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Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Netflix’s subscription plan with ads has reached a new milestone: it hit 70 million monthly users since its launch two years ago. That’s a big jump compared to the 40 million monthly ad-supported users Netflix reported in May.
Additionally, the streaming service said that the ad-supported plan accounted for 50 percent of all new signups in countries where it’s available. Netflix rolled out its ad-supported tier in the US, Australia, Brazil, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and others in November 2022.
It’s no surprise that the ad-supported plan has seen such growth, as the streamer has started nudging users toward the $6.99 per month option by discontinuing its cheapest ad-free tier. The company has also started to build out the plan’s features, adding better resolution and the ability to watch up to two streams simultaneously.

Netflix has launched its own advertising technology platform in Canada as well, with plans to launch it globally throughout next year. The streamer currently partners with Microsoft to sell ads that not only appear across its basic plans but will also show up during the live football games it’s streaming on Christmas Day.
As part of its earnings results last month, Netflix reported an increase of 5 million subscribers, bringing its global total to 282.7 million. The company is also set to air its live boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul this week, which all subscribers will have access to for free.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Netflix’s subscription plan with ads has reached a new milestone: it hit 70 million monthly users since its launch two years ago. That’s a big jump compared to the 40 million monthly ad-supported users Netflix reported in May.

Additionally, the streaming service said that the ad-supported plan accounted for 50 percent of all new signups in countries where it’s available. Netflix rolled out its ad-supported tier in the US, Australia, Brazil, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and others in November 2022.

It’s no surprise that the ad-supported plan has seen such growth, as the streamer has started nudging users toward the $6.99 per month option by discontinuing its cheapest ad-free tier. The company has also started to build out the plan’s features, adding better resolution and the ability to watch up to two streams simultaneously.

Netflix has launched its own advertising technology platform in Canada as well, with plans to launch it globally throughout next year. The streamer currently partners with Microsoft to sell ads that not only appear across its basic plans but will also show up during the live football games it’s streaming on Christmas Day.

As part of its earnings results last month, Netflix reported an increase of 5 million subscribers, bringing its global total to 282.7 million. The company is also set to air its live boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul this week, which all subscribers will have access to for free.

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Image: The Verge

Earlier this year Microsoft’s Edge browser automatically started up on my PC and imported my Chrome tabs without consent. Microsoft refused to explain why this behavior had occurred, and then quietly addressed the problem in a Microsoft Edge update. Microsoft hasn’t given up on trying to get your Chrome data though, as a new update is rolling out that automatically starts Edge and offers to import your Chrome tabs.
My colleague Richard Lawler noticed that Edge started automatically on his PC last week at boot and offered up a new prompt to “enhance your browsing experience.” The pop-up has a “bring over your data from other browsers regularly” option ticked by default, and encourages people to confirm and continue with a big blue button. If you want to dismiss this prompt there’s a tiny white X button that looks similar to the sparkles Microsoft is using in the background of the prompt.

Screenshot by Richard Lawler / The Verge
The new Microsoft Edge prompt to import Chrome data and tabs.

If you simply hit confirm and continue then Microsoft Edge will import your Chrome data and continually import your tabs if you have Chrome set as default. The prompt seems to mainly appear on PCs with Chrome installed, suggesting that Microsoft is once again targeting Chrome users.
Microsoft confirmed the new “feature” to The Verge. “This is a notification giving people the choice to import data from other browsers,” explains Microsoft spokesperson Caitlin Roulston. “There is an option to turn it off.”
So Microsoft clearly isn’t bothered that it’s automatically starting up Edge on people’s PC and then trying to trick them into importing their Chrome data. That’s not too surprising though since Microsoft has been pulling tricks like this for more than four years now.
Shortly after releasing its Chromium-based version of Edge in 2020, Microsoft started launching Edge automatically on people’s PCs in an effort to migrate them away from Chrome. Microsoft then blocked the EdgeDeflector tool to force Windows 11 users into Edge, started using prompts to stop people downloading Chrome, and made it really difficult to switch browser defaults in Windows 11.
We’ve also seen fake AI answers in Bing search results for Chrome, malware-like prompts in Windows 11 to get people to ditch Google, and even polls being injected into the Chrome download page.
Microsoft’s behavior here makes many people distrust Edge, Windows 11, and even the company’s AI efforts. The controversy around Recall should be a wake up signal to Microsoft that its Edge pop-ups in Windows 11 will make it difficult for consumers to trust what it’s doing with AI integration into Windows.

