Monster Train 2 will launch on May 21 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X. Monster Train 2 was first announced last month, five years after the launch of the original game. The original Monster Train proved to be quite popular among roguelike fans, with the game also earning mostly positive reviews from critics and even finding itself nominated for some awards.

Chengnan An, the lead game designer on Honkai: Star Rail, has worked at parent studio Mihoyo for a little over nine years, first on Honkai Impact 3rd, and then on the current sci-fi RPG. That means An has been present for much of the companys worldwide meteoric rise; Honkai Impact 3rd (2016) was an early hit with international audiences that would soon be eclipsed by Genshin Impact (2020). And yet Honkai is actually the very first fictional setting for any Mihoyo game, first introduced in FlyMe2theMoon in 2011, made back when Mihoyo consisted of only five developers. The world of Honkai has expanded significantly since then, and so has Mihoyo, which now boasts over 5,000 employees.An is intimately familiar with the Honkai franchise at this point, and in his current role, he contributed to the design of not just Honkai: Star Rails initial version but also its many ongoing updates, new characters, and battle systems that have been added since the game was first released in 2023.In a far-reaching interview at the 2025 Game Developers Conference, conducted via interpreter, Chengnan An explained to Polygon that almost every decision is about the characters first and foremost. The games ensemble cast may be huge (and growing all the time), but ideally, every single character should strike a chord with someone, somewhere.Character design always comes before combat designAs the lead combat designer, I assumed An would mostly want to talk to me about that but actually, in Honkai: Star Rail, character is king. If were just thinking about the combat system when were designing characters, then we ran out of inspo really, really fast, An explained. So we try not to use that approach for a lot of the characters in a game. Some of the strongest characters have weapons [that] are actually kind of weird. As an example, An pointed to Dr. Ratio, who has a really heavy book that he uses to beat people up, basically, which tracks, as hes a self-centered intellectual whos often condescending toward the uneducated. And then theres the coffee-obsessed Himeko, whose ultimate attack features her nonchalantly taking a sip from a teacup as an explosion goes off in the background.The design team always hopes new characters will be beloved, but on those occasions that a character hasnt popped off with players, An said, we didnt waste time thinking about it. We would just go into creating the next character. Other times, its obvious to the designers from the get-go that theyve got a great idea on their hands. Herta was one of the first characters that we realized had the potential to go completely viral even before we actually released that character, said An. So Herta has this ability to keep spinning and to keep spinning nonstop. So that actually becomes kind of a punchline or this insider joke within the player community. And we even see this fan-made video of Herta titled, We need to see more of Herta.Why is every Honkai: Star Rail character always conventionally beautiful?After taking a moment to laugh very hard at this question, An had this to say: Well, at the start of creating each character, we would have a lot of interviews with our team members. So after taking in their feedback and going through multiple rounds of iterations for every character, we always find that they become prettier and even more handsome and even more cool with each iteration. (We were both laughing by this point.)But what about a character with a more unconventional appearance maybe even just a cool scar? Of course we wouldnt not experiment with a character like that if we think that the character can become really popular at the end of it, An conceded. But, if you mean ugly characters, then as of right now, we dont have any ugly characters in Honkai: Star Rail.How to prevent player burnoutHonkai: Star Rail has been out for two years, and keeping the old-timers entertained over not just days or months but years is a huge task, and it involves analyzing and reanalyzing every single part of the game on an ongoing basis not just the new content but also the old existing stuff.Take the Simulated Universe as an example, said An, referring to Honkais game-within-a-game, which is designed by the character Herta. So from the very first version of the Simulated Universe, we had already created this roguelike experience for our players, but we soon discovered that for many players, after having played multiple versions of the Simulated Universe, our players they didnt really