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Best Cloud Gaming Services

The dream of cloud gaming is the ability to play PC or console games on any device, anywhere, regardless of how low-power your hardware is. It promises you won't have to worry about updates, patches or upgrades. And the dream has come true to a large extent, making streaming games a reality. 

Cloud gaming has come far since the hype train left the station in 2018. There's still no guarantee that you'll have a seamless, consistent experience, but it has reached the point where it feels like you can sit down and start playing without getting bogged down by glitches -- at least most of the time. 

Network issues remain, but Wi-Fi 6 and 6E and 5G cell service have helped smooth over the rough spots. It's still not a great option, however, if you live in or travel to places somewhere with poor connectivity or if your broadband costs are exorbitant.

But from a gamers perspective, there are really only five major options dedicated to gaming, as opposed to general PCs-as-a-service, like Shadow, or closed-network solutions, like console remote play or Steam Link: Xbox Cloud Gaming (part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, one of our top game subscription services), Nvidia GeForce Now, PlayStation Plus Premium, Amazon Luna and Google Stadia. 

And of those five, only Xbox and GFN really deliver on the promise, though Luna has its high points. The only non-PlayStation that PlayStation Plus Premium works on is PCs. And while Stadia's got strong underlying technology, Google seems more interested in making money off the platform rather than a consumer service, and it's effectively let it languish.

The two top choices are completely different from one another as well. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate streams games from its subscription library, while GeForce Now streams games you already own, as long as they're supported. If you can afford it and already have a large library, they complement each other nicely.

Lori Grunin/CNET

Xbox Game Pass delivers something for everyone who plays games, making it a great option for many types of gamers. Though the feature is still technically in beta, it also delivers robust cloud gaming with the $15-a-month Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier ($1 promo price for the first month). In addition to all the Game Pass perks, it can stream to any device via dedicated apps (PC, some TVs, Android phones), browsers (for iPads, iPhones and Chromebooks) or Xbox. 

The library has close to 500 games, almost 400 of which are playable via the cloud, and that includes EA Play, with cloud support for quite a few of its games. That makes it one of the largest cloud-capable libraries available. And Game Pass offers some Xbox Game Studios games on day one -- the Studios produce a fair number of games -- and Microsoft says later this year it plans to expand support to allow you to play games you own via the cloud if they've left the service.

Some features, such as the frustrating "play with touch," feel like they're still in beta. Plus, as with many libraries, games come and go, and sometimes come again. It's also limited to 1080p at 60fps. 

Read our Xbox Game Pass review. 

Lori Grunin/CNET

Because of its smart set of plan options, solid performance and big and growing list of supported games, along with Nvidia's aggressive strategy for its data center and GPU businesses -- the bedrock on which GeForce Now is built -- it's a great choice for gamers who've amassed large game libraries and want to play them in more places. GeForce Now distinguishes itself from the competition because, in addition to a host of already free-to-play games, it lets you play games you've already paid for. It works primarily with Steam and Epic Games Store, but also GOG, and supports launchers for Ubisoft Connect and Origin. In other words, unlike all the others it doesn't require that you buy a special version of a game or stream games from a subscription library. 

It works, via an app or web browser, on Android; Windows and Mac OS; Chromebooks; Chrome, Safari (for iPad and iPhone) and Edge web browsers; and Some TVs natively, all TVs via Nvidia Shield. Plus, with a browser it can be coaxed to run on more novel devices as well, such as the Xbox or Valve Steam Deck. 

Pricing starts at free, basic 1080p streaming for hour-long sessions and ramps up to as much as $20 a month ($16.70 if you pay six months up front) for all the perks, including streams up to 4K/60fps HDR or 1440p/120fps for 8-hour sessions, ray tracing, priority server access and access to the highest-power servers.

Read our GeForce Now review. 

Screenshot by Lori Grunin/CNET

Given that it's the oldest service -- Sony launched PlayStation Now in 2014, then bought the assets of OnLive in 2015 -- you'd think Sony would have added a lot more capabilities. When it relaunched in a tiered plan model in June 2022, it incorporated a relatively large catalog of older titles and a refreshed version of PS Now, available in the $18 per month Premium plan ($10 per month if you pay annually). 

The non-console cloud gaming is strictly for PCs and only for a small subset of the catalog (and they're all PS4 or earlier games), via an app. And it doesn't include some of the desirable features of the service, such as the limited-time game demos, or features offered by other services, such as better-than-1080p quality and day-one availability.

Like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's Cloud Gaming, though, you can stream games to your console if you're strapped for storage space or want to try before you buy. 

How to Play PS Plus Premium Games on Your PC

Sarah Tew/CNET

Amazon Luna is less than two years old, and has expanded since it launched, but it seems to get no love from its parent company. It's nearly impossible to find the service on Amazon's site, though you'll see lots of promotion for the optional Luna Controller. You don't need Amazon's controller to play games through Luna, but the controller can connect directly to your Wi-Fi network for the lowest latency possible.

It works through an app (PC, Mac, Fire TV and Fire Tablet) or browser (PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android phone).

What makes it stand out is the large number of kid-friendly titles and its relatively granular parental controls for managing what they can or can't play. It's also joined at the hip with Prime Gaming, so you get the time-limited freebies and perks, plus integrated broadcasting via Twitch. Since it comes with a Prime subscription, if you're already a member you really don't lose anything.