Image: The Verge

Earlier this year Microsoft’s Edge browser automatically started up on my PC and imported my Chrome tabs without consent. Microsoft refused to explain why this behavior had occurred, and then quietly addressed the problem in a Microsoft Edge update. Microsoft hasn’t given up on trying to get your Chrome data though, as a new update is rolling out that automatically starts Edge and offers to import your Chrome tabs.

My colleague Richard Lawler noticed that Edge started automatically on his PC last week at boot and offered up a new prompt to “enhance your browsing experience.” The pop-up has a “bring over your data from other browsers regularly” option ticked by default, and encourages people to confirm and continue with a big blue button. If you want to dismiss this prompt there’s a tiny white X button that looks similar to the sparkles Microsoft is using in the background of the prompt.

Screenshot by Richard Lawler / The Verge
The new Microsoft Edge prompt to import Chrome data and tabs.

If you simply hit confirm and continue then Microsoft Edge will import your Chrome data and continually import your tabs if you have Chrome set as default. The prompt seems to mainly appear on PCs with Chrome installed, suggesting that Microsoft is once again targeting Chrome users.

Microsoft confirmed the new “feature” to The Verge. “This is a notification giving people the choice to import data from other browsers,” explains Microsoft spokesperson Caitlin Roulston. “There is an option to turn it off.”

So Microsoft clearly isn’t bothered that it’s automatically starting up Edge on people’s PC and then trying to trick them into importing their Chrome data. That’s not too surprising though since Microsoft has been pulling tricks like this for more than four years now.

Shortly after releasing its Chromium-based version of Edge in 2020, Microsoft started launching Edge automatically on people’s PCs in an effort to migrate them away from Chrome. Microsoft then blocked the EdgeDeflector tool to force Windows 11 users into Edge, started using prompts to stop people downloading Chrome, and made it really difficult to switch browser defaults in Windows 11.

We’ve also seen fake AI answers in Bing search results for Chrome, malware-like prompts in Windows 11 to get people to ditch Google, and even polls being injected into the Chrome download page.

Microsoft’s behavior here makes many people distrust Edge, Windows 11, and even the company’s AI efforts. The controversy around Recall should be a wake up signal to Microsoft that its Edge pop-ups in Windows 11 will make it difficult for consumers to trust what it’s doing with AI integration into Windows.

Read More 

Following its announcement that the second season of Andor (now subtitled A Star Wars Story) is set to premiere next April, Disney Plus has dropped a new sizzle reel giving us a proper look at the show and a whole bunch of other things coming to the streamer.
Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) is going to need a pilot in Andor season two, and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) might just be the man for the job judging from the way the new 2025 preview features footage of him stealing a ship. Cassian’s penchant for taking things that aren’t his seems to be an issue for Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), but with Stormtroopers mobilizing to attack people elsewhere in the galaxy, the freedom fighters clearly have bigger fish to fry.
The sizzle reel also spotlights a bunch of new moments from Skeleton Crew (out December 3rd), Daredevil: Born Again (out March 4th), Ironheart (out June 24th), and The Handmaid’s Tale’s final season (which doesn’t have a release date yet). There’s also a bit of Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ second season, but what looks really promising are the reel’s brief glimpses of Alien: Earth — FX’s new prequel series to the original 1979 movie. Neither of those last two shows have premiere dates, either, but it probably won’t be too long before we get a chance to check them out.

Following its announcement that the second season of Andor (now subtitled A Star Wars Story) is set to premiere next April, Disney Plus has dropped a new sizzle reel giving us a proper look at the show and a whole bunch of other things coming to the streamer.

Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) is going to need a pilot in Andor season two, and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) might just be the man for the job judging from the way the new 2025 preview features footage of him stealing a ship. Cassian’s penchant for taking things that aren’t his seems to be an issue for Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), but with Stormtroopers mobilizing to attack people elsewhere in the galaxy, the freedom fighters clearly have bigger fish to fry.

The sizzle reel also spotlights a bunch of new moments from Skeleton Crew (out December 3rd), Daredevil: Born Again (out March 4th), Ironheart (out June 24th), and The Handmaid’s Tale’s final season (which doesn’t have a release date yet). There’s also a bit of Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ second season, but what looks really promising are the reel’s brief glimpses of Alien: Earth — FX’s new prequel series to the original 1979 movie. Neither of those last two shows have premiere dates, either, but it probably won’t be too long before we get a chance to check them out.

