Apple responds to the Beeper iMessage saga: ‘We took steps to protect our users’
Beeper Mini brought iMessage to Android. It didn’t last long. | Image: Beeper
A few days after the team at Beeper proudly announced a way for users to send blue-bubble iMessages directly from their Android devices without any weird relay servers, and about 24 hours after it became clear Apple had taken steps to shut that down, Apple has shared its take on the issue.
The company’s stance here is fairly predictable: it says it’s simply trying to do right by users, and protect the privacy and security of their iMessages. “We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage,” Apple senior PR manager Nadine Haija said in a statement.
Here’s the statement in full:
At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to give users control of their data and keep personal information safe. We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage. These techniques posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks. We will continue to make updates in the future to protect our users.
This statement suggests a few things. First, that Apple did in fact shut down Beeper Mini, which uses a custom-built service to connect to iMessage through Apple’s own push notification service — all iMessage messages travel over this protocol, which Beeper effectively intercepts and delivers to your device. To do so, Beeper had to convince Apple’s servers that it was pinging the notification protocols from a genuine Apple device, when it obviously wasn’t. (These are the “fake credentials” Apple is talking about. Quinn Nelson at Snazzy Labs made a good video about how it all works.)
Beeper says its process works with no compromise to your encryption or privacy; the company’s documentation says that no one can read the contents of your messages other than you. But Apple can’t verify that, and says it poses risks for users and the people they chat with.
Obviously there’s also a much bigger picture here, though. Apple has repeatedly made clear that it doesn’t want to bring iMessage to Android: “buy your mom an iPhone,” CEO Tim Cook told a questioner at the Code Conference who wanted a better way to message their Android-toting mother, and the company’s executives have debated Android versions in the past but decided it would cannibalize iPhone sales. Apple has recently said it will adopt the cross-platform RCS messaging protocol, but we don’t yet know exactly what that will look like — and you can bet that Apple will still seek to make life better for native iMessage users.
Apple’s statement comes at an interesting time. Beeper has been around for a couple of years, and its previous efforts to intercept iMessage were actually far more problematic, security-wise. Beeper and apps like Sunbird (which recently worked with Nothing on another way to bring iMessage to Android) were simply running your iMessage traffic through a Mac Mini in a server rack somewhere, which left your messages much more vulnerable. But Beeper Mini was exploiting the iMessage protocol directly, which clearly prompted Apple to tighten its security measures.
Since Apple cut off Beeper Mini, Beeper has been working feverishly to get it up and running again. On Saturday, the company said iMessage was working again in the original Beeper Cloud app, but Beeper Mini was still not functioning. Founder Eric Migicovsky said on Friday that he simply didn’t understand why Apple would block his app: “if Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of their own iPhone users, why would they stop a service that enables their own users to now send encrypted messages to Android users, rather than using unsecure SMS?”
Migicovsky says now that his stance hasn’t changed, even after hearing Apple’s statement. He says he’d be happy to share Beeper’s code with Apple for a security review, so that it could be sure of Beeper’s security practices. Then he stops himself. “But I reject that entire premise! Because the position we’re starting from is that iPhone users can’t talk to Android users except through unencrypted messages.”
Beeper’s argument is that SMS is so fundamentally insecure that practically anything else would be an improvement. When I say that maybe Apple’s concern is that iPhone users are suddenly sending their supposedly Apple-only blue-bubble messages via a company — Beeper — they don’t know about, Migicovsky thinks about it for a second. “That’s fair,” he says, and offers a solution: maybe every message sent through Beeper should be prefaced with a pager emoji, so people know what’s what. If that’ll fix the problem, he says, it could be done in a few hours.
When I ask Migicovsky if he’s prepared to do battle with Apple’s security team for the foreseeable future, he says that the fact that Beeper Cloud is still working is a signal that Apple can’t or won’t keep it out forever. (He also says Beeper’s team has some ideas left for Beeper Mini.) Beyond that, he hopes the court of public opinion will eventually convince Apple to play nice anyway. “What we’ve built is good for the world,” he says. “It’s something we can almost all agree should exist.”
Within Apple, at least this argument seems likely to fall on deaf ears. The company has kept iMessage tightly controlled and carefully secured for years, and isn’t likely to loosen the reins now. And if Beeper does ever get Beeper Mini working again, it’s destined for a never-ending game of cat and mouse trying to stay one step ahead of Apple’s security. And Apple has made clear it intends to win that game, no matter how badly you want to send iMessages from an Android phone.
Update December 9th, 8:30PM: Added comment from Beeper’s Eric Migicovsky.
Inside OpenAI’s Crisis Over the Future of Artificial Intelligence Split over the leadership of Sam Altman, board members and executives turned on one another. Their brawl exposed the cracks at the heart of the A.I. movement.
Microsoft’s Edge Copilot AI can’t really summarize every YouTube video
Image: The Verge
One feature added to Microsoft’s AI Copilot in the Edge browser this week is the ability to generate text summaries of videos. But Edge Copilot’s time-saving feature is still fairly limited and only works on pre-processed videos or those with subtitles, as Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft’s CEO of advertising and web services, explained.
As spotted by MSPowerUser, Parakhin writes, “In order for it to work, we need to pre-process the video. If the video has subtitles - we can always fallback on that, if it does not and we didn’t preprocess it yet - then it won’t work,” in response to a question.
In order for it to work, we need to pre-process the video. If the video has subtitles - we can always fallback on that, if it does not and we didn't preprocess it yet - then it won't work.