need to put in too much effort into playing the Simulated Universe again because theyre very accustomed to it. So when that happens, we do try to always create new experiences for our players in the future versions, but we also have the staple gameplays in our games. When we try to adjust those staple gameplays, we try to be very moderate and try to be very careful with that. We also have fun minigames and version events that we launch routinely to keep our players engaged and motivated.Is currency an effective motivator? Different players want different things out of the game. For a normal player, of course, earning rewards is probably one of the top things that would motivate them. So combining Stellar Jade rewards with version milestones, or fun events, of course we would like to attract more players, have the players come back. But we also understand that its not enough; its far from enough. So we want to create this comprehensive experience for the players so that they can stay passionate.There is no cookie-cutter solution to [burnout]. We constantly follow our players to see what proportion of the players are interested in a story, what proportions are interested in gameplay, combat, et cetera. So we would adjust our game based on our research and try to make the game attractive to the whole player community.The inspirations for Honkai: Star RailGames themselves are a form of artistic creation, and just like any form of art, it comes from our daily lives and it is for the people, it serves the people. And so for the games that we create, we want to add in our own experiences. It could be our own gaming experiences, or it could be the movies that we find very inspiring. [] There is this comic, Galaxy Express, that we find to be very inspiring. Because you see a train traveling in the galaxy, visiting different planets, stopping at all these different places and visiting new friends, making new friends.On preventing power creep in Honkais combat designPower creep is a potential problem in just about any ongoing game that has a numbers go up system; any newly introduced characters or abilities tend to become more powerful over time, making older mechanics obsolete. According to An, its one of the main issues that the Honkai: Star Rail team is taking a look at right now.Well, it is one of the issues that we have been following, said An. I would like to say that for the experiences of our characters, its a very comprehensive one. [] And as we continue to expand our combat experience, its something that we will be continuously working on. In particular, I asked about players who are still using older characters in combat and arent feeling like they fit into the current meta. An had an answer for that, too: Yes, we are considering creating more buffs for the older characters. And I believe an official announcement is due soon. So yeah, please stay tuned.What about power creep when it comes to different types of battle mechanics? The new combat systems are not substitutes for the older ones, and there is no absolute which one is better or which one is weaker, said An. We like to always keep the pace of the iterations for our mechanisms in mind. We always want to encourage our players to mix and match different characters to get a very refreshing experience. And of course it takes a lot of time into building new characters and combat mechanics, and we always build on our previous experiences to create new ones.Would Honkai: Star Rail ever use a different financial model than gacha?Any Honkai: Star Rail player will tell you that you can still enjoy the game without paying a dime, but gacha mechanics are nonetheless a key part of the game particularly when it comes to unlocking the most powerful (meaning: five-star-rated) characters. And because the game designers put character designs front and center in terms of priorities, it makes sense that players are motivated to get these characters even if they have to open their wallets to do it. Its something that American players in particular arent used to seeing, so I was curious if An had ever considered other forms of monetization to make the game more appealing internationally, like subscription models.We believe the free-to-play mode is more suitable for our playable fiction to reach a broader audience, or to reach more players, said An. In the future, well continue to optimize the experiences so that we can increase the popularity of our game.I asked if An had talked to any Western developers or players at GDC who werent as used to gacha mechanics, and he said that although that specific topic hadnt really come up, he did note that players from different parts of the world have different habits on how to experience the games. But throughout our trip this time we met with many passionate players of our game and yeah, that just made us so happy.

