The most recent Switch 2 software update looks to have bricked many third-party docks and related accessories, according to users across the internet and a report by Kotaku. We don’t know if this was an intentional move by Nintendo or simply an accident. Engadget has reached out to the company for clarification.
The Switch 2 update 21.0.0 brings some much-needed quality-of-life features, like the ability to turn off autoplaying videos in the eShop and new icons that indicate whether a game is digital or physical. However, it also brought along the aforementioned dock hiccup.
Switch 2 owners have reported that these docks either don’t work at all or are now much more finicky, often requiring a restart. This doesn’t seem to have impacted all third-party docks, but complaints are coming in pertaining to many different products. YouTuber AustinJohnPlays tested out two different Switch 2 dock dongles after the update and reported that both were borked.
Nintendo has responded to these allegations, suggesting that this was an accident that only impacted certain devices. The company wrote that it “does not have any intention to hinder or invalidate legal third-party dock compatibility.” Sometimes new console firmware impacts third-party accessories. At the very least, this was something that happened to the original Switch a couple of times.
The companies that make these accessories will have to perform their own software updates to get things going again. In the meantime, exercise caution when buying a third-party dock.
Update, November 14 2025, 12:55PM ET: This story has been updated to include Nintendo’s response and a likely cause of the issue.
Remember to set aside some storage on iPhone, as the update will demand a good chunk. iOS 26 showed up as 6GB for me on my iPhone 14 Pro, coming from version iOS 18.6. (Apple is also pushing out iOS 18.7 today.) Our senior editor, Raymond Wong, got the update on his iPhone 16 Pro and noted it was 14.9GB. So your mileage will vary depending on your device and software version.
Along with iOS 26, Apple also released iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and all the rest. The iPhone 17 lineup, from the 17 Pros to the Air, will come preinstalled with the new software update when those new phones launch on Sept. 19. Every Apple product now shares a similar design language centered on the “Liquid Glass” look. The UI is full of semi-transparent windows and bubbles that can distort and contort text and images underneath it, as if you were looking through a convex glass lens. It’s a means of separating the controls from the content itself. The changes are both subtle and overt. For instance, the “Search” button on iPhones may blend more into your background wallpaper. In apps like Apple Music, the “Now Playing” bar will display a hint of the album artwork underneath it.
The iOS 26 release may be the most controversial since the drastic changes made to iOS 7 back in 2013. Users didn’t appreciate having to watch short animations before getting into their apps. Many complained about the UI hiding useful buttons, making it harder for power users to find the right tools for the job. Despite the controversy, skeuomorphism—where Apple tried incorporating more familiar images and designs, such as the battery image representing battery life—still remains to this day. That brings us to now and the emphasis on “glassmorphism,” emphasizing opaque windows for a pseudo-3D effect.
As somebody who has used multiple versions of the iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 betas extensively during the beta period this past summer, I appreciated some design changes more than others. Apple removing the opaque layer for the menu bar at the top of the Mac screen helps make the screen feel larger without sacrificing functionality. Spotlight has also been beefed up to take actions directly in apps like Messages without having to click on the icon and type out your text to a recipient. The Mac is now more connected to the iPhone than ever with Live Activities, letting you monitor iPhone notifications without unlocking and fiddling with the device. Clicking on those notifications also opens up the iPhone Mirroring, a feature that was introduced in last year’s macOS Sequoia. It’s not all great, however. There’s no more Launchpad available in the dock, and to bring it back you need to muck around in Terminal. Instead, you’re granted an “Apps” folder that is overloaded with all your iPhone apps in addition to those you installed on Mac.
macOS 26 also sports a few more minor additions, like the largely ineffectual Game Overlay. All that functionality is now bedecked in the translucent layer of glass, from your app icons to the Control Center. The real innovation was saved for Apple’s tablets. The iPad is now far more usable as a dedicated laptop replacement for all your tasks. Apple added the ability to have multiple apps open on-screen at once. You can tile them just by flicking them to the right or left side of the screen. If you want to watch YouTube and type up your notes, it’s now easier than the previous Stage Manager or dual-screen solutions.