In other words, on its own Edge Copilot doesn’t so much summarize videos as it summarizes the text transcripts of the videos. Copilot can also perform a similar function throughout Microsoft 365, including summarizing Teams video meetings and calls for customer service agents — and in both cases, the audio needs to be transcribed first by Microsoft. Copilot on Microsoft Stream can also summarize any video, but again, it requires users to generate a written transcript.
Microsoft
The conversation started after designer Pietro Schirano posted a screen recording of Edge Copilot summarizing a YouTube video about the GTA VI trailer. In this case, Copilot appeared to be doing its job perfectly. The user in the recording presses the “Generate video summary” button in the Copilot sidebar, and mere seconds later, Copilot churns one out, complete with highlights and timestamps.
Of course, many platforms, including YouTube and Vimeo, can automatically generate transcripts and subtitles — if users enable the feature. After The Verge asked Parakhin on X if we could assume most publicly available videos (i.e. YouTube) weren’t pre-processed, he replied: “Should work for most videos.”
Copilot is just the latest example of the generative AI race Microsoft is competing in with Google (and others). Last month, Google upgraded the YouTube extension for its Bard chatbot to enable it to summarize the content of a video and surface specific information from it. Just this week, Google announced a major Gemini update that has its own issues — the company’s editing may have misrepresented some of the AI’s capabilities in a demo, and it doesn’t always have its facts straight.
Parakhin has been candid about the various stages of Copilot’s evolution on social media. While on a plane on Tuesday morning, the machine learning expert posted on X: “Adding ability for Edge Copilot to use information in videos - on a flight.”
EU reaches provisional agreement on AI Act, paving way for landmark law
The earliest that we will likely see these rules come into force is 2025. | The Verge
Following a round of intense negotiations this week, lawmakers in Brussels have now reached a “provisional agreement” on the European Union’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). The EU’s AI Act is anticipated to be the world’s first comprehensive set of rules to govern AI and could serve as a benchmark for other regions looking to pass similar laws.
According to the press release, negotiators established obligations for “high-impact” general-purpose AI (GPAI) systems that meet certain benchmarks, like risk assessments, adversarial testing, incident reports, and more. It also mandates transparency by those systems that include creating technical documents and “detailed summaries about the content used for training” — something companies like ChatGPT maker OpenAI have refused to do so far.
Another element is that citizens should have a right to launch complaints about AI systems and receive explanations about decisions on “high-risk” systems that impact their rights.
The press release didn’t go into detail about how all that would work or what the benchmarks are, but it did note a framework for fines if companies break the rules. They vary based on the violation and size of the company and can range from 35 million euros or 7 percent of global revenue, to 7.5 million euros or 1.5 percent of global revenue of turnover.
There are a number of applications where the use of AI is banned, like scraping facial images from CCTV footage, categorization based on “sensitive characteristics” like race, sexual orientation, religion, or political beliefs, emotion recognition at work or school, or the creation of “social scoring” systems. The last two banned bullet points are AI systems that “manipulate human behavior to circumvent their free will” or “exploit the vulnerabilities of people.” The rules also include a list of safeguards and exemptions for law enforcement use of biometric systems, either in real-time or to search for evidence in recordings.
It’s expected that a final deal will be reached before the end of the year. Even then, the law likely won’t come into force until 2025 at the earliest.
The first draft of the EU’s AI Act was unveiled in 2021, seeking to distinguish what actually counts as AI, and synchronize the rules for regulating AI technology across EU member states. That draft predated the introduction of fast-changing generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, however, prompting numerous revisions to the legislation.
Now that a provisional agreement has been reached, more negotiations will still be required, including votes by Parliament’s Internal Market and Civil Liberties committees.
Apple has seemingly found a way to block Android’s new iMessage app
Illustration: The Verge
It appears that Beeper Mini, an easy iMessage solution for Android, was simply too good to be true — or a short-lived dream, at least. On Friday, less than a week after its launch, the app started experiencing technical issues when users were suddenly unable to send and receive blue bubble messages. The problems grew worse over the course of the day, with reports piling up on the Beeper subreddit. Several people at The Verge were unable to activate their Android phone numbers with Beeper Mini as of Friday afternoon, a clear indication that Apple has plugged up whatever holes allowed the app to operate to begin with.
Beeper Mini was the result of a comprehensive attempt to reverse engineer Apple’s messaging protocol. A 16-year-old high school student managed to successfully pull it off, and for a while, everything worked without a hitch. That effort became the basis for the new app, which requires a $2 / month subscription. Here’s what my colleague Jake wrote days ago:
Its developers figured out how to register a phone number with iMessage, send messages directly to Apple’s servers, and have messages sent back to your phone natively inside the app. It was a tricky process that involved deconstructing Apple’s messaging pipeline from start to finish. Beeper’s team had to figure out where to send the messages, what the messages needed to look like, and how to pull them back down from the cloud. The hardest part, Migicovsky said, was cracking what is essentially Apple’s padlock on the whole system: a check to see whether the connected device is a genuine Apple product.
Quinn Nelson, of Snazzy Labs, also made an excellent video that covers the technical details. The belief — or I suppose the hope — among Beeper’s developers and users was that it would be such an ordeal for Apple to block the Android app that doing so wouldn’t be worth the hassle. Apparently, it was easier than anyone expected.
