Smartphones | The Guardian (original) (raw)
May 2026
There is value in your friends’ voice notes
Letter: The voice note allows for thinking mid-sentence and hearing your friends in a raw, un-curated state, says Nancy Mellor
The hill I will die on
double quotation markThe hill I will die on: Voice notes have made my generation a bunch of self-absorbed bores
Annabel Martin
We used to have the back and forth of actual conversation. Now we have phones filled with our friends’ rambling soliloquies, says lifestyle and culture writer Annabel Martin
‘RAMageddon’: is the era of cheap phones and laptops over?
Apple agrees to pay $250m over claims it misled buyers on Siri’s AI features
Parents already have controls over smartphones – they should use them
April 2026
Galaxy S26 review: Samsung’s still-compact flagship Android
Small top-tier Android is great to use, being fast, AI-loaded and with reasonable battery life, but falls short of rivals on camera
Pass notes
The Tin Can phone: is this the simple secret to a screen-free childhood?
Created by three dads from Seattle, the resolutely un-mobile handset doesn’t have internet access, apps or even a screen. No wonder anxious parents are snapping it up
double quotation markEven without social media, phones have a subtle, damaging effect on our mental health
Devi Sridhar
double quotation markI was wrong about the danger of smartphones in schools. It’s far, far worse than I thought
Lola Okolosie
‘How do I end a call?’: the elderly Japanese people determined to master smartphones
March 2026
UK iPhone users face over-18 age check to use services after update
iPhone 17e review: Apple upgrades its cheapest new smartphone
Don’t upstage your friends! 19 modern etiquette mistakes – and how to avoid them
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review: its huge screen blocks shoulder surfers from spying on you
Fifty years of sexing up tech: Apple’s epic hits – and misses
Becky Barnicoat on millennial life
Am I on my phone too much? The Becky Barnicoat cartoon
Google Pixel 10a review: cheaper Android is great, but no real advance
February 2026
Mumsnet calls for under-16s social media ban with cigarette-style health warnings
Resembling cigarette packet warnings, the ads highlight dangers and urge people to email MPs
Today in Focus
Will we ever read books again? – podcast
Author and academic Katherine Rundell explores the precipitous decline in reading books for pleasure, and what can be done to reverse it
Skiers stranded by California avalanche used iPhone SOS feature to seek help
Apple’s feature, which connects phone to satellite, helped first responders find survivors as they waited under tarp
About 5,470 results for Smartphones