Check out my full review for more details.

CHAMELO Music Shield Smart Audio Sunglasses – Matte Black Frame, Fire Lenses | Open-Ear Bluetooth Glasses for Men & Women with Electronic Tint Control, Sweat Proof, Sports Eyewear, 100% UV Protection

CHAMELO Music Shield Smart Audio Sunglasses – Matte Black Frame, Fire Lenses | Open-Ear Bluetooth Glasses for Men & Women with Electronic Tint Control, Sweat Proof, Sports Eyewear, 100% UV Protection


$259.99
at Amazon

Upcoming smart glasses to watch for

If you’re waiting for the next-generation of smart glasses before you jump in the pool, here are some of the intriguing models currently in development.

Apple Smart Glasses

Nothing has been announced officially, but the tech rumor mill is churning about Apple’s plans to release a line of smart glasses instead of further developing its virtual reality gear like the Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s first smart glasses will supposedly be released in 2026. They’ll be like Meta’s smart glasses, but better—maybe better just because they say “Apple” on them, or maybe actually better. We won’t know for sure until something is officially announced.

Google Android XR Glasses

Google seems to have put the Google Glass fiasco behind it and is planning to release a pair of Android-powered smart glasses with a camera, Gemini AI support, and an optional see-through micro-display that will let you project info—messages, navigation, and real-time translation—right onto your lenses. They’ve already released the Android XR operating system, and glasses are expected to be available at some point in 2026.

Samsung’s Project HAEAN

Samsung’s upcoming smart glasses are still under wraps, but the rumors out there are intriguing. Unlike Samsung’s just released Galaxy VR, HAEAN (if real) isn’t a big VR helmet. It’s a pair of glasses you could wear in public and not feel like a goof. They’re rumored to be powered by Samsung’s in-house XR chip and integrated with Galaxy AI, presumably with the end-goal of a voice and AI-centric wearable with a focus on comfort.

IXI Autofocus Smart Glasses

It’s too early to tell whether this Finnish start-up’s claims will turn into vapor, but IXI has recently raised $36.5 million from investors to develop smart glasses that invisibly and automatically adjust to correct farsightedness, as opposed to taking pictures or playing podcasts or whatever. Lenses that automatically adjust for optimum focus would be a big deal, because the next step is glasses that improve on 20/20 eyesight—maybe by allowing long-distance views, or instant microscope eyes. No release date for these either, but “a long way off” seems logical.

Google Says Androids Get 58% Fewer Scam Texts Than iPhones, but I Have Some Questions

If you’re getting more scam texts than your friends and family, it turns out it might be your mobile platform, at least going by a recent poll from Google and YouGov. According to Google, users on Android report receiving 58% fewer scam texts than those on iOS, and that number is even better on Pixel devices.

Android Survey

Credit: Google

That data comes from a survey Google and YouGov conducted of over 5,000 Android and iOS users across the U.S., India, and Brazil. The data says that Android users as a whole were “58% more likely than iOS users” to report that they had not received any scam texts in the week prior to the survey, and that iOS users were 65% more likely than Android users to report getting three or more scam texts in a week. On the whole, it also says that Android users were 20% more likely to describe their device’s scam protection features as “very effective” or “extremely effective.”

As for Pixel vs. iPhone specifically, the survey also found that Pixel users were 96% more likely to report zero scam texts than iPhone users, and that iPhone users were 136% more likely to say they had received “a heavy volume of scam messages” than Pixel users, as well as 150% more likely to say their device was “not effective at all in stopping mobile fraud.”

Those numbers don’t look good for Apple, although it’s worth pointing out a few details before taking Google at its word.

What is YouGov?

First, to Google’s credit, it didn’t conduct this study alone. While the company didn’t go into detail on how it partnered with YouGov here, YouGov itself is a respectable entity, widely cited in market research and even political news. The organization specializes in polls, and has been cited in everything from the New York Times to Lifehacker sister publication Mashable.

It’s also worth pointing out that YouGov wasn’t the only independent entity Google worked with while putting together its report. The company also reached out to Counterpoint Research to evaluate its AI-powered anti-scam protections, and Leviathan Security Group to asses scam protection across four Android phones. The company used these studies to put together infographics depicting its security features vs. iPhone’s, which you can see below.

Counterpoint Research numbers regarding Google's AI-powered scam prevention.

Credit: Google

Leviathan Security Group research numbers regarding Google's scam prevention tech.