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There’s no better pair of AirPods you can buy for under $100. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge

If you’re looking for a good opportunity to upgrade from an older pair of AirPods, then some of the early Black Friday sales going on right now are where you want to be. Walmart, for example, has chopped down the price of a pair of Apple AirPods (third-gen) with a Lightning charging case to $94, which is a massive $75 off and easily the lowest price we’ve seen to date.

The fourth-gen AirPods are out now — with slight audio quality and comfort improvements, plus the option to get them with active noise cancellation and a wireless charging case bearing its own speaker — but the third-gen AirPods are still rock solid for routine music, podcasts, calls, and other listening needs. The charging case adds 24 hours of playtime to the earbuds’ six-hour battery life, but without the option for wireless charging, the Lightning connector is a bit of a downer now that Apple has moved on from it in nearly all of its latest devices. Still, the price is low enough that it may be worth keeping an extra cable handy.
And the third-gen AirPods are still great on other merits. They were the first base AirPods to snub the tailpipe in an overdue design refresh, but they’re also notable for adding spatial audio head tracking, IPX4 sweat and water resistance, precision Find My, automatic and quick device pairing and switching, and other tight integrations with iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices. We considered them well-balanced at their original price, so they’re even easier to recommend with today’s discount.

There’s no better pair of AirPods you can buy for under $100. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge

If you’re looking for a good opportunity to upgrade from an older pair of AirPods, then some of the early Black Friday sales going on right now are where you want to be. Walmart, for example, has chopped down the price of a pair of Apple AirPods (third-gen) with a Lightning charging case to $94, which is a massive $75 off and easily the lowest price we’ve seen to date.

The fourth-gen AirPods are out now — with slight audio quality and comfort improvements, plus the option to get them with active noise cancellation and a wireless charging case bearing its own speaker — but the third-gen AirPods are still rock solid for routine music, podcasts, calls, and other listening needs. The charging case adds 24 hours of playtime to the earbuds’ six-hour battery life, but without the option for wireless charging, the Lightning connector is a bit of a downer now that Apple has moved on from it in nearly all of its latest devices. Still, the price is low enough that it may be worth keeping an extra cable handy.

And the third-gen AirPods are still great on other merits. They were the first base AirPods to snub the tailpipe in an overdue design refresh, but they’re also notable for adding spatial audio head tracking, IPX4 sweat and water resistance, precision Find My, automatic and quick device pairing and switching, and other tight integrations with iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices. We considered them well-balanced at their original price, so they’re even easier to recommend with today’s discount.

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Cath Virginia / The Verge

The European Union has accused Apple of unlawfully discriminating against EU customers after finding the Cupertino company’s geo-blocking measures may be violating the bloc’s consumer protection rules.
Announced via a press release on Tuesday, the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) said a joint investigation had identified “several potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices” that Apple applies to its App Store, iTunes Store, Arcade, Books. Podcasts, and Apple Music services. Issues include restricting consumers to payment methods issued in the same country where their Apple account was registered, preventing app downloads offered in other EU/EEA countries, and having restrictive, region-specific interfaces.
“In the app version of these services, consumers are only allowed to access the interface made for the country where they have registered their Apple account and face significant challenges when attempting to change this, which is not allowed under EU’s anti-geo-blocking rules,” the CPC Network said in the press release. These rules and other EU service regulations prohibit companies from placing “discriminatory provisions” on services that restrict EU customers based on nationality or country of residence.

“We are stepping up the fight against geo-blocking. No company, big or small, should unjustly discriminate customers based on their nationality, place of residence or place of establishment,” European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in the press release.
Apple has one month to propose commitments to address the geo-blocking issues, or risk facing “enforcement measures to ensure compliance” — which can include penalties of up to four percent of Apple’s global annual turnover. The company has already been hit with an EU fine of €1.84 billion (about $2 billion) for antitrust violations and reportedly faces a further penalty for “anti-steering” practices that could reach as high as $38 billion.

Cath Virginia / The Verge

The European Union has accused Apple of unlawfully discriminating against EU customers after finding the Cupertino company’s geo-blocking measures may be violating the bloc’s consumer protection rules.

Announced via a press release on Tuesday, the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) said a joint investigation had identified “several potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices” that Apple applies to its App Store, iTunes Store, Arcade, Books. Podcasts, and Apple Music services. Issues include restricting consumers to payment methods issued in the same country where their Apple account was registered, preventing app downloads offered in other EU/EEA countries, and having restrictive, region-specific interfaces.

