Upgraded versions of Logic Pro for iPad and Mac will give musicians and music producers new tools for crafting killer tracks.
New features in Apple’s pro audio software — Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Logic Pro for Mac 11 — include:
Session Players, which puts virtual musicians in the mix.
Stem Splitter, which producers extract drums, bass, vocals and other instruments from audio files.
ChromaGlow, a processing tool designed to bring analog “warmth” to digital tracks.
“Logic Pro for iPad turns things up for music producers,” said Will Hui, Apple’s product manager for creative apps, in a prerecorded video Tuesday. “Designed for everyone from emerging to established artists, Logic Pro for iPad has delivered the entire studio experience with the simplicity of touch. Logic Pro 2 is so exciting — and it’s smarter than ever.”
Logic Pro 2 for iPad and Logic Pro 11 for Mac
The announcement came during Apple’s iPad-focused “Let Loose” event. During the streamed product launch, which the company touted as “the biggest day for iPad since its introduction,” Apple unveiled next-gen iPad Pros powered by a new M4 chip as well as new iPad Air models, an updated Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro and an all-new Apple Pencil Pro stylus.
Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Logic Pro for Mac 11 build on Apple’s foundation of pro-level software for creatives. And, like everything Apple announces these days, they emphasize the power of AI that’s built into the company’s hardware and software.
“Logic Pro gives creatives everything they need to write, produce, and mix a great song, and our latest features take that creativity to a whole new level,” said Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple’s senior director of apps worldwide product marketing, in a press release Tuesday. “Logic Pro’s new AI-backed updates, combined with the unparalleled performance of iPad, Mac, and M-series Apple silicon, provide creative pros with the best music creation experience in the industry.”
The new features in Logic Pro aren’t exactly groundbreaking. Other software tools and plugins offer similar functionality. But by baking these into its music-making software, Apple adds even more functionality to an already-capable app.
Session Players
Apple calls Session Players “a personalized AI-driven backing band.” The feature builds on Drummer, a longstanding feature of Logic Pro, adding a virtual Bass Player and Keyboard Player to the mix.
“Session Players augment the live-playing experience while ensuring artists maintain full agency during any phase of their music-making process,” the company said.
Here’s more on the specifics of Apple’s new virtual musicians:
Bass Player was trained in collaboration with today’s best bass players using advanced AI and sampling technologies. Users can choose from eight different Bass Players and guide their performance with controls for complexity and intensity, while leveraging advanced parameters for slides, mutes, dead notes, and pickup hits. Bass Player can jam along with chord progressions, or users can choose from 100 Bass Player loops to draw new inspiration. With Chord Track, users can define and edit the chord progressions to a song, and the virtual Bass Player will follow along perfectly. Plus, with Studio Bass plug-in, users gain access to six new, meticulously recorded instruments, from acoustic to electric — all inspired by the sounds of today’s most popular bass tones and genres.
With Keyboard Player, users can choose from four different styles, designed in cooperation with top studio musicians and made to accompany a wide variety of music genres. Keyboard Player can play everything from simple block chords to chord voicing with extended harmony — with nearly endless variations. Like Bass Player, Chord Track adds and edits the chord progression of the song, so Keyboard Player follows along. Using Studio Piano plug-in, users can select additional sound-shaping options, with the ability to adjust three mic positions, pedal noise, key noise, release samples, and sympathetic resonance.
Stem Splitter
The new Stem Splitter feature in Logic Pro 2 for iPad and Logic Pro 11 for Mac give musicians and music producers a way to separate existing recordings into four basic elements: drums, bass, vocals and other instruments.
Apple describes the feature as a way to work with your own recordings. However, it should come in handy for anybody wanting to disassemble hit songs into their component parts.
Here’s Apple’s description of the feature:
Most musicians perform their best without the pressure of a formal studio session. These moments are often found in Voice Memos recordings, an old demo cassette tape, or are captured from a live show. Listening back, these recordings can reveal magical performances that are nearly impossible to re-create, making them lost to time. Now, with Stem Splitter, an artist can recover moments of inspiration from any audio file and separate nearly any mixed audio recording into four distinct parts: Drums, Bass, Vocals, and Other instruments, right on the device. With these tracks separated, it’s easy to apply effects, add new parts, or change the mix. Powered by AI and M-series Apple silicon, Stem Splitter is lightning fast.
ChromaGlow: Dial in the Perfect Tone
Apple pitches the new ChromaGlow feature in Logic Pro 2 for iPad and Logic Pro 11 for Mac as a way to “dial in the perfect tone.”