Chainsaw Man fans have been eagerly waiting for any news about the animes forthcoming movie continuation, Chainsaw Man The Movie: Reze Arc, since it was announced in 2023. On Monday, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced during their CinemaCon panel in Las Vegas that the animated film based on the Reze Arc of Tatsuki Fujimotos Chainsaw Man manga will open in United States theaters on Oct. 29, as well as in more than 80 other countries on Sept. 24.Sony Pictures and MAPPA are bringing Chainsaw Man: The Movie to theatres October 29! #ChainsawManMovie pic.twitter.com/Crh5auT3jw Chainsaw Man EN (@Chainsaw_EN) April 1, 2025Set immediately after the events of Chainsaw Mans first season, the film will center on Denji as he explores a relationship with Reze, a girl who works at a local cafe. Torn between his newfound feelings for Reze and his unrequited affection for Makima, Denji will have to decide just where exactly to follow his heart, all while contending with a deadly new adversary.Chainsaw Man The Movie: Reze Arc will be directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, who previously worked as a key animator and episode director on the first season of Chainsaw Man under director Ry Nakayama. Hiroshi Seko is set to return as the films screenwriter, alongside character designer Kazutaka Sugiyama and composer Kensuke Ushio.Chainsaw Man season 1 is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Every so often, a designer emerges whose work feels destined for the history books. In 2025, that name is Tim Vranken. The Belgian furniture designer has spent years perfecting his craft, creating pieces that balance raw materiality with sculptural elegance. His recent solo exhibition, Moving Fragments, at Objects With Narratives serves as a culmination of his past five years of exploration, showcasing earlier works alongside six new pieces. Soon heading to be on display at Salone Del Mobile 2025, Moving Fragments offers an intimate look at Vrankens evolving dialogue with materials, where fragility and solidity, as well as tradition and innovation, exist in constant tension.Establishing a distinct design identity is no easy feat, as it takes years of honing ones craft to achieve, but Vranken has done just that. His work is defined by geometric compositions and stepped elements, creating a visual language that feels both minimalist and deeply expressive. His designs radiate a serene, architectural quality grand in form, restrained in detail, and void of any superfluous ornamentation. Vranken allows the raw beauty of the materials to take center stage, imbuing just enough of his signature touch to highlight their natural depth and character.From furniture to sculpture, a few standout pieces showcase the breadth and depth of Vrankens craftsmanship:In his newest Fira collection, Vranken pairs burned ash wood with terrazzo made using North Sea shells, creating an immaculate dining table reminiscent of his Traaf bench, which also rests on a stone base.Crafted from American walnut and burl wood, the Fira Bar Cabinet features four-panel doors made from pictorial root veneer, highlighting an intricate interplay of pattern and texture.Vrankens sculptural approach extends beyond furniture with Herm, an illustrious aluminum sculpture that contrasts polished and brushed surfaces, offering a study in light, reflection, and texture.The Arcus collection introduces Vrankens first daybed, carrying forward the collections signature repetition of blocky legs, reinforcing its architectural presence.Moving Fragments is not to be missed its a rare opportunity to witness Vrankens masterful command of materials and form in an intimate setting. You can catch them at Salone del Mobile from April 7-13, 2025, further solidifying Vrankens place as a designer to watch in 2025.To learn more about Tim Vranken, visit timvranken.com and objectswithnarratives.com.Photography by Tijs Vervecken.

Were welcoming a burst of bold, geometric energy to your screens for Aprils Designer Desktop, courtesy of UK-based designer and artist, Leigh Bagley. Known for his vibrant, mid-century-inspired aesthetic, Bagley brings a fresh and playful take on pattern and form, infusing his compositions with joy, rhythm, and a modern sensibility. A graduate of the Royal College of Art and founder of his studio, The Graphic Pattern Studio, Bagley creates art that feels retro yet contemporary, abstract yet approachable.For this months Desktop, Bagley shares a design from his new poster print series, which are an extension of his latest Calendar wallpaper collection inspired by the work of Jean-Pierre Vitrac. Echoing Vitracs signature use of playful shapes and sweeping curves, the wallpaper collection is structured around a square tile format with 8 individual shapes mirroring the lunar cycle. This chromatic series has inspired Bagley to create a range of affordable open edition prints where architectural forms and repeating shapes are layered over neutral backgrounds perfect for a screen refresh. For those wanting a more immersive experience, Bagleys Calendar series is available through Robin Sprong.Download the wallpapers for free with the links below for all your tech devices today!DESKTOP:102476812801024168010501900120025601440MOBILE:iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPad ProCheck out some of Leigh Bagleys other work:Learn more about Leigh Bagley here and give him a follow here.View and download past Designer Desktopshere.