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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The sincerest form of flattery.

    I had little interest in Apple’s Dynamic Island, but once a developer built their spin on the idea for Android, I had to give it a try.

    Surprisingly, I’ve found I actually like it, and while dynamicSpot isn’t as well-integrated as Apple’s version, it makes up for it with customization. Nilay’s iPhone 14 Pro review asked Apple to reverse the long-press to expand vs. tap to enter an app setup. In dynamicSpot, you can do that with a toggle (if you pay $5).

    DynamicSpot app on Android shown expanding music player, in the style of Apple’s Dynamic Island in iOS 16.
    DynamicSpot in action on a Google Pixel 6
    Image: Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    TikTok politics.

    Ahead of the midterm elections, TikTok made big changes to its rules for politicians and political fundraising on the platform, as Makena Kelly explains... on TikTok.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The Twitter employee who testified about Trump and the January 6th attack has come forward.

    This summer, a former Twitter employee who worked on platform and content moderation policies testified anonymously before the congressional committee investigating the violence at the US Capitol on January 6th.

    While she remains under NDA and much of her testimony is still sealed, Anika Collier Navaroli has identified herself, explaining a little about why she’s telling Congress her story of what happened inside Twitter — both before the attack, and after, when it banned Donald Trump.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    But how does it sound?

    Our review of Apple’s new AirPods Pro can tell you everything about the second-generation buds. To find out how you’ll sound talking to other people through them, just listen to Verge senior video producer Becca Farsace.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The Bootleg Ratio.

    Policy Editor Russell Brandom digs into a phenomenon we’ve all seen on social media before:

    I call it the Bootleg Ratio: the delicate balance between A) content created by users specifically for the platform and B) semi-anonymous clout-chasing accounts drafting off the audience. Any platform will have both, but as B starts to overtake A, users will have less and less reason to visit and creators will have less and less reason to post.

    And now it’s coming for TikTok.

    How platforms turn boring

    Russell Brandom
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Green light.

    And we’re back! You may have noticed a review of the new AirPods Pros, and the TikTok vs. Facebook battle heads to the metaverse thanks to this Pico 4 VR headset that lines up against the Meta Quest Pro.

    Still, the sneakiest news of the morning might be this tidbit from Chris Welch’s update on the $30 Chromecast HD — the new device already runs Android 12, and the 4K model will get an update “in the near future.”

    A close-up of the Pico 4 headset
    Image: Pico
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    If you can’t launch Xbox games, try restarting your system (again).

    I don’t know if the latest Xbox glitch has anything to do with the September update that brought a new library view and RGB effects on Elite 2 gamepads earlier today, but many gamers have had problems with games that refuse to launch.

    This Xbox Support tweet from 11:18PM ET says they’ve released a fix, but to get it ASAP, you’ll need to restart — again.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Use every (mega) pixel.

    Halide is touted as one of the best photography apps on the iPhone, and as usual, it has a new update out to help you get the most out of the best camera available on the platform — that 48-megapixel sensor on the iPhone 14 Pro.

    Version 2.9.0 of Halide is live in the App Store, with quick 48MP shooting directly to HEIC or JPG and many other new features.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    PC gamers showed up for a PlayStation hit.

    NPD’s August update for videogame sales has arrived, noting that PS5 was number one in hardware sales for the month and that new-gen hardware sales are up significantly from last year due to improved supply for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S.

    But the most astounding leap came from Marvel’s Spider-Man, which jumped from 84th on the chart the month before to number 3, thanks to Sony re-releasing the PlayStation exclusive on PC via Steam (and Steam Deck).