Use this hidden gesture to drag and drop multiple items at once

You might be familiar with all the ways you can swipe and slide around iPadOS to get things done. But if you’re still dragging and dropping files and photos one-by-one, you should know you can move multiple items at once.

When you tap and hold to select one item, drag your fingers out from the file to “pick” it up, but don’t let go just yet. With another finger, tap to pick up as many more files, photos, or links as you wish. They’ll all get collected under the finger you’re holding on to. Then, use your free hand to go to the Home Screen and open the app you want to drop everything off (like Notes or Mail). Once you let go, all the files will follow suit. This works within the Files app as well, which makes it a great way to move multiple files together. If you’re using the latest iPadOS version, you’ll also see a progress bar for transferring files at the top of the screen.

Use “Windowed Apps” to turn your iPad into a computer

With iPadOS 26, Apple finally introduced true windowed multitasking. You can now have up to 12 apps open at the same time, all with their own free-floating windows. But it’s not the default state, so if you’re still using your iPad as-is, you’ll have to shift gears into Windowed Apps mode. You can do this from Settings > Multitasking & Gestures, but there’s a faster way from wherever you are in iPadOS. Open Control Center, tap the new Multitasking toggle and switch to Windowed Apps mode.

Now, every app on the screen, even a full-screen one, will have a little handle in the bottom-right corner, which you can pull to make the window larger or smaller. You can grab the top toolbar from any app to move it around. Apple also included the “Stop Light” controls from Mac here: Tap on them to close, minimize, or maximize the app. If you tap and hold the Stop Light buttons, you’ll also get an option to move or arrange the window into a grid layout, like the Mac.

Use this gesture for quick side-by-side app views

Coming from the iPhone, you might be familiar with some multitasking gestures. You swipe up to go Home, and you can swipe on the Home bar to switch between apps. These exist on the iPad too, but iPadOS adds more gestures to the mix.

One of the best new gestures added in iPadOS 26 is the flick gesture. Pick up a window when you’re in Windowed Apps mode, and just flick it to the right or the left of the screen. The window will then automatically resize itself to fit to half of the screen. When two apps are docked like this, you’ll see a new handlebar appear. You can drag it to resize the window split (going to a 70/30 split is a great ratio for multitasking, as one app essentially goes down to iPhone size).

There are more gestures to know about, too. Using four or five fingers, swipe left or right on the screen to switch between apps, or app pairs. Swipe up and hold to enter app switcher mode (and to see a preview of all open apps). And of course you can swipe up with four fingers to go home. You can also swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the Menu bar at any time.

Change this setting to make the Files app more like Finder on Mac

The iPad’s Files app is not exactly like the Finder on the Mac, but with iPadOS 26, it’s more similar than ever. You finally have background processing, so you can monitor large file transfers from the top toolbar in the Files app, or from Live Activities.

But to get the most out of the Files app, you should turn to a different view. From the top toolbar you can now switch from the default Icons view to either a List view or a Column view. Column view is like Finder, where you can drill down into a folder structure while still maintaining easy access to top folders in columns to the left. On the other hand, if you manage a lot of files, and you like to see all file information, along with sort options, you should try List view. You can sort based on name, date created, date modified, size, or tags. And you can add or remove columns to customize exactly what shows up.

Use “Sidecar” to turn your iPad into a second screen

If you work on your Mac most of the time, you can still use the iPad as a copilot. Apple has a built-in feature called Sidecar that turns the iPad into a second screen—no wires or setup needed. Just make sure that Handoff on your iPad is enabled (and that you’re using wifi and not tethering). To enable Handoff, go to Settings > General > Airplay & Handoff > Handoff.

Make sure the iPad is unlocked and nearby. Then, go to Control Center > Screen Mirroring and pick the iPad from your list. To use it as an external monitor, choose the Use As Separate Display option. If you want to use the iPad as a drawing surface for a Mac app, with Apple Pencil support, choose the Mirror Display option instead.

You can now move freely between the iPad screen and the Mac. To arrange the layout for the screens, go to System Settings > Displays. For more tips, take a look at our detailed guide on using Sidecar.

Use your iPad’s hidden “iPhone” keyboard to type with one hand

The software keyboard takes up half of the screen when you’re trying to take notes in the Notes app. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you need to see more of the screen, you can turn the full-size keyboard into an iPhone keyboard using a simple gesture. Just pinch in with two fingers in the middle of the keyboard to switch to a floating mini-keyboard. You can drag it anywhere you please. (Alternatively, long-press the keyboard icon in the bottom right, then choose “Floating.”)