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.For April Fools' Day, I thought I'd look into the fascinating story of a major source of one of the longest-lasting and widely believed conspiracy theories in American history. According to a 2023 YouGov poll, 54% of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone when he gunned down president John F. Kennedy in 1963so most Americans are wrong about this, and they're wrong about it partly due to a work of fiction published in the late 1960s.The granddaddy of all modern conspiracy theoriesWidespread disbelief in the "official story" of the Kennedy assassination has inspired a library of books, congressional hearings, major motion pictures, and most recently, the declassification of thousands of documents (none of which, by the way, support the idea of a conspiracy). But more importantly, Kennedy assassination conspiracies normalized and mainstreamed conspiracy theories in general, bolstering every piece of fake news that followed, from Obama's birth certificate to vaccine skepticismif the government could cover up a political assassination, the argument goes, they could be up to anything. But what if the basis of the most widely accepted Kennedy conspiracy theory was a work of satirical fiction? That's the premise behind Phil Tinline's recent book Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax of the Century, Its Enduring Impact, and What It Reveals About America Today, an examination of the history and impact of Report from Iron Mountain, a 1967 work of fiction that started as left-wing satire but became one of the most influential texts in American history. Oliver Stone's JFK and the "CIA did it" conspiracyWhile there are hundreds of theories about who was really behind Kennedy's assassination and why they did it, probably the most widely accepted version of the story, the one you may believe, is the theory Oliver Stone went with in his 1991 film JFK: The CIA killed Kennedy because he was about to withdraw troops from Vietnam and end the Cold War. Main character Jim Garrison lays it out like this in the film: "What took place on November 22, 1963 was a coup d'tat ... The war is the biggest business in America worth $80 billion a year. President Kennedy was murdered by a conspiracy that was planned and advanced at the highest levels of our government, and was carried out by fanatical and disciplined cold warriors in the Pentagon and CIA's covert-operation apparatus."But where did Stone's protagonist get this idea? As Tinline's book details, the CIA theory is laid out in JFK by "X," a character based on real-life former air-force colonel L. Fletcher Prouty. Prouty's source is what he believed was a "suppressed think-tank paper" called Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace. And Report from Iron Mountain is a literary hoax dreamed up by the editors of the short-lived, left-wing satirical journal The Monocle. The birth of Report from Iron MountainBack in 1966, Victor Navasky, editor of The Monocle, read a news item about a dip in the stock market caused by a cutback in military spending; Wall Street called it a"peace scare." This inspired Navasky to commission writer Leonard Lewin, with help from economist John Kenneth Galbraith and others, to write Report from Iron Mountain, supposedly the leaked findings of "Special Study Group" tasked by the Kennedy Administration to plan the transition from a wartime to a peacetime economy. Its conclusion: Peace would likely bring about the collapse of the USA.Iron Mountain was edited by H.L. Mencken, and published as a work of non-fiction in 1967, but most reviewers and literary types recognized it as social commentary. Members of the general public were divided, however, so author Lewin dispelled all doubt by confirming Iron Mountain was a hoax in 1974. And that should have been the end of it. But it wasn't.The strange afterlife of Report from Iron MountainThe real point of Iron Mountain was to highlight the absurdity of the Cold War through exaggeration and satirethe book tips its hand fairly heavily by suggesting UFO hoaxes, "blood games," and bringing back slavery as possible replacement for warbut its ideas, shorn of their satirical context, spun outside the control of the literary types who dreamed it up. Iron Mountain started percolating in the poisonous coffee pot of fringe thinkers, combining and metastasizing with other seminal, fictional, conspiracy texts like Alternative 3 and The Protocols of the Brotherhood of Zion, until Iron Mountain became a foundational text for cranks, part of the ideological framework they can hang anything on. It wasn't just Oliver Stone's source who mistook Report from Iron Mountain as truth. Much to the author's dismay, the book was also rediscovered by the burgeoning-right wing militia movement of the 1980s, and reprinted as non-fiction by the anti-semitic Noontide Press. Milton William Cooper excerpted Iron Mountain in seminal conspiracy theory text Behold a Pale Horse, said to be a favorite of Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh. From there, it's a straight shot to "The Deep State," Q-anon, Alex Jones, Covid cover-ups, and whatever else loonies are on about this week on X.

