You spend a lot of time looking at your phone, so it’s important to make sure that you’re looking at text that’s legible—and while you might have always just accepted the default text size on your Android device or iPhone, it’s not too difficult to change it.
In fact you’ll find several options for tweaking font size and style, and even for zooming into individual apps as and when needed.
As the words get bigger of course, the amount of information that can fit on screen decreases, which can mean a lot more scrolling. However, once you know how to access and tweak these settings, you can find the balance that’s right for you.
Android
On the stock version of Android that comes with Google’s own Pixel phones, you can change the size of the text onscreen by opening Settings and then choosing Display and Font size. As you make changes via the slider at the bottom, you’ll see how they look on the preview block of text that’s displayed above the slider.
Back on the Display menu, there’s another setting to be aware of: Display size. This controls the size of onscreen objects like menu buttons and app icons, without touching the size of the actual text. Again, you use a slider to set your preferred configuration, and there’s a preview available.
Adjusting text size on Android.
Android via David Nield
There’s a bold effect available as well, if you find that it helps with making text easier to read onscreen. From Settings, select Accessibility, then Text and display, and then turn on the Bold text toggle switch. You might find that certain apps ignore this option, though they should all follow the font size setting.
One other setting to know about is magnification. From Accessibility in Settings, tap Magnification and you can set up a shortcut for zooming into the screen as and when needed. This can be handy when there are particular parts of apps that you have difficulty seeing, but you don’t want to make any system-wide changes.
Scooters are electric vehicles, so there are a few things you should and shouldn’t do if you get one. First, if you’ve never ridden an electric scooter and are nervous about shelling out for one, try a rideshare service. Companies like Lime, Lyft, and Bird let you grab an escooter for not a lot of money, which is a good way to test the waters.
Wear a helmet. Need I say more? Protect your noggin. Our Biking Accessories guide has some helmet options—my personal favorite is the Thousand Heritage helmet—and follow this guide to fit your helmet the right way.
Check your local laws. Are electric scooters legal where you live? If so, what’s the max speed limit? Do you have to be in the bike lane? Over the past two years, escooters have become a common sight in many cities. Chances are your state or city has spelled out rules about riding them.
Don’t charge your escooter overnight or when no one is home. The manuals of several scooters I’ve tested say the same. Not every battery or charger has a UL certification for safety, and I’ve seen one too many stories of battery fires. Always be around when you’re charging your scooter and unplug it when it’s finished charging.
Try to avoid the rain. You’ll want to check your scooter to see whether it has official IP water- and dust-resistance ratings. If not, avoid riding in the rain. If there is a rating, it’s still a good idea to get out of the rain quickly. More importantly, do not plug the charger in without wiping down the charging port and ensuring that it’s dry.
Don’t store your escooter in excessive temperatures. Extreme heat and extreme cold are not good for batteries. Store your escooter indoors in a cool, dry place, like you would your breakfast cereal!
One rider only, please. Unless a manufacturer explicitly states that an escooter can carry two people, only one rider should be on the deck. These vehicles can go pretty fast, and you don’t need to go more than 20 mph to be in a serious accident. It’s also a good idea to check the weight limit on your scooter.
Check the manufacturer’s servicing and repair options. Before you invest in a new scooter, check if the manufacturer offers spare parts or is able to service your scooter if any issues arise. You may want to connect with local ebike and escooter shops to see if they have experience with the brand you’re going with.
Don’t leave your escooter unattended outdoors. Scooters aren’t very easy to secure, so it probably goes without saying that they’re very easy to steal. Roll them indoors if you need to, but keep them within sight if you don’t want to walk home, helmet in hand.
The ideal smart home seamlessly anticipates your needs and instantly responds to commands. You shouldn’t have to open a specific app for each appliance or remember the precise voice command and voice assistant combination that starts the latest episode of your favorite podcast on the nearest speaker. Competing smart home standards make operating your devices needlessly complicated. It’s just not very … well, smart.
Tech giants try to straddle standards by offering their voice assistants as a controlling layer on top, but Alexa can’t talk to Google Assistant or Siri or control Google or Apple devices, and vice versa. And so far, no single ecosystem has created all the best devices. But that may be changing. Formerly called Project CHIP (Connected Home over IP), the open source interoperability standard known as Matter will finally launch later this year. Some of the biggest tech names have signed on, like Amazon, Apple, and Google, which means that seamless integration may finally be within reach.
You may also want to read our guides to the Best Smart Speakers or the Best Smart Lights, and our guide to setting up your smart home.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.
Table of Contents
What Is Matter?
Matter promises to enable different devices and ecosystems to play nicely. Device manufacturers will comply to the Matter standard to ensure their devices are compatible with smart home and voice services such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and others. For folks building a smart home, Matter should enable you to buy any device and use the voice assistant or platform you prefer to control it.
The first protocol will run on Wi-Fi and Thread network layers and use Bluetooth Low Energy for device setup. While it will support various platforms, you will have to choose the voice assistants and apps you want to use. There is no central Matter app or assistant.
What Makes Matter Different?
The Connectivity Standards Alliance (or CSA, formerly the Zigbee Alliance) maintains the Matter standard. What sets it apart is the breadth of its membership, the willingness to adopt and merge disparate technologies, and that it is an open source project. When the software development kit is ready, interested companies can use it royalty-free to incorporate their devices into the Matter ecosystem.
Growing out of the Zigbee Alliance gives Matter a firm foundation. Bringing the main smart home platforms (Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings) to the same table is an achievement. While it is optimistic to imagine a seamless adoption of Matter across the board, it has enjoyed a rush of enthusiasm with a wave of smart home brands signing up, including August, Schlage, and Yale in smart locks; Belkin, Cync, GE Lighting, Sengled, Signify (Philips Hue), and Nanoleaf in smart lighting; and others like Arlo, Comcast, Eve, and LG. There are more than 240 member companies in all.