Use Slide Over to pin a window to the top of the screen

You can pin an app to the top of the screen using Slide Over if you want to refer to something else for a task (without shifting gears into the multitasking mode). First, you need to be in either Stage Manager or Windowed Mode. Then, open an app, long-press on the Stop Lights control in the top left, then tap “Enter Slide Over.” The app will shift to the side, and will always remain there, even when switching between apps. You can even resize the Slide Over window to make it as big or small as you want. You can hide the current Slide Over window by swiping the window to the edge of the screen. A small arrow button will appear in its place, which you can use to bring the window back. If you have a keyboard attached, use the keyboard shortcut Globe + Option + Right Arrow to send an app to Slide Over mode.

Edit your handwritten text with Apple Pencil gestures

If you’re writing a note with your Apple Pencil, and you make a mistake, you might think you need to switch to the eraser mode, erase the error, then switch back to the pen mode to keep writing. There are other ways, however.

To remove an error, just scratch or scribble over a word or sentence to delete it. To rearrange handwritten text, you can draw a circle around a word to pick it up. Then, you can move the word around and place it where you’d like it to go. If two words are too close to each other, you can draw a vertical slice between them to insert some space. Similarly, just press and hold the Pencil in between two words to insert text in the middle.

Change default apps for your frequently used file types

For years, when you’d open a file on your iPad, it would open in the app of Apple’s choice. If you wanted to open the file in a different app, you’d have to open that app first, then select the file to open. Luckily, that’s a thing of the past. The Files app now has an option to choose default apps for particular file types, just like your Mac.

Open the Files app, then find a file type that you want to change (for example, always opening PNG files in Pixelmator instead of the Preview app). Tap and hold on the file, then tap “Get Info.” Here, choose “Always Open With,” and switch to a different app from the list. Apple will bring up a confirmation box. Here, select “Always Open.” The next time you tap on the file with the particular file extension, it will open in the app of your choice.

Add folders to the Dock to access your files anywhere

With iPadOS 26, Apple added a Mac-inspired folder system directly to the Dock, where a folder expands to show recently added files right on top of your screen. When multitasking on your iPad, you might routinely need to drag and drop files from Downloads or your work folder. You can add that folder directly to the Dock to quickly access the files within, without even opening the Files app.

From the Files app, press and hold any folder that you want to add to the Dock, and tap “Add to Dock.” Or, you can simply drag and drop a folder to the Dock itself. Now, when you tap the folder icon in the Dock, you’ll see recently added files, or folders within it. You can then drag and drop any file you see here onto any app, or you can open the folder using the Open Folder option at the top of the file’s preview.

M3 iPad Air owners should not get too excited—there’s nothing notable here other than the presence of the more powerful M4 chip, which will may offer a noticeable efficiency boost over its predecessor. That’s likely due to having one more efficiency core than the M3 Air. The biggest difference, however, is the extra 4GB of RAM (12GB total). This means you can multitask for longer with multiple tabs and apps running.

According to Apple, this new iPad should be up to 30% faster than the previous generation, although we won’t know for sure until reviewers have tested it out. Other upgrades include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and compatibility with the Thread smart home standard. The other specs are the same: 12MP rear and front cameras, USB-C connectivity with Touch ID, 10 hours of video playback, and 128GB of storage for the base model.

If you still have the M3 iPad or another recent iPad, it’s probably not worth upgrading. However, if you have an older iPad (or none at all), this is a good opportunity to get Apple’s latest iPad for the best price you’re likely to see for a while.

The thing is, Runna isn’t uniquely to blame. Running injuries are extremely common. Studies consistently estimate that somewhere between 27 and 52% percent of runners experience at least one injury per year, usually due to overuse. At the same time, there are real mistakes that people make when blindly trusting app-based training plans. Here’s what to know to avoid injury so you can stay running strong.

Understand the logic behind the training plan (and adjust as needed)

I’ve previously written about how to choose and trust a training plan, along with recommendations for resources that are completely free and widely trusted (like Hal Higdon’s here). Whenever I have a race on the horizon, I need to understand why my plan works the way it does. It’s important for me to understand the logic behind my mileage, so that I can always stay in touch with my body and make informed decisions as the weeks go by.

