App Clips, a signature feature of iOS 14, lets you quickly run a lightweight version of an application without actually installing it. If that capability leaves you scratching your head about what, exactly, App Clips would be good for, a hot new game demo shows the appeal of this powerful feature.

Simply visit the webpage for Phoenix 2 using Safari on a device running iOS 14 or iPadOS 14. Then tap on the big Play button, and start gaming. The process takes less than 10 seconds, and you’re in the game. (Note: It does not work if you are running Safari in Private Browsing mode.)

If you decide you’re not interested, just close the demo and it’s gone. There’s nothing to uninstall because Phoenix 2 was never on your iPhone or iPad. It was just an App Clip.

Scribble handwriting recognition in iPadOS 14 is a more complex system than many might realize. Identifying letters and words goes beyond simply examining what someone has written. The iPad uses machine learning to recognize the writer’s intent through how they write, according to Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of software engineering.

Roku players will soon support AirPlay 2, Apple’s wireless video streaming technology. This will allow an iPhone, iPad or Mac user to share content directly to a supported Roku device.

In addition, Roku announced a new iOS app, and upcoming support for Apple’s home automation system.

The new emoji set to appear in 2021 will help you express relief or confusion. Or show that your heart’s afire, or that it’s mending.

Those might seem fairly ordinary, but there is something extremely odd about the the list of upcoming emoji: It’s very short. The group responsible for coming up with new emoji picked just seven new designs to debut next year. The reason is simple: COVID-19.

Mac users can update their computer on Thursday with macOS Catalina 10.15.7. It’s important for anyone who’s noticed their computer not connecting to Wi-Fi like it ought to. There are no new features.

This might be the last Catalina version before the big macOS Big Sur upgrade gets introduced.

Amazon on Thursday unveiled a cloud gaming service that can play console-quality games on mobile devices and a range of other computers. Unlike rival streaming services from Google and Microsoft, Amazon Luna will be available on iPhone and iPad. It’s also coming to Mac.

Apple released a bug-fix update to iOS 14 on Thursday. iOS 14.0.1 removes a number of problems — most notably, a bug that prevented users from permanently picking a new default email app and web browser. And iPad users get iPadOS 14.0.1 with the same fixes.

There are also bug fix updates out for Final Cut Pro and some of Apple’s other media-production applications for Mac.

The new iPad 8 is only a “speed bump” version of the seventh-generation model, but it certainly offers a noticeable increase in performance. Benchmarks show this recently released tablet is about twice as fast as its predecessor.

Over 30% of iPhones are running iOS 14 exactly a week after the release, according to data from an analytics company. That’s a 50% faster adoption rate than iOS 13 a year ago.

Minix Neo Storage Plus handles two jobs. It’s a multiport USB-C adapter, adding USB-A, HDMI and Ethernet to Mac or iPad. And this accessory is also an SSD, bringing 480GB of storage.

We tested all the features of this multifunction hub. Here’s how it stands up to real-world use.