“In the app version of these services, consumers are only allowed to access the interface made for the country where they have registered their Apple account and face significant challenges when attempting to change this, which is not allowed under EU’s anti-geo-blocking rules,” the CPC Network said in the press release. These rules and other EU service regulations prohibit companies from placing “discriminatory provisions” on services that restrict EU customers based on nationality or country of residence.

“We are stepping up the fight against geo-blocking. No company, big or small, should unjustly discriminate customers based on their nationality, place of residence or place of establishment,” European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in the press release.

Apple has one month to propose commitments to address the geo-blocking issues, or risk facing “enforcement measures to ensure compliance” — which can include penalties of up to four percent of Apple’s global annual turnover. The company has already been hit with an EU fine of €1.84 billion (about $2 billion) for antitrust violations and reportedly faces a further penalty for “anti-steering” practices that could reach as high as $38 billion.

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Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

23andMe is laying off 40 percent of its employees, or over 200 workers, as the company attempts to recover from last year’s massive data breach and reverse its plummeting stock price. The genetic testing company also announced that it will shut down its therapeutics business.
Though 23andMe says the restructuring plan will cost it around $12 million, it expects to save more than $35 million as a result, while “substantially” lowering operating expenses. 23andMe’s therapeutics division, which studied potential cancer treatments using its database of genetic material, will end all clinical trials, as the company considers licensing agreements or asset sales to “maximize” the program’s value.
23andMe has had a turbulent past year, with the company confirming a data breach affecting 6.9 million users in 2023, revealing names, birth years, and ancestry information. In September, 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million to affected customers following a class action lawsuit. Meanwhile, all of 23andMe’s board members resigned after rejecting CEO Anne Wojcicki’s plan to take the company private.
“We are taking these difficult but necessary actions as we restructure 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer business and research partnerships,” Wojcicki said in a statement.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

23andMe is laying off 40 percent of its employees, or over 200 workers, as the company attempts to recover from last year’s massive data breach and reverse its plummeting stock price. The genetic testing company also announced that it will shut down its therapeutics business.

Though 23andMe says the restructuring plan will cost it around $12 million, it expects to save more than $35 million as a result, while “substantially” lowering operating expenses. 23andMe’s therapeutics division, which studied potential cancer treatments using its database of genetic material, will end all clinical trials, as the company considers licensing agreements or asset sales to “maximize” the program’s value.

23andMe has had a turbulent past year, with the company confirming a data breach affecting 6.9 million users in 2023, revealing names, birth years, and ancestry information. In September, 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million to affected customers following a class action lawsuit. Meanwhile, all of 23andMe’s board members resigned after rejecting CEO Anne Wojcicki’s plan to take the company private.

“We are taking these difficult but necessary actions as we restructure 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer business and research partnerships,” Wojcicki said in a statement.

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Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

A better night’s sleep, every night, and you don’t have to do anything to make it happen. Sounds like the, ahem, dream, right? Also sounds like a line you might hear from some infomercial salesman at 4 in the morning when you can’t sleep and are willing to try anything. Turns out, the promise is real. It’s just really, really, really expensive.
On this episode of The Vergecast, The Verge’s Victoria Song tells us about her adventures in sleep gadgets. We talk for a while about the Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra, a mattress pad that costs $4,700 and requires a subscription. And might just be worth it, if a better night’s sleep is worth it to you. We also talk about the Oura Ring 4, the whole sleepmaxxing trend, the Ozlo Sleepbuds, and other ways you can use tech to improve your shut-eye. Most of it doesn’t count five grand, we promise.

After that, The Verge’s Allison Johnson comes on the show to make the case for human DJs. After spending some time with Spotify’s AI DJ, she discovered that a near-infinite playlist of songs she loves, curated by a near-human DJ that knows her name, is still not what she’s looking for. We talk about why, and what it says about how we should be mixing the human and the artificial in our day-to-day lives.
Finally, we answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about Samsung’s Frame TV. Nilay Patel takes us through the pros and cons of this odd screen and its many imitators, and we talk about what to do when you feel like you need a TV but maybe you don’t particularly want one.
For more on everything discussed in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with sleep gadgets:

Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra review: for sale, good night’s sleep, just $4,700
Ozlo Sleepbuds hands-on: resurrected and I’ve slept so good
Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now

And on Spotify’s AI DJ:

Spotify’s AI is no match for a real DJ

The KEXP radio livestream
Allison’s music pick: Sudan Archives

And on the Frame TV:

It’s hard to believe Samsung’s new, matte The Frame is actually a TV
Samsung’s Frame TV is finally getting the knockoffs it deserves

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

A better night’s sleep, every night, and you don’t have to do anything to make it happen. Sounds like the, ahem, dream, right? Also sounds like a line you might hear from some infomercial salesman at 4 in the morning when you can’t sleep and are willing to try anything. Turns out, the promise is real. It’s just really, really, really expensive.