This throws a huge wrench into Beeper’s plans; the company was hoping to evolve Beeper Mini into an all-in-one messaging app that would eventually wrap in RCS and SMS.
Reached for comment, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky did not deny that Apple has successfully blocked Beeper Mini. “If it’s Apple, then I think the biggest question is... if Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of their own iPhone users, why would they stop a service that enables their own users to now send encrypted messages to Android users, rather than using unsecure SMS? With their announcement of RCS support, it’s clear that Apple knows they have a gaping hole here. Beeper Mini is here today and works great. Why force iPhone users back to sending unencrypted SMS when they chat with friends on Android?”
Previous attempts to get iMessage working on Android — like Beeper’s original app — have involved complex systems with remote Macs logged into a user’s Apple ID. Nothing, the startup from OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, recently sought to bring iMessage to its latest phone, but that plan was quickly derailed by security and privacy concerns. The Beeper Mini approach, which actually communicated with Apple’s own servers, was the most impressive try yet. But unless the company can somehow get around Apple’s blockade, it’ll go down as a very fleeting one.
The Game Awards 2023: the biggest news, trailers, and announcements
Image: The Game Awards
Geoff Keighley’s annual celebration of video games is back.
It’s early December, and that means it’s time for The Game Awards, the annual Geoff Keighley-hosted video game news and awards extravaganza. Yes, one title will be crowned the game of the year (personally, my pick is Tears of the Kingdom or Alan Wake 2), but we can also look forward to tons of game announcements and trailers previewing what’s next for the video game industry in 2024 and beyond.
There’s often major news at the show. In 2019, Microsoft surprise-announced the Xbox Series X. Last year, the show had reveals like Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, the Horizon Forbidden West expansion, Hades II, and Death Stranding 2. And there’s likely to be a story or two about something unexpected, like 2022’s flute guy and the stage crasher.
The Game Awards 2023 kicks off on December 7th at 7:30PM ET, and you can watch it on YouTube, Twitch, and more.
Spotify’s CFO is out days after mass layoffs
Image: The Verge
Of all the layoffs happening at Spotify this week, this has to be the biggest. Chief financial officer Paul Vogel, who since 2020 has managed the company’s balance sheet as it expanded into podcasting and audiobooks, is leaving the company at the end of March 2024.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said the decision was made because Vogel didn’t have the experience needed to help the company both expand and meet market expectations. The company is starting the search for a successor.
“Spotify has embarked on an evolution over the last two years to bring our spending more in line with market expectations while also funding the significant growth opportunities we continue to identify. I’ve talked a lot with Paul about the need to balance these two objectives carefully. Over time, we’ve come to the conclusion that Spotify is entering a new phase and needs a CFO with a different mix of experiences. As a result, we’ve decided to part ways, but I am very appreciative of the steady hand Paul has provided in supporting the expansion of our business through a global pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty,” Ek said in a statement published Thursday evening. Vogel did not issue a statement.
After testing investors’ patience with acquisitions and investments, Spotify is focusing on producing a profit, for better or worse. Much of its original podcasting operation has shuttered, including the cancellation this week of its two most prestigious shows, Heavyweight and Stolen. Approximately 1,500 people this week were laid off from product, advertising, marketing, and content, amounting to 17 percent of its staff.
Vogel is a longtime Spotify employee, joining the company in 2016 as the head of FP&A, treasury, and investor relations before being promoted to CFO in 2020. Prior to that, he had been a managing director at Barclay’s and an SVP at AllianceBernstein.
Before the news broke on Thursday, an SEC filing was posted that showed Vogel exercised 47,859 stock options on Tuesday and sold those shares at one of the highest prices Spotify has seen in two years. The sale was worth $9.38 million. Vogel had exercised options and sold stock in March and September, but this sale was significantly larger than the other two. It is possible the stock sale was previously scheduled or triggered by a stock price. Spotify did not return request for clarification on the stock sales.
Here are the best deals on headphones and wireless earbuds we could find
Sony’s WH-1000XM5 are our favorite pair of noise-canceling headphones and are currently on sale.
When it comes to headphones and true wireless earbuds, there are a ton of brands and products to choose from. However, the sheer range of available models can also make them difficult to shop for, especially since many of them cater to different lifestyles, budgets, and priorities. Some are better suited for long-haul flights and vigorous workouts, for instance, while others let you tune out noise so you can focus better.
That’s why we’ve curated a list of the best headphone and earbud deals available. Here, you’ll find sales on all kinds of earbuds and over-ear headphones, all of which come with their own strengths and weaknesses. And if you want to do even more research before making a buying decision, we’ve put together guides to the best wireless earbuds and best noise-canceling headphones, which can help you determine which pair is right for you.
Best Apple deals
AirPods Pro (second-gen) deals
If you own an iPhone or multiple Apple products, the second-gen AirPods Pro are probably your best bet when it comes to wireless earbuds. In comparison to the base AirPods, the Pros offer better sound quality and feature active noise cancellation, not to mention seamless integration with iOS and a MagSafe-compatible charging case.
In 2022, Apple launched a new pair of AirPods Pro with improved sound quality and better noise cancellation. They also include onboard volume controls and a new MagSafe charging case, one that can beep if you ever misplace it thanks to its deeper Find My integration. The earbuds even come with an extra swappable tip for smaller ears.
One year later, Apple released the updated AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case. Along with USB-C support, the buds also offer an even more robust IP54 rating for water and sweat resistance. Plus, when paired with Apple’s Vision Pro headset, they support lossless audio.