It can get expensive, fast, though. The service is modeled after Prime Video. As a Prime member, you get access to the base games and the Luna Plus channel, which is essentially the core game library of a little more than 120 games-- you can also subscribe to it separately for $10 per month, with a seven day free trial. They're mostly older titles, without many AAA games. 

The rest comes in add-on channels, which currently include family ($6 a month), retro ($5 a month), Jackbox games ($5 a month) and Ubisoft Plus (a whopping $18 a month for less than 40 games). So if you're not a Prime member, the total monthly cost can range from $10 to $44. Quality tops out at 1080p and 60fps.

And unlike other services, you can't buy individual games in order to continue to play them via the cloud (like Stadia Pro) or locally (without losing progress) when they leave the rotation.

Read our Amazon Luna preview

Lori Grunin/CNET

Stadia will be three years old in November, but it seems like Google still hasn't figured out what to do with it as a service. The underlying technology is solid, but the service feels like it hasn't evolved at all in the interim, still offering only 51 titles for the subscription tier. Google shuttered its game studio over a year ago and in March the company launched its Immersive Stream for Games platform, which third parties can license in order to create their own streaming offerings .

There are only two tiers for Stadia: free and Pro. You can try Stadia Pro for a month free, and after that it's $10 a month. If you "buy" a Stadia game, you don't need to maintain your subscription to play it, but it will only play via Stadia. It runs in Chrome and it supports 4K and 60fps for a few of the titles.

It operates via an app on compatible Android phones, browsers (Chrome for PC and Mac, Safari for iPhone and iPad) or on a TV via a Chromecast Ultra.

One benefit of Google's push for third-party licensees is that Stadia has accumulated a nice-sized library of free game trials that you can play without an account. They're not very long -- they range from 30 minutes to 2 hours -- but they include higher-profile titles like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6.

More essential reading for gamers

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These Technologies Could Play a Big Role in the iPhone's Future

These Technologies Could Play a Big Role in the iPhone's Future

Social distancing during the height of the pandemic in 2020 was challenging for Lucy Edwards, a blind journalist and broadcaster based in the UK. So she tried the iPhone's People Detection feature, which uses the iPhone 12 Pro's and 13 Pro's lidar sensor to detect when other people are nearby and calculate their distance from the user. 

"I'm going to have to get used to it, but I'm really excited that I can be in control again," Edwards said in a BBC video from 2020 documenting her experience. 

Lidar , or light detection and ranging, is just one example of how the technology inside the iPhone has evolved in the last 15 years. When the first iPhone launched, on June 29, 2007, it had a 3.5-inch screen that would be considered minuscule by today's standards and a single 2-megapixel camera. Now Apple's most sophisticated phones come equipped with triple-rear cameras that are advanced enough to shoot films, sensors that help people like Edwards navigate the world and powerful chips with billions of transistors. We're expecting to learn about what's next for the iPhone at Apple's upcoming event on Sept. 7. 

The iPhone often served as a catalyst for the technologies introduced within, whether it's digital assistant Siri, mobile payments or wireless charging, and helped drive the evolution of how we live our mobile lives. But in the future, the most important part of the iPhone might be everything around it. That's according to analysts who've observed the mobile industry's general trends and Apple's strategy.   

In the short term, we're likely to see incremental improvements like higher quality cameras and giant displays. But over the next decade, the iPhone could evolve into a hub for smart glasses and other devices. AirPods, Apple Watches and CarPlay-enabled vehicles may be just the start. The iPhone's core elements, like its display and charging systems, are also expected to get a significant boost. 

"The next quest for the smartphone is to figure out what it will connect to next," said Runar Bjørhovde, an analyst with market research firm Canalys. "Because the smartphone has not necessarily reached its potential yet, but as a standalone device I think the smartphone is getting closer and closer to the edge." 

Your iPhone at the center of everything

There's plenty of speculation about what's next after the smartphone. The resounding consensus seems to be smart glasses, with companies like Meta, Snap and Google all working on their own version of high-tech spectacles. 

Apple is no exception; reports from Bloomberg indicate that the iPhone maker could debut a mixed reality headset this year or next that supports augmented and virtual reality technologies. A pair of AR-powered smart glasses could arrive later this decade, according to the report. 

So what does this have to do with the iPhone? Possibly everything. Even though Apple's headset is expected to function as a standalone device, the apps and services it runs would likely stem from the iPhone. 

Think of the Apple Watch. It doesn't need a nearby iPhone to function, but a large part of its appeal involves its ability to sync closely with Apple's phone. Many of the Apple Watch's notifications are also tied to accounts and apps that were set up on the iPhone. 

Whether it's a smart headset, the Apple Watch, AirPods or HomeKit-enabled appliances, analysts expect the phone to remain at the center.  

The iPhone will likely remain at the center of the Apple experience, serving as a hub for AirPods, the Apple Watch and possibly a pair of smart glasses one day.

Scott Stein/CNET

"The phone will be the anchor," said Gene Munster, managing partner for tech investment firm Loup Ventures and a longtime Apple analyst.

But it isn't just about connecting to new personal tech gadgets. Apple is gradually turning the iPhone into a viable replacement for the wallet, weaving it even more tightly into the nondigital aspects of our lives. 

Apple has made a lot of progress on this front over the past year by rolling out new features like digital IDs for Apple Wallet and Tap to Pay, which turns the iPhone into a contactless payment terminal for merchants without additional hardware. Apple also just announced Apple Pay Later, which lets Apple Pay users split a purchase into four equal installments paid over the course of six weeks. 