On this episode of The Vergecast, The Verge’s Victoria Song tells us about her adventures in sleep gadgets. We talk for a while about the Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra, a mattress pad that costs $4,700 and requires a subscription. And might just be worth it, if a better night’s sleep is worth it to you. We also talk about the Oura Ring 4, the whole sleepmaxxing trend, the Ozlo Sleepbuds, and other ways you can use tech to improve your shut-eye. Most of it doesn’t count five grand, we promise.

After that, The Verge’s Allison Johnson comes on the show to make the case for human DJs. After spending some time with Spotify’s AI DJ, she discovered that a near-infinite playlist of songs she loves, curated by a near-human DJ that knows her name, is still not what she’s looking for. We talk about why, and what it says about how we should be mixing the human and the artificial in our day-to-day lives.

Finally, we answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about Samsung’s Frame TV. Nilay Patel takes us through the pros and cons of this odd screen and its many imitators, and we talk about what to do when you feel like you need a TV but maybe you don’t particularly want one.

For more on everything discussed in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with sleep gadgets:

Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra review: for sale, good night’s sleep, just $4,700
Ozlo Sleepbuds hands-on: resurrected and I’ve slept so good
Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now

And on Spotify’s AI DJ:

Spotify’s AI is no match for a real DJ

The KEXP radio livestream
Allison’s music pick: Sudan Archives

And on the Frame TV:

It’s hard to believe Samsung’s new, matte The Frame is actually a TV
Samsung’s Frame TV is finally getting the knockoffs it deserves

Read More 

LG Display’s stretchable screens can now stretch up to 50 percent. | Image: LG Display

LG Display has recently announced a new version of its unique stretchable display with improved elasticity and durability. The 12-inch prototype can now be stretched up to 18 inches without being destroyed in the process, opening up new possibilities for where screens can potentially be installed.
The company first demonstrated a prototype of the display in 2022, but at the time it could only be stretched from 12 to 14 inches, or about 20 percent of its length. The latest prototype features a “new wiring design structure” and an improved silicon substrate — similar to the material used to make contact lenses — to expand the panel’s stretchability to up to 50 percent.
Built using micro LEDs, the new prototype is capable of displaying full RGB colors at a resolution of 100ppi, and is more resilient than previous versions. According to LG Display, it “can be repeatedly stretched over 10,000 times, maintaining clear image quality even in extreme environments such as exposure to low or high temperatures and external shocks.”
Although flexible displays have been available to consumers for years now in folding smartphones and even TVs that roll up out of sight, LG Display hasn’t announced any commercial applications for its stretchable screen yet. But the company expects there to be many uses for the technology, including wearable displays integrated into clothing without compromising comfort, or infotainment screens in cars that can conform to the curves or shape of a dashboard without limiting the interior design of a vehicle.

LG Display’s stretchable screens can now stretch up to 50 percent. | Image: LG Display

LG Display has recently announced a new version of its unique stretchable display with improved elasticity and durability. The 12-inch prototype can now be stretched up to 18 inches without being destroyed in the process, opening up new possibilities for where screens can potentially be installed.

The company first demonstrated a prototype of the display in 2022, but at the time it could only be stretched from 12 to 14 inches, or about 20 percent of its length. The latest prototype features a “new wiring design structure” and an improved silicon substrate — similar to the material used to make contact lenses — to expand the panel’s stretchability to up to 50 percent.

Built using micro LEDs, the new prototype is capable of displaying full RGB colors at a resolution of 100ppi, and is more resilient than previous versions. According to LG Display, it “can be repeatedly stretched over 10,000 times, maintaining clear image quality even in extreme environments such as exposure to low or high temperatures and external shocks.”

Although flexible displays have been available to consumers for years now in folding smartphones and even TVs that roll up out of sight, LG Display hasn’t announced any commercial applications for its stretchable screen yet. But the company expects there to be many uses for the technology, including wearable displays integrated into clothing without compromising comfort, or infotainment screens in cars that can conform to the curves or shape of a dashboard without limiting the interior design of a vehicle.