In this vein, I think the Runna app is genuinely good—it builds personalized training plans, adjusts to your fitness level, and makes structured training accessible to people who previously had no idea where to start. But if you follow an app’s training plan without listening to your body, the app will not stop you from pushing yourself too hard. That means you are always the last line of defense—and with any training plan, that responsibility doesn’t go away just because an all-knowing algorithm built your schedule. Across social media, this seems especially risky for two groups of runners:

• Beginners who don’t yet have the experience to recognize warning signs. When you’re new to structured training, it’s hard to distinguish between normal soreness and something more dangerous. The enthusiasm of having a plan can override the quieter signals your body is sending.
• Aspiring influencers and highly motivated runners who have built an identity around consistency and hitting their targets. For this group, rest days and missed sessions feel like failure. 

If you understand the reasoning behind your runs, you’ll be able to adapt your plan to your needs over time. My issue with programs like Runna is when individual runners aren’t bringing enough wisdom and skepticism into their relationship with the app.

Watch for these warning signs in any training plan

I will say, Runna’s default plans are not exactly conservative. They’re designed to get results, which typically means progressive overload—gradually increasing mileage and intensity week over week. For a runner who has built a solid base, this is fine. For a runner who has overstated their current fitness, or who is coming back from time off, the default settings could be way too aggressive. 

Specific things to watch for:

• Week-over-week mileage jumps that exceed 10%. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but in personal experience, it holds up. Generally speaking, you should never increase your mileage more than 10% from week to week. If a training plan is pushing you beyond that, pay extra close attention to how your body responds.
• Back-to-back hard sessions. If you’re not recovering well between tough workouts, that’s a signal worth acting on.
• Insufficient easy running. Many runners who use Runna—especially those who are newer to structured training—end up running too much of their mileage at moderate effort, rather than truly easy. Easy really does mean easy: You should be able to hold a full conversation. If your “easy” runs feel like honest work, slow down, even if the pace targets suggest otherwise.

Luckily, you can adjust the intensity of your plan in Runna. Open the “plan” tab of your app, head to “manage plan” and select “training preferences,” which Runna explains here.

Always pay attention to these signs of a running injury

This is the non-negotiable list. No plan—AI-generated or otherwise—is worth running through these:

• Sharp or localized pain during a run. Some soreness is normal, but a specific point of pain that gets worse as you run is not.
• Pain that changes your gait. If you’re limping, compensating, or noticeably favoring one side, your body is asking you to stop in the only language it has.
• Pain that is worse the morning after a hard session than it was during the run. Post-run soreness that peaks 24–48 hours later is typical. Pain that is sharper the next morning than it was mid-run could be a red flag.
• Bone pain on impact. Any pain that feels deep, localized to a bone (shin, foot, hip), and is triggered specifically by the impact of your foot striking the ground might warrant real medical attention. Stress fractures are terrible news and all too common in people who ramp mileage too fast.
• Persistent joint pain. Knees, hips, and ankles that hurt run after run, even on easy days, are telling you that your training load exceeds your current ability to recovery.

If any of these show up, the right move is not to finish the session and reassess. The right move is to stop, rest, and if the symptom persists, see someone.

This is the best way to use Runna

At the end of the day, think of Runna the way you’d think of a GPS: an excellent navigational tool that still requires a driver who’s paying attention to the road. Here’s a practical framework:

1. Be honest about your starting point. Runna can only work with the information you give it. If you overstate your current weekly mileage or recent race times, you will get a plan that assumes a fitness level you don’t have.
2. Treat the first two weeks as a test. Are the easy runs actually easy? Are you recovering between sessions? Is the total weekly volume a stretch but manageable, or is it immediately overwhelming? Adjust as you go.
3. Use those “training preferences” settings. If you’re struggling, dial it back.
4. Add recovery weeks deliberately. Good training plans include scheduled “down weeks” with reduced mileage to allow adaptation. Make sure your Runna plan includes these, and if you’re feeling beat up heading into one, treat it as mandatory, not optional.
5. Run your easy days truly easy. I’ll say it again and again: Most runners run their easy days too hard. Try to run slower than you think you should.
6. Take the rest days. It helps to remember that adaptation happens during recovery, not during the run itself.

The criticism that Runna has received for causing injuries is not entirely without basis, but it’s also not entirely fair. Injuries are common in running. If you think about it, any tool that helps people train harder will, statistically, correlate with more injuries. Good, hard training is inherently risky. However, the risk is totally manageable. Managing it requires you to stay in the driver’s seat, remaining a little skeptical of any one resource. You need to know how to be honest about your fitness, attentive to your body’s signals, and willing to adjust the plan rather than blindly execute it.