During Black Friday, we saw steep discounts on both versions of the latest AirPods Pro, with retailers taking up to $60 off. However, these deals have since disappeared, and you can only buy the AirPods Pro without USB-C for $189.99 in-store from the Micro Center. The second best discount is available at B&H Photo, where anybody can order the 2022 buds without USB-C for $229 ($20 off). The buds with USB-C support, meanwhile, are only $3 off at $237 from Amazon, Walmart, and B&H Photo— though Best Buy’s Plus and Total members can save $12.50.
Alternatively, you can buy a pair of the second-gen AirPods with a wired charging case. Their sound quality isn’t quite up to par with newer models, however, they remain the cheapest Apple earbuds on the market and continue to pair seamlessly with a range of Apple products thanks to their built-in H1 chip. The entry-level AirPods normally retail for $129, but you can currently get them for $99 at Amazon and Walmart.
The second-gen AirPods are a lot harder to get ahold of with a MagSafe charging case, however, unless you’re shopping for a used or refurbished pair of earbuds. Luckily, though, you can still buy them in new condition at Adorama for $119.99 ($30 off).
Last on Apple’s wireless earbuds block are the third-gen AirPods, which represent the latest iteration of the base model. They blend a bit of the AirPods Pro look with the hard plastic build of the second-gen model; they also offer IPX4 water resistance and improved sound quality over the latter, even if they are still lacking in the low end.
Right now, you can buy the third-gen AirPods with either a MagSafe charging case or a Lightning-only charging case. The option with the wired charging case is on sale at Amazon for $164 ($5 off). You can also pick up the wireless earbuds with a MagSafe charging case from Staples and Costco (if you’re a member) for $169.95, which is just $6 more and a better deal overall.
If you’re looking for some of the best sound quality you can get in a pair of noise-canceling headphones, we recommend the AirPods Max. The headphones pair seamlessly with other Apple devices and sound superb, especially combined with Apple’s spatial audio feature, which allows for a more immersive experience when listening to or watching compatible content. Unfortunately, they don’t support lossless audio, but they do tout the best transparency mode of all the headphones on our list. They also boast incredible build quality thanks to a luxe design that opts for aluminum, steel, and fabric over plastic.
With an MSRP of $549, the AirPods Max are expensive, but they’re often on sale for far less. Right now, for instance, the headphones are down to $479.99 ($70 off) at Amazon, albeit in select colors, as well as Best Buy.
After six years, Apple-owned Beats replaced the Beats Studio 3 with the Beats Studio Pro earlier this year. The over-ears offer much better sound quality thanks to new features like support for lossless audio over USB-C. They also cancel noise out much better, while you can take advantage of iOS and Android features like Fast Pair and Google’s Find My Device platform. The Beats Studio Pro normally go for $349.99, but right now they are on sale for $271.15 in blue at Amazon, while you can get them in other colors for $299.99 from Best Buy and Verizon.
Beats Fit Pro deals
The Beats Fit Pro are the latest fitness earbuds from Apple and offer a sportier design and better sound than the first-gen AirPods Pro. The wing tips help to keep them in place when you’re active, while also ensuring they remain comfortable over long listening sessions. Their functionality with Android phones is slightly limited, but if you use an iPhone, you get all the conveniences of Apple’s H1 chip and deeper OS integration and connectivity. Their only real downside is that the included charging case is overly large and lacks wireless charging (which is more forgivable at lower price points).
They aren’t a huge departure from the previous model, but the Sony WH-1000XM5 are still our favorite pair of noise-canceling headphones. The XM5s improve on all of the features that made the XM4s so awesome by providing better active noise cancellation, improving the voice call quality, and boosting the overall sound of the already excellent headphones. While the lack of new features is a bit disappointing, the Sony XM5s remain one of our top recommendations for anyone looking for a premium pair of noise-canceling headphones.
Right now you can buy the headphones for around $328 ($70 off) from B&H Photo, Best Buy, and Target.
The WH-1000XM5’s predecessor, Sony’s WH-1000XM4, are still a terrific pair of headphones even if they’re older. They offer excellent noise cancellation, good sound, and the ability to pair to two devices simultaneously. You can wear them for long periods as well, as their plush ear pads make them comfortable to wear for as long as you need. Frequent travelers will appreciate their ability to fold up much more compactly than Sony’s newer model. They even last up to 30 hours on a single charge and charge via USB-C.
The Sony LinkBuds are a clear departure from conventional earbuds, one that uses an “open-style” donut-shaped design instead of the more typical silicone ear tips. This allows for better spatial awareness and, for some, a more comfortable fit. The LinkBuds also provide crisp sound quality and excellent voice call performance. (Though, as a result of their design, they aren’t very practical in louder environments.) Possibly the coolest feature, though, are the controls, which allow you to tap the side of your head to control them instead of the earbud itself. They’re certainly very Sony.
One more intriguing pair of earbuds from Sony are the LinkBuds S, which don’t look as peculiar as the regular LinkBuds but are some of the comfiest earbuds around. A big part of this is due to their lightweight build, which amounts to just 4.8 grams per bud. They also offer active noise cancellation and support for Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth codec, which allows for higher-quality audio streaming. Normally $199.99, the LinkBuds S are on sale for around $148 at Amazon and Target.