Read More 

You can customize Particle, but AI does most of the work. | Image: David Pierce / The Verge

It is, you might say, a complicated moment for news online. There are the efforts to erode the First Amendment, the dominant platforms that aren’t sending traffic like they used to, the complexities of an ever-changing ad business, and on and on the list goes. Maybe most of all, there’s the rise of AI, and platforms that ingest an internet’s worth of news, abstract it away into a mush of semi-true information, and then serve it up to anyone who asks their chatbot what’s new. Into that fray comes Particle, a long-in-the-works new platform from a couple of former Twitter product leaders that is designed to help people find and make sense of the news a little more easily. With a lot of AI.
Particle’s plan is to use AI to do two particularly useful things. First, it organizes lots of articles and coverage into collections the platform calls “Stories,” so you can get lots of information and perspective on whatever you’re reading about. Some stories in Particle include more than 100 news articles, plus X posts, a section of salient quotes on the subject, and more. It’s a lot of stuff.
Particle also uses AI to summarize all those articles, right at the top of each story page. By default it offers a bulleted list of information, like you might expect from ChatGPT, but you can tweak the output in lots of ways through what the app calls “summary styles.” You can select “Opposite Sides” to get a readout of roughly the two viewpoints on Trump’s proposed new cabinet, say, or pick “Explain Like I’m 5” to have the latest Gaza developments explained in the simplest possible terms. Particle even has the app rewrite the headline for you in various ways, to make it simpler or funnier (or, in my experience, mostly just more confusing.) You can also just directly ask a question, and Particle’s AI bot will try and answer.

Image: David Pierce / The Verge
All of Particle’s stuff comes from news… but it doesn’t look like articles.

This kind of AI organization and summarization is everywhere in the app. When you first download Particle, the app has you Tinder-swipe your way through some headlines, signaling what you’d like to see more and less of in your feed. You can also follow specific publications or journalists, and see their stuff more prominently. Particle attempts to suss out the political leanings of each article and publisher, both to call out one-sided coverage and to attempt to find a balance.
Particle is a nice-looking and extremely information-dense app, and in my experience as a beta tester it has been a pretty useful way to get a quick overview of big issues. It’s also full of the same ideas that so many other companies have tried and failed. Apps like Circa couldn’t manage to build an audience and business out of the same kind of broadly useful summarization and aggregation. Discors had some neat ideas about structure that also didn’t amount to much. Snapchat and Facebook both once had news-aggregation dreams, and have left those behind. There just isn’t much evidence that an app like this can work.
Particle knows all this, of course. Sara Beykpour, the company’s CEO, spent more than a decade at Twitter and understands well the complexities of information sharing on the internet. And she’s convinced that the advent of AI makes it possible to do these things better, and at bigger scale. Particle says it has found ways to vastly reduce AI hallucinations and inaccuracies — some of which involve human editorial oversight — and has made deals with Reuters, Time, Fortune, and others to share their content. Getting those deals done, and getting them right, will be key for Particle’s staying power.
In the wake of a heated election, and on an internet where information and misinformation are both plentiful and nearly indistinguishable, Particle believes it has found a way to cut through. And is hoping that’s what people actually want.

You can customize Particle, but AI does most of the work. | Image: David Pierce / The Verge

It is, you might say, a complicated moment for news online. There are the efforts to erode the First Amendment, the dominant platforms that aren’t sending traffic like they used to, the complexities of an ever-changing ad business, and on and on the list goes. Maybe most of all, there’s the rise of AI, and platforms that ingest an internet’s worth of news, abstract it away into a mush of semi-true information, and then serve it up to anyone who asks their chatbot what’s new. Into that fray comes Particle, a long-in-the-works new platform from a couple of former Twitter product leaders that is designed to help people find and make sense of the news a little more easily. With a lot of AI.

Particle’s plan is to use AI to do two particularly useful things. First, it organizes lots of articles and coverage into collections the platform calls “Stories,” so you can get lots of information and perspective on whatever you’re reading about. Some stories in Particle include more than 100 news articles, plus X posts, a section of salient quotes on the subject, and more. It’s a lot of stuff.

Particle also uses AI to summarize all those articles, right at the top of each story page. By default it offers a bulleted list of information, like you might expect from ChatGPT, but you can tweak the output in lots of ways through what the app calls “summary styles.” You can select “Opposite Sides” to get a readout of roughly the two viewpoints on Trump’s proposed new cabinet, say, or pick “Explain Like I’m 5” to have the latest Gaza developments explained in the simplest possible terms. Particle even has the app rewrite the headline for you in various ways, to make it simpler or funnier (or, in my experience, mostly just more confusing.) You can also just directly ask a question, and Particle’s AI bot will try and answer.