The RayNeo Air 4 Pro just came out in late February, but they’re far from the only screen-mirroring wearable monitor you can buy on the market. The XReal One Pro are another pair that competes with the RayNeo Air 4 Pro. Senior Staff Writer Stephen Johnson tested both in case you want to see if one or the other fits your needs better. However, Stephen named the RayNeo Air 4 Pro the best value in AR right now, with a price that punches well above its weight by offering flagship features that more expensive competitors have.

You can watch more than movies or shows or scroll on your phone with these glasses. The 120Hz refresh rate means gaming looks good, too—you can connect a PS5, Xbox, Switch, or your phone to the virtual screen. There’s also a 3D feature that upgrades 2D media as long as it’s saved in your phone or laptop (no streaming).

The audio works with four speakers tuned with Bang & Olufsen using directional sound, very much like open-ear headphones, offering a surround sound and spatial audio feature that makes the viewing experience more immersive. Keep in mind that these won’t work for productivity if you want to use them as a second monitor, since it projects into wherever you’re looking; if you look at your laptop screen, the virtual projection will overlap your computer monitor.

‘Xbox mode’ lets you access games on your PC with a controller

But while Project Helix is still a ways off (we won’t see it until 2027, at least), Microsoft is already doubling down on merging its two major gaming platforms. As reported by PCMag, Microsoft is giving PC gamers access to the Xbox Full Screen Experience, and rebranding it “Xbox mode.” Starting next month, every Windows 11 PC will be able to use Xbox mode—including laptops, desktops, and tablets. That means that at some point in April, your PC will kind of be an Xbox. And next year, the reverse will be true as well. (Well, assuming you buy the new Xbox, that is.)

PC gamers are likely quite comfortable already with accessing their games in their existing setups, so offering an “Xbox mode” may come across as a bit odd. The idea behind it, however, is to make your game library easier to access using a controller. It’s a bit more of a console experience in that way, which could make it a little easier to access your games on a PC connected to your TV. If you’re in Xbox mode, you can simply control the interface with your controller, rather than deal with a mouse and keyboard setup from the couch.

The feature has been in testing since last year

This won’t be a brand new feature for some Windows 11 users. Microsoft has been testing Xbox mode on PC thorough the Windows Insiders program since November. If you enroll your PC in the Insider program, you’re able to try out features before Microsoft officially launches them—so long as you’re okay taking on the risks of bugs and instability.

To that point, Xbox mode might still need some polishing. Certainly that was the case on mobile. In Michelle Ehrhardt’s review of the ROG Xbox Ally, she found the Xbox Full Screen Experience underbaked, ugly, and filled with ads. While she thought the experience should be Microsoft’s answer to SteamOS, in execution, it was the “the worst thing about this handheld.” We’ll have to see next month whether things have improved for the PC.

What is The Inspired Home Show?

The Inspired Home Show, held in Chicago from March 10-12, is North America’s largest home and housewares event. The event is open to buyers from major retailers—think the kind of housewares and big-box stores where you might buy kitchenware, appliances, or cleaning tools—and to brands from around the world, who showcase their latest products and innovations. The show is held annually, and I attended this year as a new homeowner to see what’s coming to stores this year, and to learn more about the over 2,000 brands offering housewares, tools, and home tech.

What is the Inventors Corner?

The Inspired Home Show is divided into four showroom floors: “Clean + Contain,” “Dine + Decor,” “Wired + Well,” and “International Sourcing.” But a special area is set aside for the “Inventors Corner,” where a few dozen startups have narrow booths to display their niche houseware innovations that they hope catch on.

There’s a pitchroom-style energy to the Inventors Corner. Separate from the established household brands like KitchenAid or Hamilton Beach, the Inventors Corner is two rows of warm and outgoing entrepreneurs—the underdogs and dreamers of the convention—standing in front of uniform, bespoke booths, all eager to share their innovation and convince buyers that it deserves to be the next big thing. Realistically, few of them will be successful, but I saw at least five innovations that were just cool, creative, or helpful enough that I can’t help but root for them.

The ErgoCup is a Global Innovation Awards finalist

The ErgoCup is the kind of product where I tend to roll my eyes, wondering if anyone needs it. But when I met Gerald, the guy who handcrafts every ErgoCup one by one, I was holding a coffee, and he asked me to hold an ErgoCup instead. When I did, I had to admit that holding an ErgoCup felt good—a whole lot better than the mugs I have at home.

