Mobile

Phones, tablets, wearables, and the software that runs them.

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October 202617 articles

Screen Time and Family Link, who manages whom, from Apple's and Google's help pages, read 14 October 2026. Parent on iPhone, child on Android: yes, Google's Family Link app runs on an iPhone or iPad with iOS 16 or later. Parent on Android, child on iPhone: Apple names an iPhone, iPad, Mac or the child's own device, and no Android app. Family Link on a child's iPhone: it can't supervise it; Chrome filters apply in Chrome, but the child can sign out. The child's phone decides which system you use.
Mobile · Explainer

Family Link Works From an iPhone. Screen Time Needs Apple

Neither app supervises the other maker’s phones. App limits, downtime, web filters and more, side by side, with iOS 27’s changes.

What WhatsApp moves between iPhone and Android, from WhatsApp’s Help Center, read 14 October 2026. Android to iPhone: start in Apple’s Move to iOS app; the iPhone must be new or factory reset; needs iOS 15.5 and Android 5 or later; call history stays behind. iPhone to Android: in WhatsApp, Chats, Transfer chat history; scan the Android phone’s QR code; call history comes across; status updates stay behind. Lost either way: display name, Channel media and payment messages. Same phone number both ways, and no merging with chats already on the new phone.
Mobile · Guide

WhatsApp Chats Can Cross Between iPhone and Android

Messages, media and settings move both ways. Display names, Channel media and payment messages don’t, and call logs reach Android alone.

Before a trade-in: sign out, then erase. Each maker’s own steps, from Apple, Google and Samsung support, read 13 October 2026. iPhone: unpair Apple Watch, sign out of iCloud, then Erase All Content and Settings, erasing the eSIM too. Pixel: remove the Google Account, erase downloaded SIMs, then System, Reset options, Erase all data. Galaxy: remove the Samsung and Google accounts, then General management, Reset, Factory data reset. Google’s check: after a finished reset, the phone asks for no password.
Mobile · Guide

Sign Out Before You Wipe a Phone for Trade-In

Google returns trade-ins that are still locked, and Samsung won’t accept them. Back up, sign out, unpair, then erase.

Prepaid vs postpaid on the same carrier: the cheapest unlimited plan for one line, plus taxes and fees, from each carrier’s own pages, read 11 October 2026. Verizon: prepaid $60 a month, $50 with Auto Pay; postpaid $55, $45 with Auto Pay; a prepaid phone unlocks after 365 days. AT&T: prepaid $35 a month, $25 for new lines online; postpaid $50 a month with AutoPay; a prepaid phone unlocks after 12 months. T-Mobile: prepaid $50 a month, $45 with AutoPay; postpaid $55, $50 with AutoPay; a prepaid phone unlocks after 365 days, or with over $100 in refills. Verizon and AT&T prepaid: no credit check. Postpaid terms allow one at all three.
Mobile · Explainer

Prepaid Often Skips the Credit Check, Keeps Phones Locked

Verizon’s prepaid unlimited costs $5 more than Simplicity; AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s cost less, and AT&T’s caps speed at 3 Mbps.

Xreal Aura, on paper: $1,279. From Xreal’s US store, spec page and 7 October release, read 9 October 2026. Price: $1,279 with 12GB RAM and 256GB, or $1,499 with 16GB and 512GB. Shipping: expected before the holidays, says Xreal, in the US, Canada, Japan and South Korea first. Not stated: battery life in hours, a ship date, and phone support. 70° see-through view, 95g glasses, Snapdragon puck with a 34.84 Wh battery.
Mobile · On Paper

Xreal Aura Costs $1,279, Due to Ship Before the Holidays

Android XR glasses tethered to a Snapdragon puck, with a 70° view. The 16GB model is $1,499, and Xreal gives no battery life in hours.