If you’re looking for noise-canceling headphones for under $150, Sony’s WH-CH720N might be worth a look. The budget-friendly headphones come with adjustable noise cancellation and are exceptionally light, which allows for a more comfortable fit. They also feature Bluetooth support and offer up to 35 hours of continuous playback on a single charge, though they lack support for Sony’s higher-quality LDAC codec.
The headphones typically retail for $149, but right now, you can buy them in various colors for around $98 from Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy.
Sony WF-C700N deals
The WF-C700N are another pair of noise-canceling earbuds from Sony and are currently available for $89.99 from Amazon and Best Buy. They’re an exceptionally comfortable pair of earbuds with decent sound quality and support for an array of useful software features, including Fast Pair support on Android as well as location-based sound settings. Admittedly, their noise cancellation doesn’t truly drown out the world, but it does eliminate some sound. Voice call quality isn’t particularly impressive, either, but if you just need an affordable pair of earbuds to help you tune out some noise, the WF-C700N should do just fine.
Bose QuietComfort Headphones and Bose QuietComfort 45 deals
Earlier this fall, Bose rehauled its lineup and replaced the Bose QuietComfort 45 with Bose’s QuietComfort Headphones. With the new headphones, you can now adjust noise cancellation levels and set custom modes. The over-ears also now come in green.
We haven’t tested Bose’s QuietComfort Headphones, but our headphone reviewer Chris Welch says they’re otherwise extremely similar to the QuietComfort 45. They’re foldable, so you can easily carry them around with you, and exceptionally comfortable. Battery life sits at 24 hours as well, meaning you needn’t worry about constantly having to charge them. The transparency mode comes in handy when you need to be more aware of your surroundings, like when you’re about to cross the street.
Right now, you can buy the newer Bose QuietComfort Headphones for $249 ($100 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose. Alternatively, you can pick up the Bose QuietComfort 45 for $229 ($100 off) from Amazon, Best Buy and Target.
Unlike Bose’s entry-level QuietComfort Headphones, the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones offer higher-quality Bluetooth codecs and an immersive audio mode — which is essentially Bose’s version of spatial audio. They also improve upon the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 with a foldable design, better call quality, and more effective noise cancellation. Along with new physical controls, like a volume slider, the over-ears sport a new spatial audio listening mode, Plus, they boast improved call quality, which is saying something given Bose’s Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 were already exemplary in this respect.
Right now, you can buy the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones for $379 ($50 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose. You can alternatively buy Bose’s Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 for $279 ($100 off) from Best Buy and Bose.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II deals
Bose also recently replaced the excellent Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra wireless earbuds. When it comes to noise cancellation, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra outperform all other earbuds on the market. While the buds are very similar in design, fit, and sound to their predecessor, they now support immersive audio, better voice call quality, and new silicone stabilizer wings that are easier to apply. Sadly, however, they continue to lack multipoint support and don't come with a built-in wireless charging case.
We recently saw the Bose QuietComfort Ultra drop down to $249, but right now you can only buy the Bose QuietComfort Ultra for $279 ($20 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose. Alternatively, you can buy the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II for $199 ($80 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and direct from Bose.
The Google Pixel Buds Pro are another good pair of noise-canceling earbuds, particularly for Pixel phone owners. The wireless earbuds offer terrific sound quality and battery life, along with useful features like multipoint Bluetooth connectivity. If you own a Pixel phone, you’ll also get access to exclusive features like head-tracking spatial audio and easy access to their settings menu.
Right now, they’re on sale for around $119.99 ($80 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy.
Google Pixel Buds A-Series deals
Google also sells a cheaper pair of earbuds, the Google Pixel Buds A-Series. They offer good sound and voice call quality, along with perks like Google Assistant and an IPX4 rating for sweat and water resistance. Just bear in mind there are some tradeoffs when opting for a cheaper set of earbuds, as the A-Series lack noise cancellation, wireless charging, and are more prone to the occasional connection hiccup.
At the moment, you can pick them up on sale for $83.34 ($17 off) at Amazon, a far cry from their all-time low of $58.98.
Samsung has a few different wireless earbuds to choose from. Its most high-end pair, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, launched last year. They’re a good option if you’re an Android user or Samsung devotee who wants a pair of premium earbuds, with top-notch sound quality that’s even better than their predecessor. Samsung Galaxy phone owners can also take advantage of higher bit rate audio, while everybody can enjoy good active noise cancellation and a relatively robust IPX7 sweat and water resistance.
You can currently buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro on sale for $169.99 ($60 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy.
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 are a good-sounding pair of earbuds with active noise cancellation, wireless charging, and a subtle design. Right now, the best price around is at Best Buy, where you can grab a pair for $89.99 ($60 off). You can also buy them for about $10 more from Amazon. Walmart, and Verizon. That’s not a bad price for Samsung’s entry-level buds, which hit above their weight class with noise cancellation and good audio quality.
Jabra’s Elite 10 are the company’s most premium pair of wireless earbuds. They feature a new semi-open design that should be more comfortable, along with Dolby Spatial Audio with head tracking. We’re still in the process of testing these earbuds, but Jabra says they also offer its most powerful active noise cancellation yet. Their new drivers, meanwhile, should also provide more detailed and richer sound. At the same time, they continue to retain perks like wireless charging, multipoint Bluetooth support, and are IP57-rated for water resistance.
Regularly $249.99, you can currently buy the Jabra Elite 10 for $199.99 from Amazon, Best Buy, and Jabra.