Today is April 1, April Fools Day, the annual holiday that celebrates pranking, hoaxes, and all manner of horseplay and tomfoolery. But why? Where did this faux holiday come from? Why do we do this to each other, and when will we finally just stop?These are surprisingly tricky questions, and April Fools' Day has been around for a surprisingly long time. As far back as 1708, the British newspaper Apollo asked, Whence proceeds the custom of making April Fools? and provided unconvincing answers. So we know the April Fools' tradition goes back centuries, but the exact origins of the holiday are still a mystery. There are theories, but they all reek faintly of bullshit. April Fools Day origin story #1: The great French calendar switch of 1582The most popular (but still probably bullshit) April Fools' origin story blames France. It goes like this: Back in 1563, The Council of Trent declared that Christ is entirely present in both the consecrated bread and wine in the Eucharist. But more importantly, it decreed Catholic nations should use the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar. Frances King Charles IX ordered his nation to get on board with the switch by 1582, but when the actual day rolled around, some citizens were non-compliant. (French people can be stubborn.) April 1 is beginning of the new year according to the Julian calendar, and some people either didnt know about the new calendar or didnt like it, because they went on celebrating the new year on April 1. To get everyone back in line, people started mocking calendar-truthers by playing tricks on them. Because the first day of April used to coincide with the end of Lent, and fish was a popular Lenten gift, giving a fool a fake fish was seen as a hilarious joke (or so the story goes). This evolved into the French April 1 prank of affixing a paper fish to someones back, which is still practiced to this day, mainly by school kids; its why French people call April 1 poisson davril, or "April fish."I like the alternative April fish origin story better, though: The real prank was secretly sliding a fish in someones pocket and hoping they didnt notice until it started to stink. Thats timeless comedy and requires no explanation.So case closed, right? April Fools Day began in France when the calendar changed. Nah. Probably not (April Fools!), because the first written reference to the day dates back some two decades earlier, to 1561. Flemish writer Eduard De Denes Refereyn vp verzendekens dach / Twelck den eersten April te zyne plach is a comical poem about a nobleman sending his gullible servant on a series of ridiculous fake errands on April 1. Along with a message that remains timely today (Youre a fool to believe what someone says on April 1), the poem makes it clear that the seasonal pranks were already a widespread, well-known phenomenon decades before the calendar changed in France. Unlike many holidays with changing customs and rites, April Fools seems to be celebrated in much the same way now as it was in the 1500s.April Fools Day origin #2: The ancient Romans did itSome historians have dug all the way back to Ancient Rome to uncover evidence of the first April fool. Back then, they called days of rejoicing hilaria. People had private hilaria, like their wedding days, or public ones, like the Hilaria Matris Dem, celebrated on March 25 as part of a 10-day festival to honor Cybele, the mother of the gods. After several festival days devoted to fasting, castration, mourning, and scourging, the hilaria gave everyone the chance to enjoy some much-needed fun, playing games and having orgies (I assume). The biggest highlight of Hilaria Matris Dem was masquerading. You could get away with imitating anyone you wanted on this day, including government officials. So maybe this was the original April Fools Day? The evidence seems a little shaky to me. The time of year is roughly correct, but the connection to pranks and hoaxes seems tenuousdressing up as someone to mock them is not the same as tricking them into eating a donut filled with mayonnaise.Since no one knows where or when April Fools Day originated, so Im going to say it came fromoh, Denmark. From there, it spread to the rest of Europe, probably. No matter the origin, by the late 1600s, April Fools' Day was so firmly established that newsletters saw no reason to explain it to readers. For example, the April 2, 1698 edition of Dawkss News-Letter contains an item that reads: Yesterday being the first of April, several persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed. (Sending fools to see lions washed is hilarious.)April Fools Day goes from personal to publicWhether its sticking a paper fish on someones back or sending tourists to the lion washings, the first few 100 years of April Fools Day pranks were personal. It wasnt an official holiday; it was just a bunch of folks joshing their friends or strangers on the street. But as society shifted from individual experiences to more mediated ones, the nature of April pranks shifted too. Beginning in the early 1900s, newspapers started publishing fake stories on April 1. Then radio started doing it, telling listeners that wasps were about to attack them, or the world was going to end. In the 1950s, television got in the act; even the staid BBC pranked viewers with a fake story about the Swiss spaghetti harvest.The April Fools pranks current most popular formfake announcements on the internetis fitting for the state of our culture. Traditionally pranks were at least enjoyable for the one doing the pranking, but modern April Fools isnt fun for anyone. The audience knows its going to happen, so no one is really tricked, and the technology and media companies that are pranking people are doing it because they want clicks and engagement to further solidify their brand image. That's the opposite of fun. The only thing that was ever good about April Fools' Day is that it was a home-grown, unofficial folk holiday of the people. The jerky people, but still. Now April Fools' Day is entirely corporation-approved. Why April Fools' Day needs to dieThere arent really any studies on this, but strictly from a personal Ive been on the Internet for a long time perspective, the popularity of online April Fools jokes have been declining for several years and hopefully it drops off to nothing soon. No one needs a holiday that has victims. In the disinformation age, every day is April 1 anyway; were constantly being taken for fools. Were bombarded by people using technology to try to trick us, whether its criminal robots sending texts to steal the money in our bank accounts, influencers monetizing our envy through filters and careful camera angles, AI-generated deep-fakes of the pope in a puffer jacket, or the more subtle but all-encompassing hoaxes of modern politics and commerce as a whole. Hearing some jerkass saying "Ha ha, tricked you," just isn't funny anymoreif it ever was.

