The software & developer tools stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Cloudflare's free beta Auto Router picks an AI model for each request to save money, but one expert warns it may underrate risky tasks like refunds.
Read more: Cloudflare's new AI picker chooses a model for you, and it can misjudge riskAn automated campaign uses stolen GitHub tokens to make private repositories print their own secrets, then deletes the evidence. Here is who is at risk.
Read more: Hackers use stolen GitHub keys to pull secrets from private codeTech companies say AI shopping agents like Meta's Muse will save you money, but prices keep climbing and the savings are still unproven.
Read more: AI shopping assistants promise savings, but prices keep risingThe moderators of Reddit's r/opensource now ban projects made with, by or for AI, and some members have already left for a new forum that allows it.
Read more: Big open source forum on Reddit bans any project that uses AIResearchers found a booby-trapped instruction file in a customer's Downloads folder that pushed an AI coding helper to install a rogue software package.
Read more: A hidden text file in Downloads can trick AI coding helpers into harmSeal, a free open source Android app, saves online videos and music to a phone for offline use, with no ads or subscriptions, according to an Android Police review.
Read more: Free Android app Seal saves videos and music for offline useGoogle Messages has put its effort into RCS, and an author says plain SMS features got left behind. A free, open source app may fill the gap.
Read more: Google Messages neglects plain text messages; a free app fills the gapA How-To Geek writer swapped his Galaxy's camera app for a free open source one to get photos that show what the sensor saw, with less AI added.
Read more: A writer ditched his Galaxy's camera app to avoid AI-edited photosAnthropic says many companies can swap a crew of specialized AI helpers for one smarter helper, and in one test that setup ran about twice as fast.
Read more: Anthropic says one AI helper often beats a team of manyPingCAP says hackers stole its source code and customer records, including names, emails and query text. TiDB Cloud users should swap access keys now.
Read more: Database company PingCAP confirms hackers stole code and customer dataMetrolist, a third-party app, reworks YouTube Music so it opens straight to your library and tucks videos away. It also has a catch: you install it outside the Play Store.
Read more: A free Android app makes YouTube Music far less clutteredAnthropic added support for slow, background jobs and mid-task permission prompts to Claude Code, but only for developers on three surfaces for now.
Read more: Claude Code can now run long jobs and stop to ask your permissionScammers posing as a Louisiana sheriff's office are charging inmates' families for ankle monitors that do not exist. Here is how to spot the call.
Read more: Scammers sell fake ankle monitors to families of jail inmatesA developer says code inside the hit phone game Block Blast is built to make players lose, and that ads drive its millions in revenue. Here is what is known.
Read more: A developer took apart Block Blast to see if the game is riggedApple's latest iPhone test version adds a ChatGPT Plus upgrade button, and free ChatGPT now has a daily limit. Here is what the $19.99 tier adds.
Read more: iPhone beta now lets you upgrade to ChatGPT Plus in SettingsSafari's side controls squeeze web pages on the $1,999 iPhone Duo's outer screen, and Apple is now asking web developers for ideas to fix it.
Read more: Apple wants to fix cramped websites on its $1,999 foldable iPhoneA flaw nicknamed http2shell could let attackers run commands on servers built with Node, Python and other tools. Site owners should check if they are exposed.
Read more: New flaw in Node and Python web tools lets hackers run codeLianLian Global's platform clients can now pay creators and sellers through PayPal or Venmo, which could mean fewer forms and no bank details to hand over.
Read more: Online platforms can now pay creators straight to PayPal or VenmoOpenAI has opened its fast, low-cost Decisions API to all customers. It picks between options in a fraction of a second, which could trim business costs and wait times.
Read more: OpenAI opens a much faster, cheaper AI for quick yes-or-no choicesAI models are now cracking math problems that stumped experts for decades, and one explanation suggests which kinds of work they will get good at next.
Read more: AI is solving old math problems, and a pattern explains whyApple's next Apple Watch update lets Siri remember past chats, use more of your info, and speak five more languages. MacRumors expects it next week.
Read more: Apple Watch's Siri is about to get a memory and more languagesHSBC's new Hong Kong dollar coin, HSBC RedCoin, lets PayMe app users send money to friends and pay at more than 100,000 merchants.
Read more: HSBC launches a Hong Kong dollar digital coin you can spend in its appAnthropic has merged Claude's chat and Cowork into one tool for Enterprise customers. It runs in the cloud, and admins can set limits on access and usage.
Read more: Claude's chat and project helper now merge for big companiesClaude Duet, a research preview agent from Anthropic's Claude team, can work in your accounts while you're away. It shows what it plans to do first.
Read more: Claude Duet, an AI that works while you're away, asks before it acts