Jabra Elite 8 Active deals
Jabra’s Elite 8 Active are a pair of fitness-focused earbuds and the successor to the excellent Elite 7 Active. They’re a terrific pair of earbuds if you like to go for runs, with more robust IP68 rating water resistance than their predecessor and adaptive ANC. Plus, unlike similar offerings from Beats and Anker, the Elite 8 Active offer a secure fit without the need for added hooks or fins. At the same time, they retain the essentials, like support for multipoint and wireless charging.
Normally $199.99, they’re currently on sale for $149.99 from Amazon, Best Buy, and Jabra.
Jabra Elite 4 Active deals
If you prefer a more affordable pair of earbuds that are geared toward working out, there’s also Jabra’s Elite 4 Active. They come with IP57 water resistance and active noise cancellation (though you can’t adjust it) but lack wireless charging. However, if you’re fine without the extra bells and whistles, you can buy them for $69.99 ($50 off) at Amazon and Walmart.
Best Sennheiser deals
Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4 deals
If you’re looking for a pair of noise-canceling headphones with superb battery life, Sennheiser’s Momentum Wireless 4 are your best option. These headphones are capable of lasting up to 60 hours on a single charge. They also sound terrific, offer multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, and match the Sony WH-1000XM5 — our favorite noise-canceling headphones — in terms of comfort. They may not boast physical controls or the stylish, retro-inspired design their predecessor had, but they do offer improved noise cancellation (even if it isn’t quite on par with that of Sony or Bose’s offerings).
The Momentum Wireless 4 typically sell for $379.95, but right now you can buy them for $269.89 at Amazon and for $30 more at Best Buy.
After testing a pair for ourselves, we remarked in our review that the UE Fits were the most comfortable consumer earbuds on the market. That’s because, unlike the other wireless earbuds on this list, the UE Fits are uniquely capable of permanently molding to the shape of your ears in just 60 seconds, making them a great choice for those concerned their earbuds may come loose or fall out. We also found that they offer good sound quality, as well as lengthy, eight-hour battery life. Normally $199, you can get them right now for $149.99 direct from Ultimate Ears.
Best Anker deals
Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro deals
Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro are another solid pair of noise-canceling earbuds that are relatively affordable. In addition to active noise cancellation and long battery life, the earbuds boast powerful sound with support for the higher-quality LDAC codec. They also come with multipoint Bluetooth support, IPX4 water resistance, and a wide selection of ear and wing tips.
Regularly $169.99, they’re on sale right now for $99.99 at Amazon and $10 more from Walmart.
If you like the new Beats Studio Buds Plus because of their transparent look, Nothing’s Ear Stick earbuds are a cheaper option that’s currently available for $59 ($40 off) from Nothing. They’re not quite as capable as the Beats and lack premium features like active noise cancellation, but they’re certainly stylish thanks to their see-through design and tube-like charging case. The open-style earbuds also deliver good sound, along with improved battery life and better voice call quality than their predecessor.
The 2021 edition of the Amazon Echo Buds are a great value. Amazon’s second-generation true wireless earbuds offer improved comfort and better noise cancellation than their predecessor, along with a terrific passthrough mode that ensures you can always hear what’s going on around you. The $119.99 earbuds also feature hands-free Alexa support and sound that’s remarkably satisfying, with more bass than the AirPods Pro and an appropriate amount of restraint when it comes to the high end.
Earlier this year, Amazon also introduced the third-generation Echo Buds which are significantly cheaper at just $44.99. They lack noise cancellation but feature a lightweight, open-ear design that should feel more comfortable.
The second-gen Amazon Echo Buds are on sale at Amazon and Best Buy with the wired charging case for $64.99 ($54 off). The same Echo Buds with a wireless charging case is $85.99 (also $55 off) at Amazon. Meanwhile, you can purchase the third-generation Echo Buds for $34.99 ($15 off) from Amazon, which matches their all-time low price.
The Verge’s favorite holiday gifts under $25
Photo Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge
Whether you need a stocking stuffer or a white elephant present, we’ve got an inexpensive gift idea for nearly every occasion.
Even with inflation on the decline, it often feels like it’s an uphill battle to find the right gift at the right price. Dollars simply don’t stretch like they used to, at least not in a world where high-end handsets and handhelds reign supreme. Luckily, you’re in the right spot if you’ve found yourself working with a limited budget.
Like in previous years, we’ve taken the accumulated knowledge of The Verge staff and set out to find the best bang for your buck across several categories, resulting in a selection of gifts that are cheap only in price. Our low-cost collection includes an assortment of well-loved tech staples, from charging cables to gaming mice to a wired pair of earbuds that — gasp! — come in more than one color. And because many of us are obsessed with more than just gadgets behind the scenes, we’ve also included a few non-tech gifts. After all, you never know who in your orbit might be a wannabe dungeon master or an aspiring Top Chef contestant with a competitive edge and one ruthless picadillo.
Meta Plans to Add Encryption to Messenger, Stoking a Privacy Debate The move is part of an effort to make the app more like WhatsApp and iMessage. Law enforcement authorities say the privacy makes it harder to track criminals.
Messenger is finally getting end-to-end encryption by default
Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge
Meta is rolling out end-to-end encryption for one-on-one chats and calls on Messenger, finally fulfilling a promise that’s been in the works for quite awhile. When end-to-end encryption is on, only you and the person you send a message to in Messenger can see its contents, the company claims.
Encrypted chats were first introduced as an opt-in feature in Messenger in 2016, but after alongwindup, end-to-end encrypted messages and calls for conversations between two people will now be the standard going forward.
