Don’t panic! You are not alone, and this is surprisingly easy to fix.

There’s nothing quite like that quick unboxing of a new gadget. You fly through the plastic and discard all of the excess paper and cardboard, doing everything you can to get from the box to playing that first game. For some Nintendo Switch owners, that means grabbing your handy new Joy-Cons and connecting the special backplates designed for two-player mode.

If you’re like me, you noticed things didn’t look quite right after sliding that backplate on. What’s worse, the backplate feels like it has been jammed into place and won’t come off. Don’t worry, the fix is fairly simple!

As you can see, things don’t line up just right on this Joy-Con. The buttons don’t do anything in this configuration, and it’s a little awkward to hold. You need to remove the backplate and slide it onto the controller the other way. To do this, pull that little white tab at the end of the backplate until you feel a little pop. That lock…

Water Festival is back, more Alolan Forms are coming soon, next Community Day is Larvitar, and Go Fest is a go for July!

Pokémon Go is intended to get you out and about, both on your own and with family and friends. One of the ways Pokémon Go tries to bolster activity is with events. Some of the events get splashy announcements and coincide with big public holidays. Others are quieter and more regular. Here’s what’s happened already and what’s coming up next.

Upcoming Pokémon Go Events: European Event announced as ”make up” for issues at Safari Zone Dortmund

There were login and connectivity issues for players at the Pokémon Go Safari Zone Dortmund event in Germany and Pokémon Go wants to make good:

We’d also like to announce that we’ll be hosting a Europe-wide event later this week for the benefit of users who may have been impacted by today’s issues. Stay tuned for more information shortly after #SafariZoneDortmund concludes.— P…

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts at Best Buy’s 4th of July sale event, along with deals on LG smart TVs, Sphero robots, and more! Time’s running out to take advantage of these prices, so hurry!

View the rest of the deals

If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!
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Check out these hot upcoming titles!

A number of interesting titles are set to be released for the HTC Vive this month, and they’re fit for fans of any of the virtual reality (VR) genres. Here’s an in-depth breakdown of all the HTC Vive games expected to release during the month of July 2018.

Note: This list is compiled from Steam store listings at the start of the month.

My No. 1 pick for this month

Here’s what I’m most excited to play this month.

Bring to Light

If you love VR horror games as much as I do, you’re no doubt looking forward to Bring to Light. A subway crash strands you in a dark tunnel with no exit in sight, and you’re forced to explore deep below the city where something lurks…

This game is compatible with Scosche Rhythm and Polar H10 heart-rate monitors, and will adjust the game’s intensity based on how fast your heart is beating. Cool!

See at Steam

More HTC Vive games expected in July 2018

AnimVR Personal (July 2)
Battle 100 (July 2)
18 Floors…

The movie-going subscription service MoviePass is getting lots of hype (good and bad). Here’s everything you should know before deciding whether to join up!

You’ve been hearing a lot of talk around the proverbial watercooler about this ”MoviePass” thing. It sounds to good to be true, and maybe it is. It’s still in its infancy stages. Here, you’ll find out everything there is to know about MoviePass so far, plus get updates on news that happens, as it happens.

What’s new with MoviePass?

June 21, 2018: MoviePass to introduce ’surge pricing’ additional costs this summer

In this trial-and-error-stage of MoviePass, the company is constantly pushing out changes — some big, some small, and some that they backpedal on. This time, there’s going to be a big change in a small way: surge pricing. According to an interview with Business Insider, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe announced it will tack on a few extra dollars to your monthly subscription when you see a movie it considers ”high dem…

Do you wish you had paid better attention during language classes in high school? Been debating going back to school to learn a new language but don’t have the time? Want to learn some conversational French or Italian for your next European adventure? Whatever your reasons for wanting to learn a new language, the hardest part is finding a curriculum that fits your schedule.

iMore Digital Offers might have a compelling option for you with this great deal for Mondly, a digital platform for learning new languages. Using the Mondly app, you can choose between 33 different languages with a digital curriculum that’s designed to break down the learning process into short lessons and help you memorize core words, form sentences, and participate in conversations.