The feature attempts to make up for one of the major shortcomings of digital recording: a lack of analog “warmth” achieved by recording on actual tape and using analog equipment like tube amps.
The new Logic Pro feature will use digital models of classic music gear to produce the effect, Apple says:
ChromaGlow models the sounds produced by a blend of the world’s most revered studio hardware by leveraging AI and the power of M-series Apple silicon. Users can dial in the perfect tone with five different saturation styles to add ultrarealistic warmth, presence, and punch to any track. They can also choose from modern clean sounds, nostalgic vintage warmth, or more extreme styles that can be shaped and molded to taste.
Logic Pro 2 for iPad and Logic Pro 11 for Mac: Pricing and availability.
The new versions of Logic Pro will hit the App Store on May 13 as free updates for existing users, Apple said.
Logic Pro for Mac 11 will cost $199.99 for new users on the Mac App Store. It requires macOS Ventura 13.5 or later.
Logic Pro for iPad 2 will cost $4.99 per month or $49 per year, with a one-month free trial for new users. It requires iPadOS 17.4 or later.
A 3D model of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing complex from Streptococcus pyogenes.Credit: Indigo Molecular Images/Science Photo Library
In the never-ending quest to discover previously unknown CRISPR gene-editing systems, researchers have scoured microbes in everything from hot springs and peat bogs, to poo and even yogurt. Now, thanks to advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI), they might be able to design these systems with the push of a button.
This week, researchers published details of how they used a generative AI tool called a protein language model — a neural network trained on millions of protein sequences — to design CRISPR gene-editing proteins, and were then able to show that some of these systems work as expected in the laboratory1.
And in February, another team announced that it had developed a model trained on microbial genomes, and used it to design fresh CRISPR systems, which are comprised of a DNA or RNA-cutting enzyme and RNA molecules that direct the molecular scissors as to where to cut2.
“It’s really just scratching the surface. It’s showing that it’s possible to design these complex systems with machine-learning models,” says Ali Madani, a machine-learning scientist and chief executive of the biotechnology firm Profluent, based in Berkeley, California. Madani’s team reported what it says is “the first successful editing of the human genome by proteins designed entirely with machine learning” in a 22 April preprint1 on bioRxiv.org (which hasn’t been peer-reviewed).
Alan Wong, a synthetic biologist at the University of Hong Kong, whose team has used machine learning to optimize CRISPR3, says that naturally occurring gene-editing systems have limitations in terms of the sequences that they can target and the sort of changes that they can make. For some applications, therefore, it can be a challenge to find the right CRISPR. “Expanding the repertoire of editors, using AI, could help,” he says.
Trained on genomes
Whereas chatbots such as ChatGPT are designed to handle language after being trained on existing text, the CRISPR-designing AIs were instead trained on vast troves of biological data in the form of protein or genome sequences. The goal of this ‘pre-training’ step is to imbue the models with insight into naturally occurring genetic sequences, such as which amino acids tend to go together. This information can then be applied to tasks such as the creation of totally new sequences.
Madani’s team previously used a protein language model they developed, called ProGen, to come up with new antibacterial proteins4. To devise new CRISPRs, his team retrained an updated version of ProGen with examples of millions of diverse CRISPR systems, which bacteria and other single-celled microbes called archaea use to fend off viruses.
Because CRISPR gene-editing systems comprise not only proteins, but also RNA molecules that specify their target, Madani’s team developed another AI model to design these ‘guide RNAs’.
The team then used the neural network to design millions of new CRISPR protein sequences that belong to dozens of different families of such proteins found in nature. To see whether AI-designed CRISPRs were bona fide gene editors, Madani’s team synthesized DNA sequences corresponding to more than 200 protein designs belonging to the CRISPR–Cas9 system that is now widely used in the laboratory. When they inserted these sequences — instructions for a Cas9 protein and a ‘guide RNA’ — into human cells, many of the gene editors were able to precisely cut their intended targets in the genome.
The most promising Cas9 protein — a molecule they’ve named OpenCRISPR-1 — was just as efficient at cutting targeted DNA sequences as a widely used bacterial CRISPR–Cas9 enzyme, and it made far fewer cuts in the wrong place. The researchers also used the OpenCRISPR-1 design to create a base editor — a precision gene-editing tool that changes individual DNA ‘letters’ — and found that it, too, was as efficient as other base-editing systems, as well as less prone to errors.