“This has taken years to deliver because we’ve taken our time to get this right,” Loredana Crisan, VP of Messenger, said in a statement shared with The Verge. “Our engineers, cryptographers, designers, policy experts and product managers have worked tirelessly to rebuild Messenger features from the ground up.”
According to Crisan, you won’t sacrifice Messenger features when using encrypted chats, so you’ll still be able to use things like themes and custom reactions. However, Crisan notes that it may “take some time” for all Messenger chats to switch over to default encryption.
Image: Meta
While this is a good step, end-to-end encryption for group Messenger chats is still opt-in for now. Instagram messages are also not encrypted by default, though Meta said in August that would happen “shortly after” the rollout of default private Messenger chats.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019 that the company planned to move toward encrypted ephemeral messages across its messaging apps. “I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won’t stick around forever,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “This is the future I hope we will help bring about.”
Enabling encryption by default will mean that Meta should not only be unable to see the contents of most Messenger chats, but that it also won’t be able to hand them over to law enforcement. Last year, the company drew headlines when a 17-year-old from Nebraska and her mother faced criminal charges for performing an illegal abortion after police obtained their Messenger chat history. Anti-encryption advocates say that the technology makes it harder to find bad actors on messaging apps like WhatsApp, which is already encrypted by default.
PlayStation Will Remove Discovery Shows Despite User Purchase Sony said that the Discovery shows would be deleted from the devices on Dec. 31, citing “content licensing arrangements with content providers.”
Ex-Twitter security head claims the company fired him to flout regulations
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
Alan Rosa, former head of security for Twitter, filed a lawsuit against X, Elon Musk, and company adviser Steve Davis, alleging that he was wrongly fired for protesting Musk-led cost-cutting measures. Lawyers for Rosa wrote in the complaint that the cuts hampered Twitter’s ability to comply with the regulatory demands of the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission.
The lawsuit alleged that Musk hired Steve Davis as an adviser and gave him broad authority, with which he immediately “began cutting Twitter’s products and services that supported and complied with the Twitter FTC Consent Decree.” Twitter had settled with the FTC over its inappropriate use of users’ personal information only a few months before, prompting the decree. Rosa’s suit complains that Davis and Musk were both “dismissive” of the decree.
In November, around the time Davis was hired, a lawyer for Twitter posted a message to Slack saying that anyone feeling uncomfortable about things Twitter was asking them to do should seek whistleblower protection.
Cuts allegedly included applications used to sniff out software vulnerabilities and Salesforce programs that the company needed to respond to law enforcement information requests. Rosa objected to both moves, he claimed, because it would keep the company from complying with both the Consent Decree and the EU Digital Services Act. Rosa claims in the lawsuit that he went to the company’s legal department with his complaints.
Rosa also says Davis gave him mere hours to “cut the physical security budget by an additional 50 percent by midnight,” which he said risked the company violating court orders to store hundreds of devices that were under litigation holds. The suit claims that five days after he objected to that change, Twitter revoked Rosa’s access and fired him without reason or notice, then withheld his severance package while it investigated his conduct as an employee.
Not long before Rosa’s firing, Musk laid off workers en masse, sparking an immediate lawsuit and the first wave of the Musk-era ad-pocalypse. As the money started to leave, Musk tried to tighten Twitter’s belt even further with novel approaches like selling all of its stuff or not paying the rent. After forcing former employees to give up their wrongful termination lawsuit and enter into arbitration that Twitter was obligated to pay for, Musk’s company simply refused to do so, sparking another lawsuit. Rosa’s lawsuit uses similar justifications to that lawsuit, citing a precedent.
How Nations Are Losing a Global Race to Tackle A.I.’s Harms Alarmed by the power of artificial intelligence, Europe, the United States and others are trying to respond — but the technology is evolving more rapidly than their policies.
Reddit says a bug is letting slurs get added to its links
Image: Reddit
A Reddit bug is allowing slurs to get added to Reddit URLs — and those URLs occasionally appear prominently on Google.
Content warning: the following story includes mentions of a slur.
Here’s what we’ve observed. While Googling something related to a lighthearted debate in The Verge’s Slack, one staffer found that some of the Reddit links that surfaced had a subdomain with unexpected characters and a slur before reddit.com: https://2goback-[f-word].reddit.com/r/[rest of the URL]. Despite the additional characters, the link points to Reddit (though the page had the Old Reddit layout).
The slur didn’t just appear for that query. A Reddit site search on Google for the subdomain reveals a bunch of links from different subreddits that have it. (You can see that site search here). A few Reddit users have noticed the phenomenon over the last day. We also found that you can change the word after “2goback-” in the subdomain with other words, and the URLs will still work. For example, this one where we swapped in “verge.”
The slur doesn’t appear on every Reddit-related query. I’ve only seen it through the very specific query my colleague stumbled upon and when searching specifically for the inappropriate URL on Reddit and Google. In my regular browsing, Reddit links show up as normal.
After we asked about this, Reddit spokesperson Courtney Geesey-Dorr confirmed that the company is aware of the issue and said this is a bug:
We became aware of a bug, a week or two ago, that allows any words and phrases to be updated and manipulated on a post page hyperlink that leads back to Reddit. We’re working with the appropriate partners on a fix. For context, we’ve found that Google will index URLs that work that it finds, both on and off platform, so if someone shared a link on another platform to one of those arbitrary URLs, Google will crawl and index it, even if we don’t “officially” support it.