"It's clear that there's a lot of momentum within financial services with Apple, and I think we will see further advancements there," said Nick Maynard, head of research for Juniper Research. 

Better lidar, more advanced AI for better spatial awareness

Making educated guesses about Apple's general direction for the iPhone is certainly easier than pinpointing specific changes that might be coming. But analysts have some ideas based on the seeds Apple has planted in current iPhones. 

Lidar will likely continue to be important as the company pushes more deeply into augmented reality. Apple added lidar on the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020 to boost the performance of AR apps, enable new camera tricks and facilitate accessibility features like the aforementioned People Detection. The technology measures distance by determining how long it takes for light to reflect off an object and bounce back. 

Yet the iPhone's current lidar sensors might not be sophisticated enough to bring Apple's augmented reality ambitions to fruition, said Munster. 

"Specifically what needs to happen is the mapping of the real world needs to be more accurate," said Munster, whose firm conducts research on topics like augmented reality, autonomous vehicles and virtual reality. "And until that happens, AR isn't really going to happen."

The iPhone's People Detection feature uses lidar.

James Martin/CNET

Lidar improves the iPhone's depth-sensing skills, but it's still up to the phone's processor to make sense of all that data. Apple has leaned into artificial intelligence -- one of Silicon Valley's favorite buzzwords in recent years -- to give the iPhone and other products more context about users and their surroundings. 

Once again, you can look to the Apple Watch to see this approach at work. Apple's smartwatch uses artificial intelligence and data gathered from its sensors for tasks such as tracking your sleep and noticing when you're washing your hands. 

Hanish Bhatia, a senior analyst for Counterpoint Research, provided a hypothetical example of how AI improvements could one day manifest in upcoming iPhones. He envisions a future in which Apple's smartphone can observe a person's habits to understand whether the phone's primary user or a family member may be using the device. 

"The way you use your phone, at what angle your smartphone is tilted ... Do you press with a particular pressure, or do you just tap it with your nails or something like that?" he said as an example. "All of these are different types of behaviors which are very unique to a user."

Bhatia's example is speculative and doesn't reflect Apple's actual plans. But with advancements in AI and technologies like lidar and ultra wideband giving the iPhone more spatial awareness, it's easy to imagine a scenario like this.

Displays and charging tech could get a big change

Perhaps one of the biggest questions surrounding Apple's future smartphone plans is whether the company will ever create a foldable iPhone. Samsung, Apple's biggest rival in the mobile space, has already launched several generations of phones with flexible designs. Motorola, Huawei and Microsoft have all followed suit, and Google is rumored to be working on a bendable Pixel. Shipments of foldable smartphones are said to have increased by 264.3% in 2021 compared with 2020, according to The International Data Corporation.

But experts like Munster and Maynard are skeptical about whether Apple will take a similar approach. Though the tech giant has filedpatents for mobile devices with flexible displays, those filings aren't always indicative of Apple's plans. Sales of foldable phones have been growing, but shipments still pale in comparison with regular smartphones. (Research firm IDC estimates that 7.1 million foldable phones were shipped in 2021 compared with 362.4 million phones shipped in just the fourth quarter of last year). And then there's the question of whether foldable devices bring anything truly new or meaningful to the smartphone experience. 

There are also challenges with creating a true glass screen that's foldable, says Munster. Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip has a glass screen, but that glass is also combined with "a special material" to "achieve a consistent hardness," CNET reported in 2020.

"The piece that's missing from my perspective is how [Apple] would actually do it," Munster said.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 3 can fold in half.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The iPhone's charging experience is probably due for an upgrade too. Between USB-C, Lightning and MagSafe, it isn't an exaggeration to say that Apple's charging options are complicated. Maynard believes pressure from the European Union and US senators could mean a switch to USB-C might be in the iPhone's future.

But more dramatic changes could also be in the pipeline. Rumors about a completely portlessiPhone have swirled for years, and Maynard doesn't think it's totally out of the question.  

"I suspect if any vendor was going to launch a fully portless system, then it probably would be Apple," said Maynard, citing Apple's decision to remove the iPhone's headphone jack in 2016. 

Wireless charging has also been a focal point for Apple in recent years, further supporting the case for a port-free iPhone. There's Apple's relatively new MagSafe chargers, and many CarPlay-enabled vehicles also support wireless connections. Apple has also patented wireless charging systems that would be built directly into MacBooks, enabling Apple's laptops to charge iPhones, Apple Watches and iPads. The iPad Pro's Smart Connector also provides a quick and easy way to attach accessories to Apple's tablet without a port. 

"The number of systems that actually 100% must have a cable are diminishing," Maynard said. 

Apple's MagSafe battery pack wirelessly connects to the back of an iPhone.

Patrick Holland/CNET

Otherwise, analysts expect to see routine upgrades to the camera in the near term. Munster says there's room for improvement in the iPhone's front-facing camera, while Bhatia expects Apple to continue to use display size and camera quality to distinguish the regular iPhones from its Pro iPhones. 

It's impossible to know what's next for the iPhone without Apple's input. But experts seem certain on one thing: Apple is laying the groundwork for the iPhone's future today. Current iPhone features, like Apple's lidar-powered accessibility tools meant to help people like Edwards, could provide a clue about what's ahead. 

