Gboard is the default keyboard for Pixel smartphones and many devices that use stock Android, but it’s not the only option out there. Recently, Gboard has been swept up in a privacy controversy highlighting how your data is used by Google for its own training and collection. The data that Google collects can be intercepted and tied to individual users. Luckily, you can disable some of those data-sharing settings.

But what if, down the line, Gboard changes its policy or privacy settings? Or we learn about additional ways Google sneakily collects your data from your keyboard? If that concerns you, consider using an open-source keyboard that runs completely on device, no data servers required. Unlike closed software, security experts can audit open-source programs, so vulnerabilities are found and patched quite quickly. As it happens, there are two solid open-source alternatives to Gboard. One is so like Gboard, you won’t even miss it. The second is as private as a keyboard gets.

FUTO Keyboard is a direct Gboard replacement

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

FUTO Keyboard is designed to be a direct Gboard replacement. It looks like Gboard, and it works like Gboard. But underneath, it’s completely open-source, free, and private. By default, none of your keystrokes leave your device.

FUTO includes on-device AI models for text prediction and voice typing. The text prediction model works completely offline and doesn't use any online servers. In my testing, it kept up with my typing, and the suggestions were more or less what you'd expect. For voice typing, the app uses a lightweight Whisper-based model, also running on-device, with no servers involved. In my testing, I found the default model to be a bit underwhelming when compared to Gboard. Downloading the highest-tier model resolved this issue, though, and I saw voice typing results similar to Gboard. (The English-244 voice model is a 280MB download.)

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

FUTO gets a lot more fun when you start customizing the settings and the layout. You can resize the keyboard to make it larger, add a permanent numbers row to the top, an arrow bar, and change the theme to your liking. There are also fine-tuning settings for users who like adjusting every bit of how their keyboard works. For example, there is a section on Long-Press Keys that lets you customize how the backspace long-press gesture works.

In my testing, I found that the FUTO keyboard offers a smoother, more reliable typing experience compared to Gboard. A small example is the spacebar gesture. In Gboard, you can move the cursor by swiping on the spacebar, but it’s a bit confusing for me. You hold it for a split second, and then swipe. In FUTO, swiping on the spacebar instantly moves the cursor, every single time. The downside to being completely private is, of course, that you lose out on cross-device support. Your personal dictionary, or clipboard, can’t sync between all your devices. While Gboard is a more complete package, FUTO's privacy features do make up for that loss.

HeliBoard is the Gboard alternative for security purists

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

HeliBoard has a rich open-source pedigree. It’s based on the old OpenBoard project, which itself was based on the pure Android AOSP keyboard, the original stock Android keyboard.

The times have changed, though, and HeliBoard has kept up, without sacrificing its open-source roots. The app promises a zero-exposure experience, asking for no network permissions whatsoever. As this is a purist’s keyboard, there are no AI features to speak of: no LLM transformer for text prediction, no AI voice typing model.

That said, all the basic features you’d expect from an Android keyboard are all here. You can add an optional number row to the top, and there’s support for gesture typing, along with an on-device clipboard (which can be disabled). You can customize the appearance as well. You can resize the keyboard, bring back the old Holo keyboard style, change icons, and change the color of the keyboard. (You can even use an image as the background.)

The only caveat to using HeliBoard is that it’s not available in the Google Play Store. Instead, you’ll have to download it from the F-Droid third-party app store that specializes in securely hosting free and open-source apps. But that’s easy to do, and once installed, you can explore other useful open-source apps like NewPipe, my preferred way of watching YouTube ad-free on Android.

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The Garmin Forerunner 170 arrived earlier this summer as the successor to the Forerunner 165, slotting in above the (also new) entry-level Forerunner 70 and below the 265/570. At first glance, it's easy to write off as a lateral move from the older device: same GPS chipset, same heart rate sensor, and actually a day less battery life than its predecessor. That makes the $299.99 price tag a little confusing next to a 165 that regularly goes on sale for under $200.

But after spending some time with the 170 on my wrist, I came away impressed with how Garmin has packed it with features and tools previously reserved for watches costing $449 or more. Despite being described as “mid-tier” in Garmin’s lineup, it really does have the training software that used to be reserved for higher-end models, including full Training Status, Training Readiness, wrist-based running power, running dynamics, and even cycling power-meter support. Whether you're upgrading from a 165 or just want to make sure you're actually using what you paid for, here are my five favorite hacks to get the most out of your Forerunner 170.

Garmin Forerunner® 170, GPS Running Smartwatch, Advanced Training Metrics and Recovery Insights, Whitestone with Whitestone/Cloud Blue Band

$299.99 at Amazon

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$299.99 at Amazon

Reprogram the buttons on your Forerunner 170 so you can instantly lock the screen in bad weather

Like Garmin's higher-end watches, the 170's buttons are fully customizable. And if you ask me, the defaults aren't the best setup for how a lot runners actually train.