The Amazon Spring Sale might be over, but there are still lots of great deals to shop. For instance, there's a 33 percent discount on one of our favorite portable Bluetooth speakers for 2025. The Beats Pill is down to $100 from $150 a record-low price for the speaker. Let's be honest, that first glimpse of warm weather is here and it's making us dream of sitting by the beach or picnics with friends. The Beats Pill is a solid option to provide the soundtrack to your summer. We gave it in 83 in our review thanks, in part, to its durability. The speaker has an IP67 waterproof rating, so you shouldn't have to worry at all if it gets a bit wet. The Beats Pill also offers 24-hour battery life and improved sound quality from its predecessor. However, we have found that the audio does hurt a bit when at loud volumes and it can have an inconsistent bass tone. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/pick-up-the-beats-pill-speaker-while-its-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-140306981.html?src=rss

When we reviewed the iPhone 16 Pro last year, Apple Intelligence was barely available. Since then, the iPhone 16 series has benefitted from several new features, apps and improvements. Some (or most) of them were Apple Intelligence features that were teased back at WWDC 2024, months before the iPhone 16 Pro launched.AI features weren't the only changes this time around, with the iPhone 16 getting an entirely new button. The so-called Camera Control wasnt just a simple app shortcut, but an elaborate multifunction button that offered a haptic half-press and the ability to swipe across to adjust camera settings and options.Managing Editor Cherlynn Low said we were still waiting on Apple Intelligence in our initial review. Now, as we hit iOS 18.4, was it worth the wait?iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence so farMat Smith for EngadgetApple Intelligence was late, arriving as part of iOS 18.1 back in October 2024. Initial generative AI features included writing tools like proofreading and rewriting, as well as text summaries and live transcription for phone calls and voice notes in the Notes app. A few months later, iOS 18.2 gave us the Apple Intelligence features that made most of the headlines when first announced at WWDC. That included ChatGPT integration, AI image generation in Image Playgrounds and Genmoji.Starting with iOS 18.1, one of the most controversial Apple Intelligence features is actually my favorite: Notification Summaries. Its a good attempt at taming the wild west of countless group chats across multiple messaging apps, calendar reminders, Substack pings and everything else.You don't need to update every individual app for Notification Summaries to kick in. As soon as iOS 18.1 landed, my messy WhatsApp chats were streamlined. I thought it cute when my iPhone told me a friend had laughed at my comment, and suggested where we could meet and a date. That was distilled from a ten-message barrage theyd sent.Mat Smith for EngadgetIts not perfect, though. Apple had to clarify that notification summaries are AI-generated, and make that clearer beyond a small Apple Intelligence icon. This was after the BBC complained about multiple summaries that twisted the content of some of its headlines. Ive also had notification summaries that incorrectly guessed the subject of a sentence or entire topic of a thread, but on the whole, its a useful utilization of AI smarts.There are more natural language hooks across most of iOS 18, too. You can now search for images in the Photos app with descriptions, dates, location and more. Those natural-language smarts take on a different function with writing tools, courtesy of Apple Intelligence. Even though Im not a particularly clean writer (hey, Cher), these writing tools are not all that useful. I havent used them much beyond quick email responses to work requests and events, but the ability to proofread, rewrite or check tone may prove useful to some.The writing tools also work inside the Voice Memos app, which can now transcribe conversations, meetings and more. Here, it helps make things more concise, with options to turn transcripts into summaries, key points, lists and even tables. If the recording is clear enough and theyre not too long, iOS 18 does well on these transcriptions. Several times, the iPhone 16 Pro straight-up declined to summarize a transcript. Why? All I got was a notification that the tools arent designed to work with this type of content.Elsewhere, Apple struggles to catch up with AI innovations on rival devices. Like Google Pixels Magic Eraser (and all the other Android riffs), Clean Up now allows you to scrub out distracting elements and