"Everything we can see that they've done over the last few years is a good hint of what's coming up next," said Bjørhovde. "Because a lot of what I think they do is setting themselves up for the systems they want to integrate the iPhone into in the years to come."

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Hidden Text Messages: How to Chat Secretly on an iPhone

Hidden Text Messages: How to Chat Secretly on an iPhone

It's human nature -- who hasn't sent something in a text message that they wished would disappear? There's a big difference between sending a message and sending a message that could be saved forever in posterity.

While there's still no way to send self-destructing text messages with your iPhone, a la Snapchat, you can use a built-in iPhone app to chat secretly using temporary messages.

The iPhone app Notes allows you to collaborate with others on notes, whether they're grocery store lists or collections of dad jokes. Anyone who's part of a collaborative note can edit in real time, which enables hidden conversations. You could have an incredibly long, personal conversation -- without any lasting proof that it ever existed.

To learn how to turn a note into a hidden conversation on iOS, here's what you need to know.

First, create a note in the Notes app

On your iPhone, launch the Notes app and tap the Compose button on the bottom right to create a new note. Next, type anything into the note to keep it, or else it'll automatically be deleted when you exit from the note. You can also just go into an existing note, but it's better to start fresh with a new one.

First, create a new note or go into an existing one.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Adjust your note's share options to add collaborators

Once your note is up and ready to go, you can begin the process of adding another person as collaborator, which means they can read and edit whatever is in the note. To start, tap the More button on the top right, and then hit Share Note.

Now tap Share Options and make sure the Can make changes option is selected under Permission. You should also toggle off Anyone can add people in case you want to be the only person who can add collaborators to your note. Go back to the last page when you're finished configuring these settings.

Second, manage what your collaborators can do.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Add friends you want to include and share the link

Next, choose a method to share the note: You can send it via text message, email, social media and more. If you swipe on the share options, you can also select Copy Link, which copies the note link to your clipboard and allows you to paste it wherever you want. 

For this example, I'll choose the Copy Link option to share the note.

At the top of the Copy Link page, enter the email address or phone number of the person you want to access the note. You can also tap the Add icon to search through your contacts. Adding a contact to the note is required -- if you share the link without adding a contact, the other person won't be able to see or edit the note, even with the link.

Lastly, hit CopyLink to copy the note link to your clipboard and share it with your collaborator.

Next, add your collaborator(s).

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Send secret messages using Notes

The other person, on the receiving end, must now open the note link and accept the invitation. If they accept, they'll be redirected to the Notes app and to the collaborative note you just created.

To communicate, simply type something into the note, which the other person will be able to see in real-time, without you having to hit send. They'll also receive a notification anytime the note is altered. 

Each person in the note will have a corresponding color appear (only for a moment) so that everyone else knows who typed what. You can also swipe right from the middle of the note to see the name of who wrote the message, as well as a timestamp for when the message was written and any corresponding colors. 

Now you can secretly communicate with your friends or family.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

You can also tap the Share Note button (with the checkmark icon), go to Manage Shared Note and then toggle on Highlight All Changes. That way, all messages will stay permanently highlighted in their corresponding color, making it easier to read the conversation.

And if you want to keep your communications more low-key, delete your message or the other person's message to strike it from the note. That way your conversation is more like it would be on Snapchat, with ephemeral or short-lived messages that outsiders can't see if they snoop through your notes. You can do this with any text in the notes, as well as photos, videos, links, drawings or any other attachments you add to the note.

Permanently delete your secret chat

Not all secret conversations can go on forever, and so it's time now to end it. 

If you're the owner of the note, and want to keep the note intact for everyone but prevent them from editing it, you can easily do so. On the top right, tap the View Participants button and then hit Manage Shared Note. To remove a participant, you can either swipe left on their name and then hit Remove or you can tap on their name and then tap Remove Access.

To end the notes conversation, remove any collaborators or stop sharing the note.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Additionally, you can tap the Stop Sharing option, which will not only remove participants from the note, but also delete the note from all of their devices.

If you're not the owner of the note, you can just delete the note from the Notes application.

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Amid War in Ukraine, Should Ordinary Russians Be Banned From Trading Crypto?

Amid War in Ukraine, Should Ordinary Russians Be Banned From Trading Crypto?

This story is part of War in Ukraine, CNET's coverage of events there and of the wider effects on the world.

As Russia's war on Ukraine intensifies, the US and its allies have continued to increase their economic pressure on the Russian government, to isolate the country further from the global financial system and debilitate its military capacity. Western allies have frozen Russian assets abroad, removed Russian banks from international banking networks and even banned all gas and oil imports, among other unprecedented penalties. But there's still growing concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters might turn to cryptocurrencies to avoid economic sanctions.

With their ability to operate as alternatives to the traditional financial system, cryptocurrency exchanges -- digital marketplaces where you can buy and trade digital currencies -- have become an effective option both for Ukraine supporters to raise funds for relief efforts and for ordinary Russians to seek financial shelter from the economic sanctions imposed on their country.

That's why both the Ukrainian government and advocates for even further economic penalties against Russia have become increasingly vocal about the role crypto exchanges can play in the conflict. Hundreds of Western businesses, such as oil companies Shell and BP and tech players Netflix and Microsoft, have scaled back or halted their dealings in Russia since the beginning of the war. And some people argue that similarly stopping crypto operations in the country could significantly weaken Putin's hold on Russia's economy and its citizens.