Credit: Google

Note, however, how Google has put together the information here. Specifically, it implies that iPhone does not offer any scam protections in emails, while ignoring that many iPhone users access their email through the same Gmail app as on Android. It also doesn’t mention Safari’s ability to block pop-ups or the iPhone’s ability to screen phone calls, which makes me think Google might be getting choosy with how its presenting the data here. As such, it’s worth looking at its survey results with a critical eye as well.

Questions about methodology

While Google’s survey results are likely accurate to the polled audience, I do have a few questions about the methodology.

First, there’s the issue with this being a survey, rather than a more dispassionate look at texting inboxes. While helpful for getting insight into how users perceive their devices, surveys are susceptible to the word of those surveyed, which means that can be swayed by respondents misremembering details or misunderstanding questions.

The bigger question to me, though, is sample size. While I commend Google for conducting its survey across three different regions, the company was not clear about how many of its respondents owned iPhones vs. Android devices. It’s possible that iPhone users might have reported more scams simply because the iPhone is more popular in the U.S., for instance. To be fair, those numbers are reversed in India and Brazil, but without knowing a breakdown of how many people Google and YouGov interviewed where, it’s hard to know if the data is being impacted by other factors.

For instance, in addition to potentially being more numerous depending on a breakdown of the surveyed population, iPhone users might also be more susceptible to scam texts simply because scammers might want to target that user base more, as was once the case with viruses on Windows. The iPhone is known as a luxury device, which implies its user base might have extra money to spend, making it an alluring target.

Can you believe Google’s survey?

So, can you take Google’s polling at its word? Yes and no.

With YouGov helping the company out, it’s likely that the results presented are truthful, although they could still be misleading. The only way to know for sure would be to look at a detailed breakdown of the survey itself, but unlike the Counterpoint Research and Leviathan Security Group evaluations, there doesn’t seem to be a way to look at the raw survey data at the moment, just Google’s blog reporting on its findings.

I’ve reached out to Google and YouGov independently with questions about their methodology, and did not immediately hear back. For good measure, I’ve also reached out to Apple for its take, and similarly am still waiting for a reply.

In the meantime, I would take this survey with a grain of salt. It’s almost certainly based in truth, but it’s important to remember that it’s still part of a larger advertising narrative.

Google has made a big deal as of late about calling Apple’s ecosystem a walled garden. If the company can convince users that it can offer them greater freedom while also upping their protection, that would be a big win. It does, however, coincide with Android’s own efforts to close itself off in the name of security, so maybe the truth is both platforms aren’t so different after all.

Meta Is Adding More AI Slop to Your Feeds

I am extremely concerned about the prevalence of AI content on our social media feeds. Now that just about anyone can generate hyper-realistic videos with a simple text prompt, I fear that disinformation will rise exponentially, distorting worldviews faster than algorithms have so far been able to do. So you can imagine how I feel about Meta’s plans to add a “huge corpus” of AI content to its feeds. Good luck out there, everyone.

That’s directly from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself. In a Meta Platforms, Inc. earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg confirmed the company’s plans to add this self-described huge corpus of content, thanks to how easy AI makes it to create and “remix” content. People will create AI content, the platform’s recommendation systems will deliver that content to people, who may then slightly alter that content and send it back into the Metaverse. As this feedback loop will continue, feeds will start filling up with more and more AI content. That’s good for Meta, and anyone who enjoys watching videos that aren’t real. For those of us a little sick of this content, or worried we won’t be able to spot it during long scrolling session, it’s only bad news.

While much (if not most) of that AI content is likely coming from outside sources, like OpenAI’s Sora, some of it may come from Meta itself. The company recently rolled out “Vibes,” its own short-form AI video generator, as part of the existing Meta AI app. Users can create videos directly in Vibes, or remix existing videos. I’d wager some Vibes content is going to cross your Meta feed in the near future, if it hasn’t already.

Zuckerberg took the time to highlight how Meta’s AI recommendation systems across all of its core products—Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—are delivering “higher quality and more relevant content” to users, especially with regards to video. Apparently, the amount of time we’ve spent watching Instagram reels has increased by more than 30% when compared to last year. (Fun fact: Reels brings in over $50 billion according to the earnings call.) That environment seems just right to foster a new wave of AI slop to Meta’s enormous audience.

Look, I’ve definitely laughed at some AI memes that have come my way. But to suggest that flooding the feeds with realistic AI videos without any regulation or forethought is a good idea is itself laughable. If you use Meta products, watch out: You might not be able to trust what you’re watching is actually real for much longer—if at all.