Image: David Pierce / The Verge
All of Particle’s stuff comes from news… but it doesn’t look like articles.

This kind of AI organization and summarization is everywhere in the app. When you first download Particle, the app has you Tinder-swipe your way through some headlines, signaling what you’d like to see more and less of in your feed. You can also follow specific publications or journalists, and see their stuff more prominently. Particle attempts to suss out the political leanings of each article and publisher, both to call out one-sided coverage and to attempt to find a balance.

Particle is a nice-looking and extremely information-dense app, and in my experience as a beta tester it has been a pretty useful way to get a quick overview of big issues. It’s also full of the same ideas that so many other companies have tried and failed. Apps like Circa couldn’t manage to build an audience and business out of the same kind of broadly useful summarization and aggregation. Discors had some neat ideas about structure that also didn’t amount to much. Snapchat and Facebook both once had news-aggregation dreams, and have left those behind. There just isn’t much evidence that an app like this can work.

Particle knows all this, of course. Sara Beykpour, the company’s CEO, spent more than a decade at Twitter and understands well the complexities of information sharing on the internet. And she’s convinced that the advent of AI makes it possible to do these things better, and at bigger scale. Particle says it has found ways to vastly reduce AI hallucinations and inaccuracies — some of which involve human editorial oversight — and has made deals with Reuters, Time, Fortune, and others to share their content. Getting those deals done, and getting them right, will be key for Particle’s staying power.

In the wake of a heated election, and on an internet where information and misinformation are both plentiful and nearly indistinguishable, Particle believes it has found a way to cut through. And is hoping that’s what people actually want.

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Apple Intelligence is just doing the best it can. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

iPhones, iPads, and Macs with Apple Intelligence now have a unique AI feature that summarizes notifications for you. Starting with iOS / iPadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1, when multiple notifications pile up for a given app, the tiny LLM that Apple has crammed into our stuff tries its hardest to algorithm up a brief overview for you. (Part of a group text with lots of people? It’ll try to tell you what they’re discussing.) This is sometimes good. It is very often funny.
I like the way the summaries handle some of my Apple Home notifications — like when I read “Garage changed status multiple times; recently closed” in lieu of a stack of messages about my garage door. The wording changes, but without fail (so far), it’s been right about whether the last thing it did was open or close, so I don’t have to open Apple Home or my garage camera to verify it. (I still do sometimes because LLMs can be lying liars.)
The trouble comes when it’s trying to briefly convey things like text messages, emails, and Slack notifications. They’re usually vaguely in the ballpark, in the same way that saying Cormac McCarthy’s postapocalyptic novel The Road is about a father and son who take a walk together. I guess that’s not wrong, but boy does it miss the point.
Add the mini-LLM’s problems grasping appropriate context to the chaos of human communication, and things can get very funny. Here are just a few examples I’ve collected online from my colleagues at The Verge and from my own phone.

Right after the first iOS 18.1 betas, I saw this gem, reading, “Apology for subpar communication; life busy; not ready for a relationship.”
Woof. It’s bad enough getting broken up with via text message. Is getting the message first from an AI summary better? Well, it cuts to the chase. I’ll give it that.

My mom: That hike almost killed me!Apple’s AI summary: pic.twitter.com/fyN5UopIdH— Schmidt (@AndrewSchmidtFC) October 25, 2024

????????

Screenshot: iOS notification summary

“Straight-up home invasion.” – Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel

If you’re like me, you hate notifications and tend to ignore certain noisy apps. Now, imagine you’ve woken up at 1AM and groggily unlocked your phone, only to learn that you’re about to get mobbed John Wick-style by “multiple people” at your front and back doors and in your driveway.

Screenshot: Alex Heath / iOS notification summary

In spite of this notification, Verge writer Alex Heath is safe and accounted for.

Just make sure the puppy is safe, I guess.

As a heavy Apple Shortcuts user, I feel Matthew Cassinelli’s irritation at learning that there aren’t new features coming — Apple Intelligence just conflated two unrelated notifications.

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Technically accurate?

If I weren’t accustomed to getting random emails about screeners, I might have been very confused about the Writers Guild of America’s (which Vox Media is a part of) invitation to look at its butt. Again, context is very important.

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Believable.