"I'm asking all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users," Ukraine's vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted Feb. 28. "It's crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians but also to sabotage ordinary users." 

Fedorov also sent letters to eight cryptocurrency exchanges, including two of the largest by volume, Coinbase and Binance, asking them to stop offering service to Russian users out of concern digital currencies are being used to evade sanctions.

The response was swift. 

"We are not preemptively banning all Russians from using Coinbase," CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted March 3. "We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise." And hours after getting Fedorov's letter, a Binance spokesperson told CNBC, "We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users' accounts. Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe. To unilaterally decide to ban people's access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists."

But the CEOs of several exchanges, including some that got Fedorov's letter, said that though they'll continue to offer access to ordinary Russians, they're complying with US law in regard to sanctions. On March 7, Coinbase reportedly said that to facilitate sanctions enforcement, it had blocked more than 25,000 wallet addresses related to Russian individuals or entities thought to have engaged in illicit activity and had reported them to the US government.

"Some ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed. Many of them likely oppose what their country is doing, and a ban would hurt them, too."

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

Ukraine's request for an all-out ban on Russian users, and the unequivocal rejection from most regulated crypto exchanges, has sparked a debate about the responsibilities digital currency platforms have in an international conflict. As a growing number of Western companies decide to stop conducting business in Russia, should crypto exchanges follow suit and go beyond what they're required to do by law? And even if they did, would banning all Russian users from crypto exchanges make a difference in slowing down Russia's invasion of Ukraine?

Some crypto specialists interviewed by CNET, including executives from crypto companies and public officials working to prevent Russia from using digital assets to sidestep economic sanctions, said a full Russian ban from crypto platforms could do more harm than good in regard to ordinary Russians. And some said the volume of the whole crypto market is still too small to really help Putin's government counter the impact of Western economic penalties, even if it tried.

But other experts on the role the private sector can play in global conflicts said bringing the Russian economy to a standstill is the one nonmilitary way to thwart Putin's advance on Ukraine, and that crypto exchanges can contribute to that only if they stop operating in Russia altogether. 

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that are recorded on a blockchain, a distributed digital ledger that can't be altered. They usually aren't backed by an underlying asset, such as fiat currency. That's why they could be an ideal safe haven amid a wave of economic sanctions. 

Why crypto exchanges won't budge on Russia

In refusing to kick ordinary Russians off their platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges argue that the move would further hurt Russian citizens who are suffering from the economic impact of the war and who might consider buying cryptocurrencies as a way to protect their financial standing.

"We all saw those photos of runs on ATMs from Russian citizens -- lines around the block in Moscow," said Todd Conklin, counselor to the deputy secretary of the US Treasury Department. "One would suspect ordinary citizens may have been looking for an alternative to the ruble." Conklin made the remarks during a March 4 webinar hosted by blockchain analytics company TRM Labs about the possibility Russia could use cryptocurrencies to avoid economic sanctions. 

The ruble, Russia's national currency, has lost nearly 50% of its value against the US dollar since the start of the year, according to Reuters. Other parts of Russia's financial system have also been impacted by the West's pressure on the country to stop its aggression on Ukraine. Digital payment services such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay aren't available in Russia any longer. Visa, Mastercard and PayPal also halted operations in the country. Ordinary Russian citizens, worried that economic sanctions will devastate the Russian economy even further, have flocked to ATMs and banks, seeking to withdraw as much cash as possible before it might be too late. 

"Some ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed," Armstrong, the Coinbase CEO, tweeted. "Many of them likely oppose what their country is doing, and a ban would hurt them, too."

As long as US crypto businesses are complying with US laws in ensuring that sanctioned individuals or entities aren't using their platforms, "crypto could be a vital lifeline for ordinary Russians to preserve their savings [and] receive familial remittances," Michael Parker said in an email. Parker is a former federal prosecutor who's now head of anti-money laundering and sanctions practice at Ferrari & Associates, a Washington, DC-based law firm.

Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of Kraken Exchange, another crypto platform, tweeted that though he understood the rationale behind Ukraine's request to remove all Russians from crypto exchanges, Kraken "cannot freeze the accounts of our Russian clients without a legal requirement to do so." 

"I would guess that the vast majority of crypto holders on @krakenfx are anti-war," Powell tweeted. "#Bitcoin is the embodiment of libertarian values, which strongly favor individualism and human rights."

Given the anti-authority libertarian streak that fuels so much of the cryptocurrency sector, the refusal from crypto exchange executives to stop operations in Russia isn't surprising, said Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who's the president of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute, a nonprofit focused on CEO leadership and corporate governance.

Crypto executives don't like "being told what to do," Sonnenfeld said. "And yet, there's a striking naivete [in] that they are working in support of [Putin], the greatest autocrat alive today, the most restricted world leader, [who] they are tacitly supporting by enabling a bypass, if it's even for the cognoscenti, for elites and for oligarchs, if it was as limited as some claim."

Sonnenfeld said that the reason more than 300 Western companies have pulled out of Russia so far isn't that the government told them to do so. "It's the maverick streak of these CEOs who pulled out and started this thundering herd," he said, "courageous CEOs who had the moral character to pull out."

What a full ban on Russia would and wouldn't do

Some specialists said that blocking all Russians from crypto would not only potentially inflict damage on millions of innocent citizens, but it would also do little to amplify the West's sanctions on Russia's economy. The reason? Russia doesn't have the digital infrastructure to tap into crypto assets at a level required to outmaneuver the economic penalties already imposed by the US and its allies.