When Will Matter Arrive?
Matter has been in the works for years. The first release was due in late 2020, but it was delayed to the following year, rebranded as Matter, and then touted for this summer. Now it has been delayed again until the fall. There’s always a chance of further delays.
The CSA says the latest delay was to accommodate more devices and platforms and ensure they all will work smoothly with one another before release. More than 130 devices and sensors across 16 development platforms (OS’s and chipsets) are working through certification, and there will be more come the fall.
If the specification does arrive this fall, more companies can apply for Matter certification, and we could see the second wave of smart locks, smart bulbs, and security sensors in time for the holidays. Assuming the release goes well, we expect several other smart home brands to climb aboard.
What About Other Smart Home Standards?
The road to smart home nirvana is paved with different standards, like Zigbee, Z-Wave, Samsung SmartThings, Wi-Fi HaLow, and Insteon, to name a few. These protocols and others will continue to exist and operate. Google will merge its Thread and Weave technologies into Matter. The new standard also employs Wi-Fi and Ethernet standards and uses Bluetooth LE for device setup.
Matter is not a single technology and should evolve and improve over time. It won’t cover every possible use case for every device and scenario, so other standards will continue to develop. The more platforms and standards merge with Matter, the greater its potential to succeed, but the challenge of making it all work seamlessly also grows.
Will Matter Work With Existing Devices?
Some devices will work with Matter after a firmware update. Others won’t ever be compatible. There’s no simple answer here. While many devices that currently work with Thread, Z-Wave, or Zigbee should be able to work with Matter, it’s not a given that they will get upgrades. It is best to check in with manufacturers about specific devices and future support.
The first specification, or Matter 1.0, covers only certain categories of devices, like:
Bitwarden offers a paid upgrade account. The cheapest of the bunch, Bitwarden Premium, is $10 per year. That gets you 1 GB of encrypted file storage, two-factor authentication with devices like YubiKey, FIDO U2F, Duo, and a password hygiene and vault health report. Paying also gets you priority customer support.
After signing up,download the appfor Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, or Linux. There are also browser extensions forFirefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge, Vivaldi, and Brave.
Best Full-Featured Manager
Courtesy of Dashlane
I first encountered Dashlane several years ago. Back then, it was the same as its competitors with no standout attributes. But recent updates have added several helpful features. One of the best is Site Breach Alerts, something other services have since added as well. Dashlane actively monitors the darker corners of the web, looking for leaked or stolen personal data, and then alerts you if your information has been compromised.
Setup and migration from another password manager is simple, and you’ll use a secret key to encrypt your passwords, much like 1Password’s setup process. In practice, Dashlane is very similar to the others in this list. The company did discontinue its desktop app earlier this year, moving to a web-based user interface, which is a little different than 1Password and Bitwarden. (The desktop apps will officially shut down on January 10, 2022.) I primarily use passwords in the web browser anyway, and Dashlane has add-ons for all the major browsers, along with iOS and Android apps. If a desktop app is important to you, it’s something to be aware of. Dashlane offers a 30-day free trial, so you can test it out before committing.
After signing up,download the appfor Android and iOS, and grab the browser extensions forFirefox, Chrome, and Edge.
Best DIY Option (Self-Hosted)
Courtesy of KeePassXC
Want to retain more control over your data in the cloud? Try using a desktop application like KeePassXC. It stores encrypted versions of all your passwords into an encrypted digital vault that keeps you secure with a master password, a key file, or both. The difference is that instead of a hosted service like 1Password syncing it for you, you sync that database file yourself using a file-syncing service like Dropbox or Edward Snowden’s recommended service, SpiderOak. Once your file is in the cloud, you can access it on any device that has a KeePassXC client.
Why do it yourself? In a word: Transparency. Like Bitwarden, KeepassXC is open source, which means its code can be and has been inspected for critical flaws.
Download thedesktop appfor Windows, MacOS, or Linux and create your vault. There are also extensions forFirefox,Edge, andChrome. It does not have official apps for your phone. Instead, the project recommendsKeePass2AndroidorStrongbox for iPhone.
Another Option
Courtesy of NordPass
NordPass is a relatively new kid on the password manager block, but it comes from a company with significant pedigree. NordVPN is a well-known VPN provider, and the company brings to its password manager much of the ease of use and simplicity that made its VPN offering popular. The installation and setup process is a breeze. There are apps for every major platform (including Linux), browser, and device.
The free version of NordPass is limited to one device, and there’s no syncing available. There is a seven-day free trial of the premium version, which lets you test device syncing. But to get that for good, you’ll have to upgrade to the $36-a-year plan. (Like its VPN service, NordPass accepts payment in cryptocurrencies.)
wireless earbuds are one of those ideas that sounded like a dream at first: Pop a little headphone into each ear and listen to music or take calls untethered from everything. The first wireless buds were gigantic, died after a few hours, and had a bunch of other problems. Luckily, times have changed. There are tons of new models that sound fabulous and work perfectly. After testing dozens for the past four years, these are our favorite wireless earbuds right now, in a wide range of styles and prices.
For more top picks, our guides to the Best Wireless Headphones, Best Noise-Canceling Headphones, Best Cheap Headphones, and Best Workout Earbuds may help.
Updated April 2022: We’ve added the Sony FitBuds and Shokz OpenRun Pro and moved the Master & Dynamic MW08 Sport to the Honorable Mentions section.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get a1-year subscription toWIREDfor $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
