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If you give a kid their first phone, they’re going to ask for a social media app like TikTok. And when they download TikTok, they’ll see a funny video that reminds them of a friend. They’ll wonder where their friend is and will want to reach out, so they’ll likely ask to download another social media app like Snapchat. And so it goes. In the classic picture book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie , all sorts of mischief follows after a child gives the hungry mouse a treat. It’s hard not to feel the same what-am-I-getting-into apprehension when you give your child their first phone , especially with the alarms that have been raised by the surgeon general , social psychologists , Congress , and others. But giving a kid a phone doesn’t have to doom them to a lonely future of endless scrolling. As they begin carrying a tiny computer around in their pocket, they can also use it to navigate, discover, and engage with the world around them. With millions of apps available, we ...

Listen and follow The Wirecutter Show Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio This week, we’re re-airing a discussion about keeping your indoor air clean and healthy to breathe. Wirecutter senior writer Tim Heffernan walks us through how to reduce the outdoor pollution that inevitably seeps into your home, what to do if you're dealing with wildfire smoke, and surprising and free ways to keep your air clean. Tim covers exactly why you shouldn’t overspend on an air purifier, and how often you really need to change the filter. Plus he does some myth busting about whether plants clean the air. This episode covers: Monitoring outdoor air: How to use the free EPA Air Now app to track local Air Quality Index (AQI) levels, so that you know when to wear an N95 mask or seal up your home. Wildfire preparedness: Practical, low-cost steps to prevent outdoor smoke from contaminating your indoor air, from adjusting your HVAC settings to designate...

If you’re looking for apps and games that not only keep young kids occupied but also encourage them to explore, learn, and express themselves, we have some great suggestions. The apps we cover in this guide are good learning apps not because they’re designed to make kids smarter, to drill facts, or to replace in-school learning, but because they each offer something fun, unique, and interesting for kids and adults. As with our guides to STEM and learning toys , we didn’t test scores of apps to try to find the “best” ones. Rather, most of our favorite apps have been chosen by teachers for their students in classrooms, used by Wirecutter parents and their kids, or recommended by the experts and educators we spoke with. (For more details, read about how we selected the apps in this guide.) from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://ift.tt/Lqmb0DC via IFTTT

If you’re lucky, the money you spend on a Bluetooth tracker will be wasted. These tags are helpful only when you need to find your stuff — if you never lose things, they’re just ornamental. But if you’re weary of scrambling to locate your keys and dismantling the couch to find the remote, a Bluetooth tracker can be a lifesaver. iPhone users should choose Apple’s AirTag (2nd generation) , which employs a huge network of Apple devices to passively search for lost goods and enable precision finding features, making it more likely that you’ll recover what you’ve misplaced. If you use an Android phone, go with the Moto Tag , which has the longest detection range of any tracker we’ve tested and works on Google’s Find Hub network. from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://ift.tt/5LZzXE0 via IFTTT

Budget laptops are becoming endangered this year as essential components like memory and storage undergo significant price increases . This is a major change from previous years, where we saw an overwhelming glut of cheap laptops, most of which were downright awful. But that abundance is drying up as prices rise and as older, cheaper models get discontinued, making it harder than ever to find a good laptop at a reasonable price. To uncover decent options, we’ve researched and tested hundreds of cheap laptops over the years. Our picks are for anyone on a strict budget who primarily wants to browse the web, watch Netflix, or handle occasional school or work tasks. They’re not ideal for heavier workloads such as photo and video editing or gaming, and in just a couple of years they’ll feel more sluggish on everyday activities. But not everyone has $1,000 or more to spend on a better laptop that feels faster and lasts longer. We have picks here for Chromebooks and Win...

Face-washing is a task that pops onto your to-do list twice a day —  in the morning and before bed — so it should feel like a treat, not a chore. It’s easy to find a good-enough facial cleanser that removes dirt, grime, sunscreen , and other residual skin-care products. It’s harder, however, to come across one that does all of that without leaving skin feeling sensitive, stripped, and generally shrink-wrapped. And the trickiest thing of all? Discovering a face wash that also adds an element of delight and self-care. We lathered up with 41 cleansers and sent 21 of them to panelists sorted by skin type. Ultimately, we arrived at eight frothy, foaming overachievers: No matter your budget, we have a basic, gentle wash and a luxe, frothy option for sensitive skin; a foaming cleanser and a gel option for oily and acne-prone skin; a hydrating cleanser ; an exfoliating cleanser ; a cleanser for normal skin , and an upgrade option you’ll love using morning and night....