photo bombers from your pics. However, the results arent quite up to the standard of the competition. Sometimes, however, it nails it.Some Apple Intelligence features have faded into the background after an initial buzz. Image Playground offers the ability to AI-generate your own images and had plenty of users itching to get off the beta waitlist to play around with the app. After a bit of testing, however, I havent used it in the months since it launched.There might be a future for Playgrounds within iOS, though. For instance, Apples Invites app lets you embed Image Playground results within your events, which is helpful if you dont have a photo to illustrate the invitation. As a standalone app, however, it doesnt quite deliver enough to live on my home screen. Its gone the way of GarageBand, Pages and Apple Maps on my iPhone.Genmoji, on the other hand, is easier to use, and I use it often. With it, you can create your own emoji reactions with specific people, objects and backgrounds. I already have several established favorites, like me eating cereal and a chronically late friend with clocks in the background, and Ill probably continue to make emoji as life demands it. For example, a passenger behind me on a flight to Barcelona last month had three cats with her. So, I made a cats-on-a-plane Genmoji. Exactly what Tim Cook intended.Mat Smith for EngadgetSome software features are also specific to the iPhone 16 Pro series (and the 15 Pro). Camera Control aside, the new button also offers access to Visual Intelligence with a long press. Visual Intelligence is Apples take on Google Lens, tapping visual AI smarts to analyze what your iPhone is pointing at. It can recognize text, like words on menus, and even translate for you. If you get lucky, itll even identify the outside of a restaurant and (with some ChatGPT power) tell you the opening hours and what kind of cuisine it offers. Its particularly effective in identifying landmarks, but busy scenes can quickly derail it. Unfortunately, you cant tap on a particular object in the frame to clarify specifics. However, the ability to create calendar events from a poster is pretty cool even if I usually forget to use it.Thats Apple Intelligence, for now. There are a lot of smart touches, but so far, it isnt remarkable. I credit Apples attempts to make most of its AI features either processed on device, or connected to the companys Private Cloud Compute, which uses larger server-based models. Apple has reiterated that your data is never stored during these requests. Even with ChatGPT integration, if you dont use an account with OpenAI, only your request and attachments are sent to ChatGPT. Your Apple Account and IP address are not shared with OpenAI. Apples deal with OpenAI means the latter cant use your request to improve or train its models, either.The patchy arrival of iOS features, especially Apple Intelligence, isnt a good look for the company.However, the rest of iOS 18 continues to deliver valuable new features and upgrades to the iPhone experience, like the aforementioned Invites app, additional content (and games) for News+ subscribers and my favorite feature since the AirPods introduced noise-cancellation, the ability to nod or shake your head to halt Siri announcements, Fitness prompts and even decline calls. Im a busy guy!Cameras and Camera ControlMat Smith for EngadgetWith Camera Control, Apple has introduced its most intriguing interface change since the short-lived 3D Touch. That tech, if you forgot, offered haptic feedback on your screen tapping during the iPhone 6 era. Camera Control acts like a proper manual camera button, even when I know it combines a physical button with elaborate touch sensors. This enables deeper controls by swiping across it or semi-pressing.Instantly, it works as a basic camera app launcher, just like the iPhones Action button has done in recent years. Already, its better placed, though, lower on the right edge of the phone, ready for your thumb if held vertically, or index finger when held horizontally. It goes beyond being a launcher, though. Swiping across it lets you adjust zoom, exposure and even toggle the new Photographic Style options. Then, a half-press works as a way to confirm your settings.Depending on how you use the iPhones camera, a lot of the settings might not deserve their place within the Camera Controls menus. While I often tinkered with Exposure and Zoom, Photographic styles are easier to adjust from the iPhone in the normal touchscreen way. Im also not going to meddle with simulated f-stops when taking candid shots of my friends and family.Like Apple Intelligence, Camera Control launched incomplete. When the iPhone 16 Pro first went on