US carrier passes abroad, from Verizon’s, AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s own pages, read 9 October 2026. Verizon: TravelPass $12 a day, 5GB fast a day then 3G; monthly plan $100 with 250 minutes and 20GB fast. AT&T: International Day Pass $12 a day, $6 for each extra line, data from your own plan; Elite 2.0 includes 20GB a month. T-Mobile: 1 Day Pass $10 for 2GB, 10 Day Pass $50 for 15GB; Experience plans: up to 5GB or 15GB abroad. A travel eSIM as a second line needs an unlocked phone. On Verizon and AT&T, one call or sent text on the home line can start a day’s fee.
Mobile · Explainer

US Carrier Day Passes Abroad Cost $10 to $12 a Day

T-Mobile’s Experience plans include some data abroad; a travel eSIM alongside your home line needs an unlocked phone.

Amazon’s Alexa Tablets, on paper: US starting prices and claims as Amazon announced them on 8 October 2026. Alexa Tablet 8, from $229.99: 8.7-inch screen, 4GB memory, 64GB storage, up to 14 hours of video. Alexa Tablet 11, from $329.99: 11-inch, 2.5K, 90Hz, 8GB memory, 64GB storage, up to 15 hours of video. Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, from $499.99: 12-inch, 120Hz, 3:2, 8GB memory, 128GB storage, 16 hours of video, Nanomatte from $549.99. All three run Android with Google Play, US shipping 14 October. Kids versions at $229.99 and $329.99 add a case and a year of Amazon Kids+.
Mobile · On Paper

Alexa Tablets Replace Fire With Google Play, From $229.99

Amazon’s $499.99 Tablet 12 Pro offers a matte screen option for $50 more. On price it sits between a $449 iPad and a $549.99 Galaxy Tab.

Galaxy SmartTag3 works with iPhone: what an iPhone can and cannot do, from Samsung's releases of 30 September and 8 October 2026. Works on iPhone: the tag's location on a map, sharing it with others, Search Nearby. Not on iPhone: Compass View for direction, Ring Phone, Left Behind Alert. On paper: $29.99 for one tag in the US, IP67 water and dust rating, up to 550 days of battery. It runs in Samsung's SmartThings app, not Apple's Find My.
Mobile · Explainer

Galaxy SmartTag3 Works on iPhone, but Not Its Compass View

It runs in Samsung's SmartThings app, not Apple's Find My. Ring Phone and left-behind alerts stay on Galaxy. $29.99 by early November.

Meta’s new glasses, on paper: US list prices and battery from Meta’s store, read 7 October 2026. Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3): from $449, 12 MP camera and 3K video, up to 9 hours, on sale now. Ray-Ban Meta Audio: from $349, no camera, up to 12 hours, ships 13 October. Meta Adventurer: from $249 with the plug-in case, 12 MP camera, over 8 hours, on sale 23 October. Gen 3 gets an hour more than Gen 2; Audio has no camera and three hours more than Gen 3.
Mobile · On Paper

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 Costs $449; the Camera-Free Audio $349

Meta’s cheapest pair is now a $249 Meta Adventurer. Gen 3 adds an hour over Gen 2, and the Audio drops the camera for 12 hours a charge.

What slows ‘unlimited’ data, from Verizon’s, AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s own plan terms, read 7 October 2026. Priority data: after it runs out, you may be slower than others when a tower is busy. Hard speed cuts: Verizon Simplicity drops to 4 Mbps after 500GB for the rest of the billing month. Hotspot: AT&T slows to 128 Kbps after the allowance, T-Mobile to 3G speeds, Verizon Simplicity to 1 Mbps. Video: SD on AT&T Extra 2.0, Value 2.0 and T-Mobile Essentials; 720p on Simplicity. Deprioritization only bites on a congested tower; caps apply at any time.
Mobile · Explainer

On ‘Unlimited’ Phone Plans, the Limit Is Speed, Not Data

Slowdowns come from four places — busy-tower priority, hard speed cuts, hotspot caps and video resolution — and each plan sets its own.