What does iPhone SOS only mean, and how do you fix it?
When something goes wrong, you usually reach for your phone to look up the fix…
When something goes wrong, you usually reach for your phone to look up the fix or call for help. That gets harder when the phone itself is the problem and shows only “SOS” where the signal bars should be. The fixes below are listed from the quickest to the most involved. Seeing only SOS on…
You can’t buy the Google Pixel Slate new anymore. Google said in June 2019 that it would stop making tablets, and the Slate was later dropped from sale. ChromeOS updates still arrive, and Google’s support page lists the Slate’s Auto Update Expiration as August 2027. Google’s next tablet, the Android-based Pixel Tablet (2023), was itself…
As of November 2026 you don’t need iTunes to reset or restore an iPhone. On the phone itself, use Settings. On a Mac, use Finder, which took over device management in macOS Catalina in 2019. On Windows, use Apple’s free Apple Devices app, which has been on the Microsoft Store since February 2024. The current…
As of November 2026, you factory reset an iPhone or iPad from Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone (or iPad) > Erase All Content and Settings. That menu replaced the old “Reset” menu in iOS 15. iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 came out on September 14, 2026, and run on the iPhone 11…
In November 2026 you can still buy phone insurance from the phone makers, the carriers and independent companies, but almost every plan in this 2022 comparison has since been renamed, repriced or tiered by device. The iPhone 12 Pro Max used for the cost examples below has been off sale for years. Today the reference…
Yes, you can use WhatsApp Web with your phone switched off. Linked devices have been the standard way WhatsApp works since the multi-device beta ended, so your phone doesn’t need to stay online. You can link up to four companion devices to one phone, but all of them get logged out if the phone isn’t…
In November 2026, every official way to reset an iPhone without its passcode still works on the current software. Most iPhones run iOS 27.2, and iOS 27 still supports models as old as the iPhone 11 and the second-generation iPhone SE. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s stay on iOS 15 and get only occasional…
In November 2026 you can still save most GIFs on an iPhone or iPad without extra apps. In Messages, touch and hold the GIF and tap Save, and it goes to the Photos app, which collects saved GIFs in an Animated album. X (formerly Twitter) is the main exception. X has no built-in way to…
5G is now the main mobile standard. Ericsson counted close to 3.3 billion 5G subscriptions worldwide at the end of Q2 2026, and the industry has moved on to 5G-Advanced while 3GPP works on the first 6G specifications, which are due before 2030. For schools, the clear gains so far are faster connections at home…
Dedicated dual-screen phones aren’t sold anymore. Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2, the last major one, stopped getting updates on October 21, 2024, and LG left the phone business in 2021. Foldable phones took their place. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 starts at $1,899.99 and the Fold8 Ultra at $2,099.99, both on sale since August 7, 2026. Google’s…