sale, it lacked a half-press focus like ye olde traditional cameras, and it took till January 2025 for an AF-AE lock to arrive through iOS 18.3. The feature, however, remains buried in settings and has to be toggled on.It works well though. You tap on an object youd like the iPhone to focus on, hold the button halfway, and itll lock exposure and focus for as long as you keep your finger down like a camera. Its frustrating that we had to wait this long for what seems like a core function of Camera Control.To be devils advocate and its an argument regularly leveled at AI features, both Apple Intelligence and elsewhere did you need Camera Control? Given how much I use my phones cameras, I'd argue that a camera launcher is worth factoring into the hardware. But the Action Button covered that.Camera Control also seemed like a pro iPhone feature, so its surprising to see it across the entire device lineup, barring the more recent iPhone 16e.Another change worth noting is that the iPhone 16 Pro got camera parity with the larger Pro Max this year, with a 5x optical zoom I use most of the time. Of course, this isn't a remarkable feature if you were already using an iPhone 15 Pro Max. But if you prefer the smaller of the two Pro options, aside from battery life, theres no reason to stop you getting the cheaper iPhone 16 Pro.Repairability and longevityI havent had to repair my iPhone 16 Pro so far, and there are no pronounced scratches on the 6.3-inch screen or body. While I am also a case dweeb, I dont use screen protectors I havent needed to. The latest iPhones do come with even more repair-friendly hardware and policies if the worst were to happen. Anecdotally, according to my experience the titanium body and Apple's Ceramic Shield treatment on the display do seem to make this generation of 'pro' iPhones tougher than its predecessorsApples new Repair Assistant, designed to address parts pairing issues, lets both you and repair professionals configure new and used Apple parts directly on the device, with no need to contact Apple personnel on the phone to ensure iOS plays with new parts.Another improvement, while not part of the 16 Pro, is battery removal. On both the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, the battery can be released from its enclosure by running a low-voltage current through the iPhones battery adhesive. However, the iPhone 16 Pros battery is now encased in aluminum, making repairs less fraught, and protecting the battery more when exposed to repair tools. I havent had to put it to use yet, but the companys increased willingness to embrace right-to-repair is headed in the right direction, especially after its sluggish response in the past.Six months on, the 16 Pros slightly bigger battery is holding up, with the one I have still showing its at full health. I am a heavy phone user, and 256 charge cycles later, iOS says its still at 100 percent capacity, which I found impressive. If I need to replace the battery, Im heartened that its easier than ever on an iPhone.Wrap-upMat Smith for EngadgetThe iPhone 16 Pro is one of the best smartphones available. But if theres a particular area where Apples phones are lacking compared to the flagship competition, it might be the messaging and the marketing. It took too long for Apple Intelligence to land on devices. If Apple Intelligence hadnt been so key to Apples presentation both at WWDC and the iPhone 16 launch event, the delay wouldnt look so bad.Intriguingly, were at a time when the likes of the Galaxy and Pixel series have never felt more like iPhones. Or do iPhones feel like Android phones? Im not sure anymore. Either way, we havent seen rival devices mimic the Camera Control button.I appreciate that a lot of the new features and additions dont seem to clog up the iPhone experience. Dont care for camera filters? Youll rarely see them. Want to swap the Camera Control button for another function? Go ahead. Want to prioritize Messages notifications, but not WhatsApp messages? Go wild.With a light, strong titanium build, theres still a tangible premium feel to the iPhone 16 Pro, compared to the aluminum iPhone 16. The same can be said about the cameras, with a 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor and 5x optical zoom, which the base iPhone cannot match. Functionality-twise, the base iPhone 16 now delivers the Dynamic Island and Camera Control, which makes a pro iPhone a little harder to define. For the iPhone 16 series, it boils down to more premium materials and a powerful zoom camera.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-16-pro-longterm-review-apple-intelligence-134517480.html?src=rss

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