The Apple Watch just leveled up. Beyond EKGs and blood oxygen it can now detect hypertension, the silent killer that strikes without warning. Here’s how Apple’s newest health feature could save your life.
⏱️ Pressure’s on: Apple Watches that track hypertension just got FDA approval and start rolling out today. The watch monitors your cardiovascular patterns over 30 days and alerts you if your blood pressure looks like it’s creeping too high. It’s not a replacement for a doctor or a real cuff, but it could be a game changer for the millions who don’t know they’re at risk. The feature is coming to Series 9, Ultra 2 and all future models, and yes, your wrist might just save your life.
⌚ watchOS 26: Developers can finally make Widgets for Control Center, a feature that used to be Apple-only. To try them, press the Side button, scroll to the bottom and tap Edit. Select the plus (+) icon in the top left for suggested widgets, then scroll to From Your iPhone to find third-party options.
👀 Trading goes social: Robinhood’s turning into a social app. You’ll see verified trades (paywall link) like time stamps and profits. Even follow public moves like Pelosi’s options game or Zuck’s stock moves. Beta’s just 10,000 people early next year. Basically, a social feature for Wall Street gossip making it way too easy to copy.
🔒 Big iPhone 17 security upgrade: Apple’s adding a new feature called Memory Integrity Enforcement to take on spyware. It’s always running in the background, protecting the kernel and 70+ processes, which makes stealing your data a lot tougher. The catch? It only works on the new A19 chips. Older iPhones will still get a memory safety update, but not like this.
The time machine hidden on your phone
Google Street View goes beyond cars, capturing over 10 million miles of roads worldwide. Here’s how to use Street View’s hidden time-travel feature. Try it out, it’s really fun!
Oh, sheet: Excel’s =COPILOT() feature writes formulas for you. But here’s the catch: Microsoft says it’s not accurate, not reproducible and shouldn’t be used for finances, legal docs or … well, Excel’s entire job that’s continually regressing.
YouTube turns up the hype: Its new “Hype” feature lets you boost up to three small-creator videos a week. Those picks land on a special leaderboard, giving underdog channels a real shot at the spotlight. Look for the shiny “hyped” badge in your feed, and hit it for me now and then.
Trim silence in YouTube Music: Yep, that cool feature from Google Podcasts is now in YouTube Music. It automatically skips over silent or dead-air parts in podcasts, making episodes shorter. To use it: Open the YouTube Music app, start a podcast, tap the playback speed option, and toggle on Trim silence.
Blood oxygen’s back: I didn’t say Apple stole blood‑oxygen tech, but … you be the judge. They wooed Masimo in 2013, nabbed trade secrets, hired their talent, then shipped the feature anyway. Masimo sued, won, and Apple got benched and probably paid up. Now the blood-oxygen reading is back, so update your Apple Series 9, 10 or Ultra 2 watch today.
Big Windows update: Yup, Microsoft rolled out fixes for over 100 security flaws, including critical ones that let hackers remotely run malicious code on your PC. The Black Screen of Death is now official, and a new Quick Machine Recovery feature will try to fix your PC if there’s a boot problem. Go to Settings > Windows Update to get it.
😱 Instagram’s embarrassing new feature: You can now see which Reels (videos) your friends are liking. Just tap the Reels icon, then the Friends tab, and bam, their profile pics show up on whatever they hearted. Scared? Me, too. To turn it off, go to Settings > Who can see your content > Activity in Friends tab > No one.
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📺 Skip the fluff: YouTube’s Jump Ahead AI feature is finally rolling out on TV apps. Previously mobile-only, it now uses watch data to hop over boring chunks of videos. You’ll see a dot on the progress bar and can jump with your remote. Premium paid accounts only, of course.
🧠 Your tabs get a brain: Microsoft Edge just dropped Copilot Mode, an AI-powered browser that sees your tabs, listens to voice commands and helps you shop, plan and even book paddleboards. Will it judge your 48 open tabs? Let’s hope not. For now, the feature is opt-in and free for a limited time.
🧠 Pick your personality: ChatGPT dropped a new feature on the web app that lets you change how it talks to you. Want sarcasm? Choose “Cynic.” Prefer nerdy enthusiasm? Go with “Sage.” To try it out, click your Profile icon, select Customize ChatGPT and choose your vibe under Personality.
Blue screen, black soul: Remember the Windows blue screen of death? It just went goth. The QR code? Gone. The frowny face? Dead. Instead, you get a sleek black screen and a new Wi-Fi-powered quick machine recovery feature that can resuscitate your dead PC like digital CPR.
👁️ Look ’em in the eye: On iPhone video calls, eye contact’s tricky since you’re looking at the screen, not the camera. Apple’s Eye Contact feature uses AI to adjust your gaze automatically. Turn it on in Settings > FaceTime > Eye Contact. Cue the staring contest.
AT&T’s new Account Lock feature: Finally, a way to stop SIM-swapping attacks. That’s when hackers transfer your number to their own SIM to steal 2FA codes. To turn it on, open the myAT&T app and go to Services > Mobile Security > Wireless Account Lock.
Microsoft Authenticator changes: It’s ditching password management. At the end of this month, the autofill password feature bites the dust. And by August? Say goodbye to accessing saved passwords in the app at all. I use NordProtect for my password manager.