We asked Google about this, too, and received the following statement from spokesperson Jennifer Kutz:
This issue appears to be related to a configuration issue on Reddit that makes it possible to create alternative URLs for Reddit content. On Search, we aim not to surprise anyone with content that wasn’t explicitly searched for, and we’ll look into ways to prevent this issue from occurring in the future.
Spotify’s not going for Pulitzers anymore
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge
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The dust is still settling on Spotify’s latest round of layoffs. On Monday, Spotify announced it was cutting 17 percent of its workforce, or approximately 1,500 employees, as a means of making the company even more efficient. This round of layoffs dwarfs the past two this year, with the company cutting about 600 employees in January and another 200 employees (mostly from podcasting) in June. Details are still coming out, but it appears the cuts are impacting people across the company, from product to content to advertising.
“I realize that for many, a reduction of this size will feel surprisingly large given the recent positive earnings report and our performance. We debated making smaller reductions throughout 2024 and 2025,” CEO Daniel Ek said in a letter to employees. “Yet, considering the gap between our financial goal state and our current operational costs, I decided that a substantial action to rightsize our costs was the best option to accomplish our objectives.”
Such steep cuts are shocking when the economy is growing and the company is turning a profit. Unlike so many other layoff announcements, this one did not spend a whole lot of time dwelling on macroeconomic factors. Instead, it is an unambiguous attempt at appeasing investors. And in the short term, it is working — Spotify’s stock is up nearly 11 percent from where it was at market close on Friday.
Today, I’ve got some key takeaways from the layoffs so far.
Spotify’s not going for Pulitzers anymore
If Spotify was ever serious about making in-depth narrative podcasts, it certainly isn’t now. Among its many cuts, the company has decided to cancel Heavyweight after it wraps up its current season. It is one of Gimlet’s flagship podcasts and a beloved show among people in the industry. It is also cutting investigative podcast Stolen, which Gimlet launched in 2021 and went on to earn the Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting and a Peabody Award for it this year.
The cancellations come after Spotify cut shows like Reply All and How to Save a Planet, laid off the vast majority of Gimlet’s staff, and folded what remained of Gimlet into Spotify Originals in June. The only shows that remain from Gimlet’s slate are The Journal, a daily news co-production with TheWall Street Journal, and Science Vs.
I have some hope that this is not the end for Heavyweight or Stolen, as both shows will be allowed to be shopped elsewhere. These are the kinds of shows every podcast studio wishes they had and the kind of content Spotify wanted when it got into podcasting in the first place. The reaction on podcast X / Twitter / whatever has been unforgiving.
“Wow, that feels like the end of times,” EarBuds Podcast Collective founder Arielle Nissenblatt told Hot Pod. “I know podcasts are still kinda new to many people but canceling #heavyweight is like canceling Breaking Bad or the Sopranos,” posted Jay Cowit, former director of The Takeaway and Freakonomics. “A Pulitzer and a Peabody and one of the most critically acclaimed shows Gimlet has ever had! Truly what is one supposed to do to keep their job in this industry,” said former Gimlet producer Meg Driscoll.
The answer, at least within Spotify, is to make a high-margin show — something that is straightforward to make, always on, and has broad appeal. You can see that in the company’s support of interview shows like anything goes with emma chamberlain and Call Her Daddy. To make the Sopranos of podcasting, you need time and resources, neither of which are on offer right now.
In his letter to employees, Ek said that “we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact.” The “impact” in question here does not mean accolades, or perhaps even audience. It means margin. Like we have seen at WNYC with La Brega and More Perfect and at APM with In the Dark, Spotify has decided that a show that requires too much time, manpower, and money to make is not worth it, no matter the acclaim.
The head of brand safety is gone
The advertising side is experiencing steep cuts, despite CFO Paul Vogel pointing to ad revenue growth as a bright spot in last quarter’s earnings. Among the executives let go is Dave Byrne, who joined Spotify last year as the director of global advertising platform integrity after leading brand safety at TikTok. The point of brand safety is to make sure that a company’s ads don’t end up on podcasts or playlists with which they don’t want to be affiliated.
That sounds boring, but it’s important! If the industry is going to make money in a serious way, advertisers need to be assured that their ads are reaching the right audiences and aren’t supporting content they consider harmful. You can check out this interview Amrita Khalid did with Byrne in October about the company’s approach to brand safety.
“The safety of our community, including our listeners, creators, and advertisers, remains a top priority,” Spotify spokesperson Erin Styles told Hot Pod. “Brand safety at Spotify has always been a team effort and will continue to be overseen by leaders across our product and policy orgs.”
It does not appear that there is any executive left at the company dedicated specifically to brand safety. When I asked Styles about this, she said that teams across the company address brand safety and pointed to VP of product Per Sandell and director of monetization product marketing Chloe Wix as key executives in this space.
This may not be the end of Spotify’s M&A
Something that stopped me in Ek’s note was the indication that, after so many mergers that put so many people out of their jobs, the company is still not done with acquisitions.
“Embracing this leaner structure will also allow us to invest our profits more strategically back into the business,” he writes. “With a more targeted approach, every investment and initiative becomes more impactful, offering greater opportunities for success.”
When I asked Spotify whether “investments” means more M&A, Styles said, “We will continue to allocate capital towards the highest return opportunities for the business, both internally and externally.”
That’s all for today. I’ll see Insiders on Thursday and the rest of you next week.
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