Illustration by Samar Haddad for The Verge As connected becomes the default for every household appliance — from TVs and washing machines to ovens and vacuums — we break down exactly what makes a home ‘smart’ and help you decide if it’s the right fit for you. I find the simplest way to explain the concept of a smart home is that it’s a natural evolution of our homes. A smart home isn’t fundamentally different from a “regular” home — it’s just the improvement of one. In the same way that electricity made our homes better and more functional, so is connectivity improving the way we live in and use our homes. I’ve lived in a smart home for a…

Macworld Apple has announced the long-rumored headset, which will be called Vision Pro. That suggests that one day in the not-so-distant future we will see a cheaper Vision headset, rumored to arrive in 2025. Apple isn’t calling Vision Pro a VR headset. Rather it’s referring to the headset as its “first spatial computer” with a big emphasis on how a user will be able to stay present in the physical world while wearing it. Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke about how the Vision Pro ushers in “the beginning of a new era for computing.” Here’s everything we know about the Vision Pro headset so far. Want to know what it’s like to wear a Vision Pro? Macworld’s Roman Loyola has…

All of Apple's software announcements have been somewhat overshadowed by the Apple Vision Pro, but there are a number of useful changes that are coming in iOS 17. We've pulled out five features that we think are the most interesting and that iPhone users will be most excited about when ‌iOS 17‌ launches this fall. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Live Voicemail - If you're like us, you sometimes forget that voicemail even exists. With ‌iOS 17‌, when someone calls and leaves a voicemail, you can see the transcription live on your Lock Screen. If they have something notable to say, you can pick up the call right then and there. StandBy - StandBy is similar…

All of Apple's software announcements have been somewhat overshadowed by the Apple Vision Pro, but there are a number of useful changes that are coming in iOS 17. We've pulled out five features that we think are the most interesting and that iPhone users will be most excited about when ‌iOS 17‌ launches this fall. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Live Voicemail - If you're like us, you sometimes forget that voicemail even exists. With ‌iOS 17‌, when someone calls and leaves a voicemail, you can see the transcription live on your Lock Screen. If they have something notable to say, you can pick up the call right then and there. StandBy - StandBy is similar…

Macworld Apple had plenty of great things to show off when it unveiled iOS 17 at WWDC. We’re psyched about vastly improved autocorrect, StandBy, Live Voicemail transcriptions, custom contact posters, and all that other good stuff. But sometimes it’s the little things that have the biggest impact. A small interface change or tiny unsung feature might change the way you use your iPhone day-to-day more than all the fancy AI-powered gimmicks ever will. Here are some of the little things in iOS 17 that you didn’t hear about in the keynote, but are sure to have an impact on your iPhone. Ping your Apple Watch One of our favorite features of the Apple Watch is that you can open Control…

Apple Vision Pro, Apple's new "spatial computing" device, does not have a hardware-based control mechanism. It relies on eye tracking and hand gestures to allow users to manipulate objects in the virtual space in front of them. In a recent developer session, Apple designers outlined the specific gestures that can be used with Vision Pro, and how some of the interactions will work. Tap - Tapping the thumb and the index finger together signals to the headset that you want to tap on a virtual element on the display that you're looking at. Users have also described this as a pinch, and it is the equivalent to tapping on the screen of an iPhone. Double Tap - Tapping twice initiates…