Okay, this actually is pretty much exactly what The Onion’s headline in this email was, so great job, Apple Intelligence.

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Never mind the first two things — what am I supposed to file by October 31st??

This is a very uncomfortable collection of things to summarize. (Also, that Microsoft thing? That’s about a gender-detecting AI tool that 404 Media reported Microsoft had accidentally left active.)

Screenshot: iOS notification summary

What movie is bad? Is the button why it’s bad? (Editor’s note: look closely at the first image in this tweet.)

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Trying to decide if I actually want to learn what movie this is or leave it an enticing mystery.

Seriously, though, why won’t it just tell me what the movie is?
What have we learned?
Are Apple Intelligence notification summaries a life-changing feature? Ha ha, no. But I don’t hate them. Notifications are an awful, constant intrusion that my attention-deficient brain loathes anyway; at least the summaries punch things up now and again. I think this last Threads post sums up my feelings pretty well:

Oh, and here’s one more for the road that came in while we were editing this story:

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
I agree, Apple Intelligence summary.

Apple Intelligence is just doing the best it can. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

iPhones, iPads, and Macs with Apple Intelligence now have a unique AI feature that summarizes notifications for you. Starting with iOS / iPadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1, when multiple notifications pile up for a given app, the tiny LLM that Apple has crammed into our stuff tries its hardest to algorithm up a brief overview for you. (Part of a group text with lots of people? It’ll try to tell you what they’re discussing.) This is sometimes good. It is very often funny.

I like the way the summaries handle some of my Apple Home notifications — like when I read “Garage changed status multiple times; recently closed” in lieu of a stack of messages about my garage door. The wording changes, but without fail (so far), it’s been right about whether the last thing it did was open or close, so I don’t have to open Apple Home or my garage camera to verify it. (I still do sometimes because LLMs can be lying liars.)

The trouble comes when it’s trying to briefly convey things like text messages, emails, and Slack notifications. They’re usually vaguely in the ballpark, in the same way that saying Cormac McCarthy’s postapocalyptic novel The Road is about a father and son who take a walk together. I guess that’s not wrong, but boy does it miss the point.

Add the mini-LLM’s problems grasping appropriate context to the chaos of human communication, and things can get very funny. Here are just a few examples I’ve collected online from my colleagues at The Verge and from my own phone.

Right after the first iOS 18.1 betas, I saw this gem, reading, “Apology for subpar communication; life busy; not ready for a relationship.”

Woof. It’s bad enough getting broken up with via text message. Is getting the message first from an AI summary better? Well, it cuts to the chase. I’ll give it that.

????????

Screenshot: iOS notification summary

“Straight-up home invasion.” – Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel

If you’re like me, you hate notifications and tend to ignore certain noisy apps. Now, imagine you’ve woken up at 1AM and groggily unlocked your phone, only to learn that you’re about to get mobbed John Wick-style by “multiple people” at your front and back doors and in your driveway.

Screenshot: Alex Heath / iOS notification summary

In spite of this notification, Verge writer Alex Heath is safe and accounted for.

Just make sure the puppy is safe, I guess.

As a heavy Apple Shortcuts user, I feel Matthew Cassinelli’s irritation at learning that there aren’t new features coming — Apple Intelligence just conflated two unrelated notifications.

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Technically accurate?

If I weren’t accustomed to getting random emails about screeners, I might have been very confused about the Writers Guild of America’s (which Vox Media is a part of) invitation to look at its butt. Again, context is very important.

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Believable.

Okay, this actually is pretty much exactly what The Onion’s headline in this email was, so great job, Apple Intelligence.

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Never mind the first two things — what am I supposed to file by October 31st??

This is a very uncomfortable collection of things to summarize. (Also, that Microsoft thing? That’s about a gender-detecting AI tool that 404 Media reported Microsoft had accidentally left active.)

Screenshot: iOS notification summary

What movie is bad? Is the button why it’s bad? (Editor’s note: look closely at the first image in this tweet.)

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
Trying to decide if I actually want to learn what movie this is or leave it an enticing mystery.

Seriously, though, why won’t it just tell me what the movie is?

What have we learned?

Are Apple Intelligence notification summaries a life-changing feature? Ha ha, no. But I don’t hate them. Notifications are an awful, constant intrusion that my attention-deficient brain loathes anyway; at least the summaries punch things up now and again. I think this last Threads post sums up my feelings pretty well:

Oh, and here’s one more for the road that came in while we were editing this story:

Screenshot: iOS notification summary
I agree, Apple Intelligence summary.

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