"You can't flip a switch overnight and run a G20 economy on cryptocurrency," Conklin said during the webinar hosted by blockchain intelligence company TRM. He explained that in recent years, Russia has worked to bolster the ruble and build up its reserves, instead of laying the rails needed to support crypto. That's why US economic sanctions have been focused on preventing Russia from accessing the reserves it keeps overseas. "Big banks in an economy need real liquidity," Conklin said. "Conducting large-scale transactions in virtual currency is likely to be slow and expensive."

Anthony Citrano, founder of Los Angeles-based NFT platform Acquicent, pointed to crypto prices as a clue to what's going on. "If the Russian government really were using crypto as a major piece of their international finance strategy, you'd expect to see absolutely explosive growth in prices of major crypto [currencies]," he said, "which we have not seen. Time will tell, but for now there is zero evidence this is happening."

"If you can show [Putin] to be truly impotent over the economy, that he doesn't have control over civil society, then he and the oligarchs fall flat on their face, and that's what cryptocurrency mavericks can do."

Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

Former federal prosecutor Ari Redbord, who's now head of legal and government affairs at TRM, said the economic sanctions levied so far have been so "serious and so draconian in their measures" that Russia would need much more than crypto assets to counterbalance them. "We're talking about [the] potential loss of, or no access to, hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen [Russian] Central Bank assets. We're talking about $1.5 trillion in potential trade losses," he said. "The entire crypto market cap doesn't approach what ultimately Russia would need to prop up a G20 [economy] government and fight what is going to become a more and more costly war."

But that doesn't mean the Russian government or Putin's supporters won't try to use crypto to circumvent economic sanctions. "Russian actors are very adept at money laundering and have been for a long time," Redbord said. In the case of crypto, they'll be looking for "noncompliant exchanges in order to move those funds." 

Such exchanges include platforms like Suex, which was blacklisted by the Biden administration in September for allegedly helping launder ransomware payments. TRM has identified about 340 exchanges that are either in Russia or Russia-related and don't have compliance controls in place, "and that is where illicit actors will look to move on as on-ramps and off-ramps for crypto," Redbord said.

Those digital platforms are already operating outside the law, though. For any US business, including businesses in the crypto industry, "there is still a full compliance obligation to not deal with sanctioned parties or interests in blocked property," said Parker, from Ferrari & Associates. "US crypto businesses must, and largely do, institute robust compliance programs, including advanced analytics software, to ensure legal compliance with US sanctions."

Bringing Russia to a standstill

Yale's Sonnenfeld argues that it's beside the point whether Putin and his supporters can actually get their hands on enough digital assets to offset the impact of Western sanctions. He said that by halting all operations in Russia, crypto exchanges could contribute to putting even more pressure on Putin's government, until it reaches a tipping point.

"Government-ordered sanctions have limits," Sonnenfeld said, even if they're a coordinated effort between multiple international actors, including the US, the EU, the UK, Australia, Japan and the UN. "They work best when voluntary efforts of the private sector rally."

That's what happened in South Africa in the late 1980s, Sonnenfeld said, when international pressure contributed to putting an end to apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation that had ruled the country for more than 40 years. Economic sanctions imposed by the US government had an effect only when dozens of major private companies joined in. "It brought civil society to a stop/standstill," he said.

Sonnenfeld and his research team at Yale compiled a list of companies that continued operating in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. After the publication of a Washington Post story that mentioned that McDonald's and Starbucks were on the list, both chains announced plans to stop operating in Russia. Since the list was created and made public, it now shows "over 330 companies [that] have announced their withdrawal from Russia in protest" of the Ukraine war.

For Sonnenfeld, paralyzing Russia's economy is the only nonmilitary option the West has against Putin's advances on Ukraine.

"The humanitarian thing to do is to not go with bombs and bullets, and to strangle civil society" and dissolve Putin's image of being a totalitarian with full control over all sectors, he said. "If you can show him to be truly impotent over the economy, that he doesn't have control over civil society, then he and the oligarchs fall flat on their face, and that's what cryptocurrency mavericks can do" should they decide to halt operations in Russia. "They can be really helpful here." 

Allowing ordinary Russians to have access to digital assets through crypto exchanges is "not doing anything humanitarian," Sonnenfeld said. "People should be thrown out of work, they should be out on the street" due to an economic collapse brought on by government-ordered sanctions and to private companies denying Russian citizens access to services, goods and money. "Is that cruel?" Sonnenfeld said. "No, it is better than shooting them, than bombing them -- and that's the stage we're at right now."

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The Trick to Reheating Your Leftovers so They Taste Good as New

The Trick to Reheating Your Leftovers so They Taste Good as New

This story is part of Home Tips, CNET's collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.

When you're trying to warm up leftovers, it might seem like the most logical and convenient tactic is to pop them in the microwave. But if you prefer your fries crispy and your meat tender, there are vastly more effective tools to reheat last night's dinner -- from specific types of skillets to a trusty air fryer.

Adding an air fryer to your kitchen arsenal may feel like an upfront cost, but these budget-friendly superconvection ovens reheat foods such as pizza and bone-in chicken better than any method I've tried. Plus, they'll save money on your energy bill over time. Warming other foods like noodles and rice dishes in a nonstick frying pan will keep them from getting mushy or rubbery.