Apple has fine-tuned Liquid Glass from its initial dev beta into the public beta and again for the final release. The early versions were practically incoherent, especially with text layered over text. Follow-up betas dialed back some of the glass and liquid effect for a more “frosted glass” aesthetic. The latest public betas honed in on the current design, where you can catch a hint of content underneath menus, as if staring into a pool of glassy water. The effect wants to evoke something tangible, like you’re doing more than scrolling pixels on a pane of glass. After months of playing with all the various betas, I still would prefer a version of Liquid Glass that matches up to the name.
Regular Apple users who use their iPhone for little more than accessing their camera or their TikTok feeds may not understand the hate, but the most-dedicated iPhone aficionados may grow impatient with the new design. Critics say Liquid Glass distracts you from the functions of each app. Some developers publicly lambasted the new design that sticks important functionality behind hamburger menus (those three horizontal bars that open up drop-down menus). Then again, that’s a fact of life for living in Apple’s ecosystem. The company is more concerned with devices that focus apps for specific use types.
Inevitably, you’ll run up against a single instance where the glass garbles words or distracts you from an important part of a text or email. In that moment, you’ll wish to scrap the entire exercise, decry Apple’s hubris, and wish to switch back to iOS 18. After those fleeting moments where the raw hate overflows, you’ll just keep using your devices the way you always have.
After a summer of beta updates, iOS 26 is here. As long as you have a compatible iPhone, you can install the new software right now. Head to Settings > General > Software Update, and get ready for a Liquid Glass makeover.
iOS 26 offers Apple’s biggest visual change to its software since iOS 7. (That was when Jony Ive’s flat design replaced Scott Forstall’s skeuomorphic one.) This time around, the software adopts a translucent material theme: Liquid Glass. Although it isn’t a return to skeuomorphism, it does reincorporate a sense of depth, simulating a pleasantly refractive glass. Expect colors and visual effects that respond to their onscreen surroundings.
Apple has taken flak from industry pundits for not rushing headfirst into AI. (Or, at least it hasn’t with the same manic frenzy as its competitors.) The company is taking a more measured approach, gradually incorporating it into its software. This year’s Apple Intelligence additions include live translation in messages, FaceTime and Phone. Visual Intelligence also expands beyond the camera and into screenshots. And your Genmoji and Image Playground creations might look less… strange than last year’s versions.
Even Apple Music gets a new AI feature. Its new automix generates transitions between songs, aiming for DJ-like progressions. I find that it works best with danceable genres like EDM or hip-hop. It usually won’t bother trying to mix less beat-driven singer-songwriter-type stuff.
Arguably handier than new AI features is Apple’s revamp of its communication apps. Call screening lets you gather info from callers before deciding whether to pick up. Hold Assist saves you from having to listen to the Muzak. And the Messages app adds new screening options and filters. You can also add custom backgrounds and even conduct polls in your messaging threads. Finally, the Phone app cleans up its interface, unifying its tabs into a single list.
LONDON (Reuters) – A CrowdStrike software update that crashed computers globally last week hitting services from aviation to banking and healthcare was caused by a bug in the U.S. cybersecurity firm’s quality control mechanism, the company said on Wednesday.
Friday’s outage happened because CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor, an advanced platform that protects systems from malicious software and hackers, contained a fault that forced computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system to crash and show the “Blue Screen of Death”.
“Due to a bug in the Content Validator, one of the two Template Instances passed validation despite containing problematic content data,” CrowdStrike said in a statement, referring to the failure of an internal quality control mechanism that allowed the problematic data to slip through the company’s own safety checks.
CrowdStrike did not say what that content data was, nor why it was problematic. A “Template Instance” is a set of instructions that guides the software on what threats to look for and how to respond. CrowdStrike said it had added a “new check” to its quality control process in a bid to prevent the issue from occurring again.
The extent of the damage from the botched update is still being assessed. On Saturday, Microsoft said about 8.5 million Windows devices had been affected, and the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee has sent a letter to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz asking him to testify.
CrowdStrike released information to fix affected systems last week, but experts said getting them back online would take time as it required manually weeding out the flawed code.
Wednesday’s statement was in line with a widely held assessment from cybersecurity experts that something in CrowdStrike’s quality control process had gone badly wrong.
(Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
