The Photos app in iOS 17 can identify a wide range of symbols, including the laundry symbols that you see on clothing tags. As noted by MacStories' Federico Vittici, if you take a photo of a tag with laundry symbols, it is highlighted through the Visual Lookup feature, and can be tapped for a symbol translation. The iPhone will provide an explanation for each symbol that is on the tag, with a tap on the explanation able to provide more information from the website that Apple is sourcing. Apple is getting information for laundry instructions from the Online Browsing Platform that is run by the International Organization for Standardization. Visual Lookup appears to recognize all of the laundry symbols that…

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…

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 Macs may be a far less tempting target for malware and viruses, but they’re not immune from attack. Even if you don’t care about adware or being used as means to infect users on other platforms, it’s still possible to fall victim to ransomware, or password theft. Accordingly, good antivirus for Mac software will protect your Mac on all of these fronts. It’ll catch malware that’s still spreading or in circulation; block ransomware; protect older systems with out-of-date software from security vulnerabilities; prevent your Mac from acting as a carrier for malware aimed at other operating systems; and keep infected files off of any virtual machines you’re running. As to the question of which Mac antivirus software you should choose,…