Making sure leftovers don't go to waste is one way to cut costs around the home. And with everything more expensive than ever, it'll help stretch your food budget and give you dough back to save or spend elsewhere. 

Here are the best ways to reheat every type of cuisine.

Read more: This Meal Kit Hack Gets You Months of Meals for $3 a Serving

Microwaves are terrible at reheating food

The microwave is the appliance most commonly employed to reheat leftovers, but I'd also contend that it's the worst. Aside from foods like soup, plain rice or mashed potatoes, anything that comes out of the microwave is almost certainly going to have a degree of rubberiness that it didn't have when it went in.

Move away from the microwave and toward better leftovers.

Molly Price/CNET

"But it's so much faster!" you say. Is it though? Most of the methods outlined below take less than two or three minutes. Plus, microwaves are prone to messy explosions. If you have to clean your microwave after reheating food, it's definitely not a time-saver. 

Noodles, pasta and rice dishes
Best way to reheat: Nonstick skillet

This wide-ranging category of classic takeout cuisines includes Italian pasta dishes, Indian curries with rice, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean noodles and Chinese stir-fries. Really we're talking about any dish featuring a starch like rice or noodles with diced vegetables, protein and a sauce. The one thing they all have in common is that they're best reheated in a nonstick skillet or wok. 

A quick spin in a nonstick skillet is the best way to reheat pasta, noodles and rice dishes. 

Kilito Chan/Getty

A microwave tends to overcook pasta and noodles and will likely turn your chicken, shrimp or sliced beef into rubber. Instead, just throw the whole thing in a nonstick skillet on medium heat. Toss intermittently and in a few minutes, you'll have something nearly as good as when it first showed up at your table or door the night before. And nonstick pans typically take all of 15 seconds to rinse clean. 

For rice dishes, consider a stainless-steel, carbon-steel or cast-iron skillet to get crispy rice.

Read more: Is Teflon Nonstick Cookware Safe to Use?

Pizza and flatbread
Best way to reheat: Air fryer

There are a handful of reasons I love my air fryer but none more notable than for reheating leftovers. Microwaves absolutely destroy pizza, so let's cross that one off. Even toaster ovens take far too long, in my experience, and end up drying the pizza out by the time it's heated through.

Why so sad, cold pizza?

David Watsky/CNET

The quick blast of an air fryer's superconvection will reheat your pizza to crispy perfection in about two minutes at 400 degrees F, depending on how large and thick it is. Be sure to use the basket or grate or else the hot, flat bottom of the air fryer basket could burn the bottom of your slice. 

I personally won't heat leftover pizza any other way, and I suggest you don't either. And if you didn't have enough reasons to spring for one, air fryers use way less energy than a big oven.

Two minutes in the air fryer: Now that's more like it.

David Watsky/CNET

Read more: The 5 Best Air Fryers for 2022

Fried chicken, french fries and other fried food
Best way to reheat: Air fryer

Leftover fried foods have historically been one of the most difficult to bring back to life. Enter the air fryer, which can revive fried chicken, fried dumplings, mozzarella sticks and even french fries like nothing else in the kitchen. Similar to pizza, it'll take only a few minutes to heat through and you should have a crispy outer shell just like when the fried food was initially cooked. 

For thicker pieces of chicken, use a lower temperature around 325 to 350 degrees F for three minutes or so to ensure you don't burn the outside before the center has time to warm through.

If you thought it was impossible to revive leftover fried foods such as chicken and crinkle fries, think again.

Ry Crist/CNET

Side note: Beyond reheating fried chicken, a good air fryer also makes delicious "fried" chicken and other foods with far less oil than traditional methods.

Steak, pork chops, burgers and grilled fish
Best way to reheat: Cast-iron skillet

Cuts of meat, including steak and pork chops, are another food that can be tough to resuscitate. Fear not, because there is a way. While reheating grilled steak or fish in an air fryer or oven isn't impossible, you're likely to dry the meat out. Instead, I suggest re-searing it quickly in a covered hot cast-iron skillet for no more than one minute on each side. The hot surface of the skillet should give life back to the crust. Keeping it covered will help warm it through before the pan heat has time to overcook it. For delicate fish, you might want to use a nonstick skillet to keep the flesh from sticking or falling apart.

Often, the way in which food was cooked is also the best way to reheat it. For steaks, pork and burgers, be sure to cover the skillet so it heats through faster.

David Watsky/CNET

Fair warning: These types of reheated foods will never be quite as good as when you first pulled them from the grill, pan or plancha, but this method should leave them more than edible. 

Braised, roasted or slow-cooked meat
Best way to reheat: Covered skillet with broth

Braised dishes such as chicken in wine sauce or short ribs should be reheated in a way that mimics how they were cooked. Just heat them gently for a few minutes in a covered nonstick or stainless steel pan with an ounce or two of water or chicken stock. The hot liquid will warm and revive the braised or slow-roasted meat, giving it back its juicy tenderness. 

A covered skillet with a splash of chicken stock is the best way to reheat leftover braised food.

Hestan Culinary

For more ways to save money in the kitchen, consider opting for cheaper cuts of steak, switching to store-brand groceries and learning how to spot a value wine.

More kitchen intel

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Best apps to put on kids' phones to keep them safe online this summer

Best apps to put on kids' phones to keep them safe online this summer

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the

WHO

and

CDC

websites.