A few of my favorite reassignments: I run in the rain a lot (it's romantic!), so I set "Hold Start + Up" to Touch Screen Toggle, which is a shortcut to lock the screen instantly in bad weather. I also moved Do Not Disturb to the Down button, since the default path (hold LIGHT, open Controls, tap the icon) is a few too many steps when I'm already annoyed by a notification received mid-run.

If you're a regular interval runner, you might try assigning your lap button to trigger auto-pause. This makes it a little easier to manually stop and restart the clock when you're getting your heart rate down.

Other combinations worth trying:

• Start + Down to broadcast your heart rate, which is popular in some group exercise settings.

• Start + Up to pull up Garmin Pay for a post-run coffee.

• Back + Down to lock the touchscreen, to save you from accidental pauses.

To set any of these reassignments up, hold the Up (Menu) button and go to Watch Settings > System > Shortcuts. (While you're customizing your watch, it's worth stripping down your data screens too. I demonstrate how to do this on a Garmin watch here.)

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Use your Forerunner 170's "Record Only" mode as a breadcrumb trail on unfamiliar routes

The 170 doesn't have full onboard color mapping like Garmin's higher-end watches, but Record Only mode lays down a "breadcrumb trail" of everywhere you've been without the battery cost of turn-by-turn navigation. If you get turned around, you can use those "breadcrumbs" to retrace your own path.

Two more navigation features you should set up in advance:

• Turn Around alerts are a big favorite on this watch. This tool lets you skip planning an out-and-back route entirely. Set one by time or distance before you start, and the watch buzzes at the halfway point, so you'll land back exactly where you began.

• Find My Phone, which I find to be weirdly buried in the controls menu (hold the menu button, look for the phone-with-question-mark icon), pings your connected phone with sound and vibration even if it's on silent. Press back on your watch once you've found it to stop the alert.

Let your Forerunner 170's "Quick Workouts" do the thinking for you

Instead of manually plugging in a pace and distance, the 170 can build a workout on the fly from just a time range and an intensity level (easy, moderate, hard, or very hard). In theory, this generated workout factors in your current Training Readiness score, so "45 minutes, moderate" might look completely different two days in a row depending on how recovered you actually are. It's a fast way to get a workout that matches where your body actually is that day, as opposed where you assumed it should be.

Repurpose the Cycling Coach tool to track your cross-training workouts

A few tools on the 170 get ignored simply because they're new to this price tier and Garmin doesn't call much attention to them during setup—and some of them can be really useful, even if they don't initially seem like they jibe with your workout routine:

• Lifestyle Logging is a useful way to track more than just workouts. Meditation, reading, and other manually logged activities all feed into your overall wellness picture instead of leaving your health data purely exercise-based. It's also just nice perspective to have.

• Cycling Coach doesn't have to be reserved just for dedicated cyclists. Consider giving it a spin during cross-training, since it gives you a structured, adaptive plan based on how well the watch already knows you.

• Running Power doesn't require a chest strap on the 170. Instead, it's estimated from the wrist using motion and elevation data. It may not be a precise metric, but as a real-time effort gauge on hilly routes where pace alone is misleading, it's a nice way to complement your other data points.

Don't let easy workouts drain your Garmin's battery

If you're on a familiar route, running a familiar workout, turn off Always-On GPS. Your battery health holds up longer, and you're not left scrambling to charge the morning of a big race.

In general, I recommend caring for your watch's battery the same way you treat your muscles during a training block. Full charge cycles accelerate battery degradation, so during normal weeks, cap charging around 80% instead of topping off to 100% every time.

A few bonus tips

• Keep an eye on Garmin Connect update notes. It's worth checking in periodically rather than assuming you have everything already.

• And if you have the 170 Music edition, download your playlists the night before a long run, not during your warm-up. Syncing eats battery and needs a solid wifi or Bluetooth connection. Start it early, or you'll be stuck jogging in place, waiting on a progress bar.

• Finally, this one works across most Garmin touchscreen watches, including the 170: Place your palm flat over the entire watch face, and it instantly returns to the main watch face and dims or turns off the backlight, depending on your display settings. It won't work mid-activity while you're recording, but for killing your screen quickly at your desk after checking a notification, it's neat to know.

Vice President JD Vance admitted to Joe Rogan that the release of files related to the case of convicted child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein was fumbled by the administration.

Vance joined Rogan for a Joe Rogan Experience interview that dropped on Wednesday, and during a discussion about the Epstein files, Vance admitted the administration mishandled the release of thousands of documents to the public.

“If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty. We did mishandle it, especially the communications of it,” Vance said.