Another team, led by Brian Hie, a computational biologist at Stanford University in California, and by bioengineer Patrick Hsu at the Arc Institute in Palo Alto, California, used an AI model capable of generating both protein and RNA sequences. Their model, called EVO, was trained on 80,000 genomes from bacteria and archaea, as well as other microbial sequences, amounting to 300 billion DNA letters. Hie and Hsu’s team has not yet tested its designs in the lab. But predicted structures of some of the CRISPR–Cas9 systems they designed resemble those of natural proteins. Their work was described in a preprint2 posted on bioRxiv.org, and has not been peer-reviewed.
Precision medicine
“This is amazing,” says Noelia Ferruz Capapey, a computational biologist at the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona in Spain. She’s impressed by the fact that researchers can use the OpenCRISPR-1 molecule without restriction, unlike with some patented gene-editing tools. The ProGen2 model and ‘atlas’ of CRISPR sequences used to fine-tune it are also freely available.
The hope is that AI-designed gene-editing tools could be better suited to medical applications than are existing CRISPRs, says Madani. Profluent, he adds, is hoping to partner with companies that are developing gene-editing therapies to test AI-generated CRISPRs. “It really necessitates precision and a bespoke design. And I think that just can’t be done by copying and pasting” from naturally-occurring CRISPR systems, he says.
Spring isn’t just the time for cleaning your home. It’s also the time for renovating, refurbishing, and restoring. That yardwork project you put off last fall? Those garage projects you wanted to do all winter when it was too cold to work out there? Now’s the time to stock up on tools and gear, but you have to act quickly if you want to snag a deal. Home Depot’s Spring Black Friday ends after April 28, and Lowe’s SpringFest ends after May 1, but there are still deals on loads of our favorite gear from brand favorites, such as DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ridgid, Klein, and Kobalt.
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Tool Deals
Gearwrench 232-Piece Mechanics Tool Kit
Photograph: Home Depot
The Gearwrench brand is my favorite entry-to-mid-level tool brand for chrome hand tools. Made in Taiwan, these sockets, combination wrenches, and ratchets have excellent manufacturing tolerances, meaning less slipping off bolt heads and potentially damaging them. This kit only comes with 1/4-inch and 3/8-inch drive sockets and ratchet handles, not 1/2-inch, but that shouldn’t matter unless you’re working on large projects, such as cars’ axle components or building a deck. The organization box is also excellent, with sturdy slide-out drawers and built-in handles that make picking up the heavy box a breeze.
An impact driver is a power tool that delivers rapid, repeated forward thrusts as it rotates on a bolt or screw head. It works wonders for stubborn screws and bolts that may be too rusted in place to remove without a power tool. An impact driver typically fits small screws and bolts. Similarly, a hammer drill delivers the same thrusts but is designed for drilling through tough materials that could choke up a normal cordless drill. This combo kit includes two batteries and a charger, so when you run one dry, you’ve got another to use while the first one is charging.
An impact wrench is similar to an impact driver in that it uses repeated forward thrusts to loosen stubborn bolts, but it tends to be more powerful and meant for larger bolts. I’ve used one to loosen rusty suspension bolts and engine bolts enough times in the garage to consider one a godsend for heavy-duty mechanical work.
DeWalt 20V Max XR Cordless Drill Kit
Photograph: Lowe’s
The cordless drill is arguably the most versatile power tool in a homeowner’s toolbox. Not only can it drill, but it can be fitted with screwdriver bits for Phillips head screws, Torx, triple square, and hex bolts. A similar 20-volt DeWalt has been my standby for years, and the XR version adds a brushless electric motor for a longer life span. The speed is adjustable from 650 to 2,000 rounds per minute, which is useful because you won’t need a high RPM all the time. The ergonomics are perfect. I’ve spent hours in a row with an ergonomically identical DeWalt with no hand pain. The small LED in front of the trigger lights up dark work areas nicely.
If I were to “hypothetically” say that I’ve drilled more than 100 holes in my apartment walls (and if my hypothetical landlord wasn’t reading this), I’d tell you that these budget drill bits performed excellently in drilling through pre-war drywall, which in my place measures a particularly thick 3/4 inches. I’ve used these bits to repair the frame of a couch, build wooden furniture, and drill through metal picture frames, and they’re the best value out there. They come in several sizes that have never left me wanting.
Gearwrench makes the best value in tools. I tested this 12-piece screwdriver set earlier this year, and I was enamored with how tightly the Phillips head screwdrivers fit into screw heads. That means less slippage that can damage screws and potentially make them nearly impossible to remove or reuse. The rubber-wrapped handle is comfortable for extended periods too.