School systems are formulating reopening plans amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and families are reshaping their summer schedules to adhere to safety regulations. Parents balancing working from home with caring for school-age kids need ways to keep their brood entertained. 

Read more: Our favorite back to school picks for 2020

With the surge in digital learning and not being able to visit friends in person, many kids are spending more time on their phones and computers. The safety concerns for kids online haven't lessened, but learning about parental controls and safety apps can help bring some peace of mind to parents. 

Here are a few parental control apps we think are a good idea to consider putting on your child's phone or computer.

Read more: Best kids tablet for 2020: Amazon Fire, Apple iPad and more compared 

Net Nanny

Net Nanny/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Net Nanny is an app that uses AI to block questionable or dangerous content before your child sees it. The app can filter certain websites and monitors your child's digital activity, and can also monitor and limit screen time. The software's Family Feed feature can report what your child is searching online and what apps your child uses and can alert you to content such as pornography, weapons and drugs. 

Net Nanny is compatible with Android and iOS, as well as Windows, Mac and Fire. The software costs $55 per year to cover PC, Mac and mobile for a five-device family. Net Nanny also offers a $40 annual plan to cover one Mac desktop and a 20-device protection package for $90 per year.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Net Nanny also offers a dedicated filter to block coronavirus sites and searches to help kids who might feel anxious. 

Read more: 7 parental controls you can use right now on your kid's iPhone

Bark

Bark/ Screenshot by Shelby Brown/ CNET

Bark is another option for parents who want to keep kids safe online. The app monitors texts and emails, along with YouTube and over 30 social media networks for questionable content your child might be searching or viewing. Bark sends parents alerts if it detects signs of cyberbullying, depression, online predators, adult content and more. You can also decide which platforms you want to monitor, if you want to give your child some privacy. The app recently launched a new screen-time management feature so parents can monitor their kids' accounts as well as set screen time limits from the same app. 

Bark has a seven-day free trial and then costs $14 a month ($99 annually) per family with iOS and Android devices. You can also subscribe to Bark Jr, the company's entry-level product, for $5 a month ($49 annually). Bark Jr focuses on screen time management, website filtering and location check-ins.

OurPact

OurPact

The OurPact parenting app helps families balance screen time for free on iOS and Android devices. The app lets parents limit access to certain apps, filter websites, enable GPS monitoring, and schedule screen time and recurring activities like bedtime. It also allows parents to block or grant internet and app access at anytime. 

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, OurPact said that it's offering three months free access to premium features, normally $7 per month. Premium can manage up to 20 devices, keep tabs on all the apps on your child's device and mark as Always Blocked, Per Schedule and Always Allowed. Premium also enables a spendable screen time allowance, the family locator feature and geo-fence creator for alerts, text blocking and web filters. 

Typically, OurPact's base plan is free and offers one schedule, and five blocks and unlimited grants for one device. OurPact also has a Plus plan for $2 per month that offers unlimited schedules, and manual blocks and grants for 10 devices.

SafeToNet

SafeToNet/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Kids will be communicating over devices while in lockdown since they can't see their friends. The SafeToNet app, which is now available on iOS and Android in the US, has a safeguarding keyboard powered by AI to judge, guide and advise a child in real time as they search for content and message others. The app's goal is to help the child become more responsible and safe online without feeling like they don't have any privacy. 

Parents won't be able to see what's being written, but can view insights like the time of day when high-risk messages are sent and the top five apps used by their child. SafeToNet can show what issues the child most struggles with, too. 

The software will flag certain messages if the AI detects bullying, abuse, aggression or sexting, for example. SafeToNet gives the child a moment to pause before sending a message they can't take back. Plus, the app provides breathing exercises when anxiety is detected, lessons about self-esteem and an emotion diary.

To help during the pandemic, SafeToNet is offering its services free to families for the next 30 days. 

Google Family Link

Google/ Screenshot by Shelby Brown/ CNET

Google Family Link lets you create a Google account for your child (if they're under 13 years old) with access to most Google services, including Gmail and Photos. If your child is over 13, they have to consent to using Google Family Link. The app lets parents keep track of their kid's Google account and guide them to age-appropriate content. Parents can also approve or deny which apps their kids want to download. Family Link shows parents apps that teachers recommend, which parents can add directly to the child's phone. 

The service is compatible with Chromebook, iOS and Android. It includes other parental controls such as screen time limits, locking the phone for family time and location tracking.

Read more: 

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Huawei phones can no longer preinstall Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp

Huawei phones can no longer preinstall Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp

Facebook has slapped Huawei with yet another ban by no longer letting the embattled Chinese phone marker preinstall its apps.

Huawei phone owners will still be able to download and update Facebook's apps, but fresh Huawei devices can't come with Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram apps preinstalled, as previously reported by Reuters.

"We are reviewing the Commerce Department's final rule and the more recently issued temporary general license and taking steps to ensure compliance," a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement confirming the move.

In May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively banning Huawei from US communications networks, because of national security concerns about Huawei's close relationship with the Chinese government. Soon afterward, Google cut Huawei off from future Android updates, before temporarily resuming work.

The US is also urging its allies not to do business with Huawei. The company has consistently denied that its products are used for spying, and its chairman said this week that Huawei is willing to sign a "no-spy agreement" with the US.

Huawei didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

First published at 1:44 a.m. PT.
Updated at 3:10 a.m. PT: Adds Facebook statement.

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