“What do you think should have been done?” Rogan asked.

“I think we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning and, like I was saying, it takes a little time to review the stuff, to find the stuff, to redact things where you have victims and so forth, but we should have just done it as quickly as possible,” Vance explained.

“But some of the stuff that was redacted, some of the names redacted, weren’t victims,” Rogan noted.

Multiple victims of Epstein red-flagged that their identities were briefly revealed in the files, leading to quick redactions by the Department of Justice. The files’ release faced bipartisan backlash over more redactions and the lack of prosecutions coming out of the release.

“I’ve looked into this and my understanding of this, having looked at a lot of this but not all of it, is that it is sometimes hard to draw a distinction between victim and co-conspirator,” Vance said.

The vice president claimed that some victims would be listed as co-conspirators, sometimes because they allegedly helped Epstein procure more girls.

“What DOJ tried to do is make that judgement as best they could and release as much as possible,” Vance said.

He admitted he believes there is a “broader conspiracy” involving Epstein and possible high-level blackmail, but he argued there isn’t enough to prove that.

“There’s a story there and, you know, I will go to my deathbed believing there is a story there, but I can’t prove it,” Vance said. “And I promise you there’s not some document, at least that I’m hiding, that allows us to prove exactly what was going on and how.”

Watch above via The Joe Rogan Experience.

The post JD Vance Admits to Joe Rogan Trump Admin Is ‘Guilty’ of Mishandling Epstein Files Release first appeared on Mediaite.

If you have an Android device, you likely download most of your apps from the Play Store. Maybe you sideload the occasional app from a website, or from your device's proprietary store (e.g., Samsung Store) but, for the most part, the Play Store is the go-to place for apps on Android. That seems to be changing.

While the Play Store isn't going anywhere, Google is making third-party app stores available through its own official app store. As reported by The Verge, starting July 22, developers will be able to roll out their own app marketplaces for users to download on the Play Store. Those third-party app marketplaces can then sell their own apps, as well as pull from apps that Google hosts on the Play Store. In fact, all apps created by U.S.-based developers will be made available on these third-party app marketplaces, unless those developers opt out.

While third-party app marketplaces can distribute apps outside of the Play Store, they are still subject to Google's rules. In fact, there's a host of requirements developers must follow, including terms regarding security, privacy, and user safety. In addition, app marketplace developers will need to pay Google $5,000 upfront for security and policy reviews to onboard Play Store apps, and will need to pay the fee annually.

Why are third-party app marketplaces coming to the Play Store now?

As The Verge explains, this decision is the byproduct of an agreement between Google and Epic Games. Epic Games has been taking Google and Apple to court for years, ever since Fortnite was pulled from both the iOS App Store and the Play Store. Epic Games was frustrated by both platforms' steep fees for developers, and, in protest, offered a way for users to pay Epic Games directly to skirt the fees—violating App Store and Play Store policies.

Back in 2021, a judge decreed that Google had an illegal monopoly over Android applications, and, as such, needed to allow third-party app stores to operate on its platform. Google has been trying to undo the ruling for nearly two years since, and nearly succeeded, by getting Epic Games to settle the case for $800 million. Google had agreed to allow third-party app stores, but not through its Play Store, which the judge found insufficient. Both Google and Epic Games were due in court on Thursday to continue the discussion, but Google has since withdrawn its motion. A spokesperson for the company shared the following with the judge:

"We’ve agreed with Epic to withdraw our motion to modify the U.S. Court’s injunction rather than prolonging this process which creates uncertainty for the ecosystem. This allows us to focus on executing our recently announced global business model evolution to deliver greater app store choice, lower prices, and more opportunities for developers and users. We remain committed to maintaining Android’s industry-leading security and fostering a competitive ecosystem where every app store and developer has the freedom to compete. In parallel, we continue to comply with the U.S. Court’s injunction."

We won't know exactly how things will work until these third-party app marketplaces hit the Play Store. In theory, it should be a similar experience for users, since Google has such strict requirements for app marketplace distributors. But while Epic Games is sure to roll out a third-party app marketplace, we'll have to see who else decides to take the plunge. Apple offers third-party app stores, but only in the EU, where regulations force them to.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appeared to pass gas as he was in the middle of a Senate floor speech on Tuesday.

The incident occurred as Schumer was talking about President Donald Trump’s war in Iran. On C-SPAN’s broadcast, the sound of a fart could be clearly heard.

“Now on Iran and the NDAA,” Schumer said before the fart. “When all the Trump administration can say about his disastrous war with Iran is that Vietnam was worse. A point Trump made yesterday, he reveals the scale of his failure. This is what Donald Trump said. The only thing he can say is Vietnam was worse. Oh my God! A war that killed close to 50,000 Americans, a war that lasted almost a decade, a war that ripped America apart.”