The ErgoCup is designed for people with hand mobility and gripping issues, but it’s also just a well-designed mug that feels easier to hold by basically eliminating the need for grip. It won’t be the type of product you find in stores soon—they’re handmade and not mass produced—but it’s the kind of unique craft item that feels special and makes people ask where you bought it. The ErgoCup is a finalist for the 2026 Global Innovation Awards for product design excellence.

The Geo ground-meat cooking tool is spatula-meets-potato-masher

The Geo is specifically made for ground beef (or ground meat, in general), allowing users to easily and evenly break up ground meat. It’s like a combination of a spatula, masher, and slotted spool, and it’s the type of tool you wouldn’t know you needed until you tried it. The Geo is another award finalist for its unique and useful design, and if you cook ground beef often enough, it’s worth considering giving it a try. It only costs $16.

Liddy is the first interlocking, stackable pot lid system

When I found Liddy, my first thought was that it surely existed long before now. My second thought was that I want to get one to replace the mess of pot and pan lids cluttering several of my cabinets and drawers. Liddy is marketed as the world’s first interlocking, stackable pot lid system, which can replace up to six mismatched pot lids (universal pan lids exist, but aren’t interlocking and stackable). It comes in two sizes, and its design allows it to fit on any standard pot or pan, and then it stows away neatly onto a space-saving base station for storage. They’re dishwasher-safe, they end the confusion of which-lid-goes-with-this-pot, and they cost only $50 to eliminate the clutter of pot and pan lids.

Alpha QuickFind is a customizable organization system

Alpha QuickFind is an organization solution for junk drawers: It’s a standalone drawer system meant to be a place to store miscellaneous items (think pens, batteries, office supplies, card decks, cables, loose change, and small tools), turning chaos into order. It’s basically the adult equivalent of having a fancy pencil organizer at school instead of a standard pencil case, and it’ll free your junk drawer to be used for something else. Granted, for $300, you might choose to keep your junk drawer.

My Snapboard is the first snackboard designed to keep charcuterie cold

My Snapboard is a freezable snackboard that keeps food cold while it’s on display. It’s smart in its simplicity: You simply pre-freeze the board before, say, a summer picnic, and its patented design will help retain the temperature keep your food cold despite the summer heat. If you’ve ever taken charcuterie to a park or hosted an outdoor outing, you likely learned how quickly spreads melt, vegetables wilt, and cheese turns spongy. My Snapboard is meant to be an easy fix for that. It costs $50 for the black-and-white version, or $60 for the fancier woodgrain.

The U65QF is a mini-LED QLED TV with 4K resolution and reaches roughly 1,024 nits of brightness, which is higher than many TVs in this price range. That extra brightness helps HDR formats like Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG show stronger highlights and more depth in scenes with bright lights or sunlight. Colors look rich but generally stay natural instead of being overly saturated. That said, as with many mini-LED TVs, some blooming can appear around bright objects against dark backgrounds, but that trade-off is common at this price. Gaming performance is also stronger than you might expect for a budget model, with support for a 144Hz refresh rate, variable refresh rate, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Plus, the measured input lag sits around 13.1 milliseconds at 4K60 and 4.6 milliseconds at 1080p120 (meaning it’s responsive enough for most console or PC gaming), notes this PCMag review. For connections, you get four HDMI ports, including two that support 4K at 144Hz, along with an eARC port for a soundbar or receiver.

One change people may notice immediately is the software. Instead of Google TV, this model runs Amazon’s Fire TV platform. The upside is access to nearly every major streaming service, including Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Apple TV, and Prime Video, along with Apple AirPlay for streaming from iPhones or Macs. The downside is that while the interface works well, it tends to show a lot of recommendations and ads on the home screen. Alexa voice commands are available, but the TV does not include hands-free microphones, so you have to press the voice button on the remote to speak. None of that affects the picture quality, but it does slightly change the overall experience compared with earlier Hisense models.

In terms of design, the Colorsoft Signature Edition feels similar to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. It measures about 7 by 5 by 0.3 inches and weighs 7.7 ounces, so it still has that familiar lightweight Kindle feel. The main difference is the seven-inch Kaleido 3 color display. Black-and-white text renders at 300 pixels per inch, while color content displays at 150ppi.

