The everyday tech stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Android Authority reports a new exploit that can badly damage an Android phone once a harmful app is installed, so what you add to your phone matters more than ever.
Read more: A new Android flaw can wreck your phone just by installing one appSome Galaxy owners say Samsung's One UI 9 update cut off Wi-Fi, mobile data and SIM detection, which can leave a phone without internet or calls.
Read more: Samsung's new update is breaking Wi-Fi and SIM detection for someUK shoppers now spend over £1 billion a year on paid AI tools, and Claude is gaining on ChatGPT. Here is what that means if you pay for one.
Read more: Britons now spend over £1 billion a year on AI subscriptionsA leaker says Apple's 2027 anniversary iPhone will keep a small camera cutout, and the iPhone 18 is expected to cost more. Both claims are unconfirmed rumors.
Read more: Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone may still have a camera holeWhatsApp for Android is reported to be getting a message peek feature, so you could glance at chats without sending the blue ticks that show you read them.
Read more: WhatsApp on Android may soon let you peek at messages unseenApple's new iPad mini adds an OLED screen, water resistance and a faster chip, but the $699 starting price is $200 higher than the last model's launch price.
Read more: New iPad mini is the best small tablet, but costs $699T-Mobile's new T-Mix Saver plan costs $55 for one line and $100 for two, which is $5 and $20 more than the plan it replaces.
Read more: T-Mobile adds a $55 bare-bones plan to its new T-Mix lineupThe UK government says it is weighing limits on smart glasses and who can buy them, after worries that they are used to film women in secret.
Read more: UK weighs limits on smart glasses over secret filming of womenOpenAI's president says the first half of 2026 was rough, but sales jumped in the third quarter, helped by coding tools and work products.
Read more: OpenAI says a rough first half of 2026 gave way to a sales jumpMeta is reportedly dropping fruit codenames like Avocado, Mango and Watermelon for its AI projects, though the company has not confirmed the change.
Read more: Meta plans to stop naming its AI projects after fruitWhatsApp is adding a preview of your newest photo or video to every chat on Android and iPhone. It is on by default, so check your settings if you prefer it off.
Read more: WhatsApp Now Suggests Your Latest Photo or Video When You Open a ChatOpenAI's new image model, Images 2.5, cuts generation time by up to 50% and holds up better when you make repeated edits to the same picture.
Read more: ChatGPT's new image tool is up to 50% faster and edits betterOnePlus has published exact Android 17 update dates for more phones and tablets, so owners can see if their device is due in November.
Read more: OnePlus sets Android 17 update dates for more phones and tabletsGoogle says a power cable failure and a setup error kept backup generators off in London on October 20, disrupting banks and Royal Mail.
Read more: Google's backup generators failed to start during a London outageEnkio now lets you turn a song and a few images into a music video from a chat in ChatGPT or Codex, using the credits you already have with Enkio.
Read more: You can now make a music video from inside ChatGPTAttackers chained a Chrome bug with a Snapdragon chip flaw to take over Android phones with no tap needed. Updating now closes the door.
Read more: Hackers broke into Android phones through Chrome without a single tapWhatsApp is testing an Android tool that uses AI to stretch square or wide photos into full-screen vertical ones, so you do not have to crop them.
Read more: WhatsApp tests a tool that uses AI to fill out your photosSamsung's Galaxy Buds 4 Pro and Buds 3 Pro can now act as over-the-counter hearing aids, which could help people with mild hearing loss.
Read more: Samsung earbuds can now work as hearing aids without a prescriptionBluesky added a pronouns field to profiles the day after the midterms. The company says the timing was a coincidence, and says activity on the site doubled.
Read more: Bluesky adds a pronouns field the day after the midtermsMastercard published a story on how Samsung built a smarter retail strategy. The details are not confirmed, but store tactics can affect what shoppers pay.
Read more: How Samsung is rethinking the way it sells in storesGoogle says some Pixel Watches were draining their batteries unusually fast, and a software fix is rolling out now. Updating the watch's apps is the step to take.
Read more: Google confirms Pixel Watch battery drain and says a fix is rolling outMercari says moving customer service to a managed browser and Chromebooks could cut costs by more than half over three years while keeping customer data in check.
Read more: Online marketplace Mercari expects to cut costs by half with a browserNetflix hired Darshan Kantak, a longtime ad tech executive, to fix delays in its ad business, which affects its cheaper plan with ads and the companies that buy those ads.
Read more: Netflix hires a veteran ad tech leader to speed up its ads businessCounterpoint says phone chip shipments dropped 21% in Q3 2026 as memory costs rose, yet Apple and Samsung were the only big names to gain share.
Read more: Phone chip sales fell 21%, but Apple and Samsung gained ground