Typically Mondly is offered on a monthly subscription basis, but thanks to iMore Digital Offers, you can get a lifetime subscription for just a one-time payment. If you just want to learn one language you pay just $39.99, but choos…

What’s the best battery case for iPhone Plus? We have some ideas!

The big ol’ iPhone 7 Plus has a big ol’ battery, but that’s often not enough to get most people through a day of heavy use. That goes double for folks who use theirs as their primary camera (PORTRAIT MODE MY LIFE).

Carrying around an external battery pack can be cumbersome, so why not streamline the process and grab a battery case instead. It’ll probably bulk things up a bit, but better bulky than brick.

Note: You’ll likely have to compromise when it comes to headphones, since a lot of these cases connect via the Lightning port, so you won’t be able to plug in EarPods or other Lightning headphones. You could just get some sweet wireless headphones instead.

mophie juice pack
Trianium Atomic Pro
Alpatronix BX170plus
Maxbear
mophie juice pack

Keep your iPhone 7 Plus’ battery at a crisp 100% while keeping the battery case bulk to a minimum with the mophie protective battery juice pack.

This $65 battery pack is desi…

It’s all Amazon Fire TV, all the time. OK, a lot of the time. Some of the time.

The Amazon Fire TV Cube is now shipping, and we’ve reviewed the little box. The short version? It’s really good, actually. But definitely not perfect, and maybe not for everyone. But there’s a real reason to give it a good look.

Have a taste:

In hindsight, it’s pretty clear exactly what we should have expected. Amazon Fire TV is a known entity. We’ve used it for years, and it’s a great option for streaming TV. Amazon Echo is a great hands-free voice assistant thing. We’ve used Alexa for years.

Combine the two in cube form, and we’ve got the Amazon Fire TV Cube. It sits atop the three current models of Fire TV, and is sort of an offshoot in the Echo line. A more capable Echo Dot, if you will. You plug it into your TV, teach it a little bit about what all you have hooked up, and it controls things reasonably well. Your display, speakers or sound bar, other devices.

What else did you miss this pas…

Does your music library inundate you with music, podcasts, or audiobooks when you get into your car? Here’s the fix.

As auto manufacturers and Apple have progressed forward in their relationship to make your car as smart as possible, occasionally not-smart things happen. Like your vehicle blasting music (or the latest audiobook chapter) into your ears when you first get in the car.


While the original impulse may have been a helpful one on the part of the manufacturers — surely, users want to hear their music first thing — it’s often ended up a nuisance. Spoiler: If you’re listening to a steamy romance book on your AirPods, you don’t want that chapter to blast in the car when driving your mother to the mall.

Unfortunately, Apple’s provided no easy ”Turn off auto-playing music over Bluetooth” switch directly on your iPhone or iPad. But you can still solve this somewhat irksome issue with a couple of other fixes.

Option 1: Disable auto-play settings in y…

Can’t get Pokemon Go to load? Nothing there when you get in? Everything frozen? Here’s what’s going on!

June 30, 2018: Pokémon Go experiencing server issues on/ahead of Safari Day Germany

Oh no:

We’re currently investigating an issue in which Trainers are receiving the ”Failed to get game data from the server” error message when attempting to log into the game. Thank you for your patience.— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) June 30, 2018

Fingers crossed they get it fixed soon.

Ugh, Pokémon Go is down again — What should you do?

Don’t delete the Pokémon Go app and re-download thinking it will get you back playing faster. All it will do is force you to enter your account name and password over and over again until the servers are back online, making it harder for you to check and see if it’s working. Just be patient, wait, and try again every so often.

Why are the Pokémon Go servers down again and why can’t I log in?

There are many t…