That color layer is what sets this Kindle apart. Comics, graphic novels, magazines, and illustrated books look noticeably better than they do on a standard grayscale Kindle. The colors are closer to newspaper print than a bright tablet screen, but they still make panels and illustrations easier to follow. There’s also a guided comic feature that automatically zooms into individual panels so dialogue and artwork are easier to read without constantly adjusting the page, says Michelle Ehrhardt in her review of the device.

Aside from the color screen, the rest of the hardware matches what people expect from Amazon’s higher-end Kindles. The auto-adjusting front light changes brightness based on the room, the IPX8 waterproofing makes it safe for reading around water, and wireless charging is supported alongside USB-C. That said, there are a few trade-offs to keep in mind. The color display can introduce slightly uneven lighting in some situations, and battery life is shorter than on the Paperwhite. Amazon estimates up to eight weeks per charge, compared with roughly 12 weeks on the Paperwhite. It also lacks physical page-turn buttons (as is typical of Kindles), so navigation happens entirely through the touchscreen.

How parent-managed accounts work for preteens

Managed accounts for WhatsApp users under 13 are limited to calling and texting with saved contacts and groups approved by parents. The built-in parental controls prevent access to many features of a regular WhatsApp account:

• Meta AI
• Channels
• Status
• Chat Lock
• App Lock
• Linked devices
• Location sharing
• View once messages
• Disappearing messages in individual chats
• Ads

Only saved contacts are able to see preteens’ profile pictures and when they were last online. Parents have to approve changes to privacy settings as well as message and group invite requests from unknown contacts, which will go to a separate folder locked with a parent PIN. Managed accounts cannot create groups on their own.

Parents can also opt into notifications about account activity, such as when a contact is added, blocked, or reported; when a chat or contact is deleted; when a group is created, joined, or exited; and if disappearing messages are enabled in group chats. Notification options are under Settings > Parental controls in your WhatsApp account—select your child’s account and tap More options > Manage notifications.

How to set up a supervised WhatsApp account

To get your preteen started on WhatsApp, you’ll need to download the latest version of the app on your child’s device. After selecting your language, tap More options > Create a parent-managed account. You’ll then be prompted to register and verify your child’s phone number and birthday to confirm their age and tap Continue. Scan the QR code with your phone and follow the steps to set up a six-digit parent PIN. Then, go back to your child’s device, enter your parent PIN, and select Continue to finish their account setup.

When users turn 13, they’ll gain full access to WhatsApp features like Channels, Status, and Meta AI and be able to manage their own privacy settings. Parents will no longer get account activity notifications, and parental controls will be removed.

Google’s pitch for Ask Maps is this: Rather than search for generic stops along your route (e.g. “coffee,” “gas station,” or “hotel”), you can “Ask Maps” complex questions to increase your chances of finding something specific. One of Google’s example questions is, “My phone is dying—where can I charge it without having to wait in a long line for coffee?” That’s a tall order not usually fit for a navigation app’s search feature—you want the app to find a location with public outlets that serves coffee, but isn’t too busy at the time you’re heading out. Type that into the typical search feature, and you’ll instantly get a pop-up that reads “No results found on Google Maps.”

Google says that Ask Maps can analyze information from over 300 million locations, including sifting through the reviews of its more than 500 million contributors. The results also take your past searches into consideration, as well as any saved locations you may have in Maps. In another example, Google says you could ask your Google Maps assistant to find you a spot with a “cozy aesthetic” and a table for four at 7 p.m., to meet up with friends coming from Midtown East. Ideally, the assistant would know not to pull up any Midtown East spots, since the friends are coming from that location, cross-reference restaurants with “cozy” reviews that have that availability—plus, it may know from past searchers that you are vegan, so it will only return results with vegan options.

This is Google, so, of course, Maps’ assistant is powered by Gemini. In concept, it is an interesting implementation of generative AI. I certainly wouldn’t have a chat with Ask Maps, but I’d be curious whether it’d really deliver on these contextual requests. If I really could tell Google Maps that I needed to find a restaurant with availability in 30 minutes that could accommodate both a gluten and peanut allergy, within a 15 minute radius of a concert venue, sure, that’d be super helpful.

But AI isn’t perfect. In fact, it has a habit of making things up. It’d be a shame to walk into that restaurant and find out it doesn’t have gluten free options, or that everything is fried in peanut oil, or that they don’t actually have availability, or that it is indeed a 15 minute walk to a concert venue, but not the concert venue you’re aiming for. If that request overwhelms the AI and returns results that don’t match some (or most) of the request, or, perhaps, a “No results found on Google Maps” alert, I probably won’t be using Ask Maps again.