Moments after the sound, Schumer appeared to confirm it was indeed a fart when he chuckled.

The clip was first captured and posted online by The Blaze, and countless viewers poked fun at the senator. Conservative commentator Mark Kaye suggested the moment was a prime example of why term limits were needed for lawmakers.

The Republic National Committe account RNC Research also posted the clip, saying Schumer “broke wind on the Senate floor.”

Others joined in to roast Schumer.

Watch above via C-SPAN

The post WATCH: Chuck Schumer Appears to Rip a Massive Fart During Senate Floor Speech first appeared on Mediaite.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (R) will appoint Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of Lindsey Graham (R-SC), to fill the late senator’s vacated Senate seat, various reports said on Monday afternoon.

Graham Nordone, one of Graham’s only family members who was adopted by her brother after the death of their parents, will be named to succeed him on Monday, according to multiple reports. The official announcement was scheduled for 4 pm on Monday.

Politico’s Jonathan Martin wrote on social media, “It’s happening: @henrymcmaster will appoint Darline Graham Nordone to fill out the rest of her brother’s Senate term this year, per a Repub familiar.”

The appointment will come two days after the 71-year-old’s sudden death on Saturday.

On Monday morning, Graham Nordone was recommended by both President Donald Trump and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott (R) as the best choice to take over.

“I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”

“Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, would be a fantastic pick to serve out the remainder of the senate term,” Scott added in an X post. “After speaking with Darline, there is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state, and our country.”

Watch above via Fox News.

The post ‘It’s Happening’: Lindsey Graham’s Sister Reportedly Chosen to Fill His Senate Seat first appeared on Mediaite.

Apple's "27" era is nearly here, including macOS 27. The upcoming update might not offer as many new features as some past macOS revisions, but it has one really big one: Alongside a number of quality-of-life upgrades, macOS Golden Gate includes a few major Apple Intelligence updates, including Siri AI. But if the only benefit I get from updating to macOS 27 is that my M1 iMac runs a bit smoother, I'll be happy.

Apple's new updates, including macOS 27, aren't officially here yet. They'll likely drop sometime in the fall for all compatible devices. That said, your compatible Mac can run macOS Golden Gate right now: Since June's WWDC conference, Apple has been beta testing its new updates with registered developers. That means if you're okay taking on the risks, you can try out macOS 27 right now.

Don't install the macOS 27 beta before understanding the risks

It's tempting to try out fresh features before the general public, especially when they're as high-profile as Siri AI. But before you install a beta of macOS 27 on your machine, you should be aware of the risks. Betas are not finished software, which means they can ship with bugs and glitches that wouldn't normally make it to an official update. You might install the macOS 27 beta on your Mac and find it works perfectly well, or you may encounter a bug that prevents you from using your computer as you normally would. It's a bit of a gamble.

The caveat is that the developer beta is currently safer than it was at launch. Apple has spent about a month beta testing its updates with developers before releasing them to a larger pool of users. As such, many of the more overt or critical glitches have likely been identified and patched. That doesn't mean the macOS 27 developer beta is entirely free of glitches, of course. You should make sure to back up any important data before installing the beta. Make sure all photos, documents, messages, etc. are saved somewhere secure, and not just included in an iCloud backup, in the event you lose data through the beta process.

Still, I recommend that most users wait for at least the public beta before testing out macOS 27. Apple said its public betas will be out sometime in July, so there shouldn't be much more of a wait. Apple will continue to release developer beta updates first before releasing the public beta equivalent, which offers some extra protection for users who want to lessen the risk of major bugs or glitches.

Which Macs are compatible with macOS 27?

While every iPhone that supports iOS 26 also supports iOS 27, the same isn't the case for macOS. Even if your Mac runs macOS 26, there's no guarantee it's compatible with macOS 27. In fact, this year marks Apple's official departure from Intel, as none of its Intel-based Macs support macOS 27. Here's the official list:

• MacBook Neo

• MacBook Air with Apple silicon

• MacBook Pro with Apple silicon

• iMac with Apple silicon

• Mac mini with Apple silicon

• Mac Studio

• Mac Pro with Apple silicon

Essentially, if your Mac's chip has an "M" in its name (e.g., M1, M5), it's compatible with macOS 27.

How to install the macOS 27 developer beta

If you're okay with the risks of installing a developer beta, you'll first need to enroll your Apple Account in the developer program. There used to be a $99 paywall here, but there is now a free option for anyone who just wants to try the developer beta. Once enrolled, head to System Settings > General > Software Update, then click the (i) next to "Beta Updates." Click "Off" next to "Beta Updates," then choose "macOS 27 Golden Gate Developer Beta." From here, hit "Done," then follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the update.