Garage and Yard Deals
Ridgid Compact Miter Saw Stand
Photograph: Home Depot
Perform any woodworking, even if you’re cutting boards, and you practically need a miter saw. The hang-up comes in finding a stable, secure place to put it while you’re using it. Choosing a stand is vital because a miter saw is dangerous when it’s unstable. I’ve always been impressed by Ridgid stands. The mounting brackets are quick and easy to use, and the structural parts have robust materials that don’t scream cost-cutting. This stand can hold up to 400 pounds, which is plenty for a miter saw.
A stalwart tool of any garage, whether you’re cleaning up after a woodworking project or washing the car, is the shop vac. It’s a supercharged cousin of your household vacuum cleaner. It can suck up wet messes, thanks to its built-in drain, as well as dry ones. Ridgid makes my favorite shop vacs because, with five horsepower on tap (for this model), it has no shortage of power for sucking up large messes, the included hose attachments fit securely, the caster wheels glide easily, and I’ve never had one break while on duty.
Maybe it’s the number of times I’ve stood on a Werner ladder and didn’t fall off, but when I need to purchase a new ladder, I almost always go with Werner. This 8-foot-tall model is made of thick, durable fiberglass that helps cut down on some of the weight when you’re moving it, and it holds up to 300 pounds. There’s a magnetic tool strip at the top, along with a paint can holder and a slot for holding a drill or hammer.
Kobalt 630-CFM Leaf Blower
Photograph: Lowe’s
Leaf blowers aren’t just for fall. They can be a major time saver when you want to clean up the grass shrapnel that remains after edging your lawn, for example. Gone are the days of a bulky, smoke-spewing, gasoline-powered leaf blower. This cordless, electric model from Kobalt moves 630 cubic feet per minute of air, meaning it offers plenty of power while weighing just under 9 pounds. There’s a battery and charger included too.
Other Tool Deals
Klein Digital Multimeter Kit
Photograph: Home Depot
Being able to measure the electrical current flowing through an outlet, car battery, or the like is essential when working with electronics. Klein is a longtime stalwart in tools designed specifically for electricians. This multimeter measures up to 600 AC/DC voltage and 10A DC, and it comes packaged with GFCI outlet testers and cables. If all the dials and screens look complicated, don’t be scared. The included instructions will tell you how to set everything, and it’s far easier than it appears at first glance.
It’s easy to find a decent utility knife, but hard to find a great utility knife. I’ve used tons, from Craftsman to Stanley to no-name brands off Amazon, and the Fastback is my favorite. The replaceable blades are sharper than those from other brands, and you can flick the blade open and shut one-handed with ease. You can store a spare blade in the handle, and there’s a bit holder for a common-sized flat head and Phillips head screwdriver bit. A battle opener and wire stripper round out the features list.
Stanley makes my favorite tape measures in their Fat Max series, but these DeWalt tape measures are nearly good, and hey, they’re on sale. I’d say they’ve earned the right to use “tough” in their name, because I’ve thrown some around a few job sites, and the thick plastic casing can put up with a lot of abuse. One of the few differentiators among tape measures is their ability to extend without collapsing. The DeWalt’s thick tape manages this well, so if you need to stretch it out 10 feet across the room to measure something (which is quite common), then you’ll have a lot fewer headaches with this than a cheaper tape measure.
Plastic trigger clamps won’t be the clamp to grab for the heaviest-duty jobs, but they may be the clamps you reach for the most often. More times than I could count in a month, I need a third hand to hold something steady for me while I work on a project. From pinning a bracket to an awkward place while you bolt it in to keeping hands safely clear when cutting something, you need a few clamps in your toolbox. With 100 pounds of clamping force, these will be more than capable of many day-to-day, small tasks.
Getting past AI detectors isn’t easy. They’ve been trained and designed to spot the signs of AI content, making it harder than ever for users to avoid AI-related penalties. Fortunately, an undetectable AI writer can help.
As the name implies, an undetectable AI writing tool is designed to make AI content undetectable by AI detection tools. That means you can use these writers to transform AI-made text and bypass AI detection consistently.
But which undetectable AI tool to use? This guide is here to help you with that. Below, you’ll find a detailed list of 10 leading AI-to-human text converters that’ll help you get a perfect human score on AI detectors like Originality and GPTZero.
Best AI writing tools for avoiding AI-detection tools
Using an AI writing tool can speed up your workflow immensely and allow you to accomplish incredible things. However, getting caught using an AI writing tool can prove embarrassing — or worse. The services listed below each come with their own pros and cons, but they all strive to create AI-generated content that won’t backfire for you.
Phrasly – Best undetectable AI writer for adjustable humanization
CogniBypass – Best undetectable AI writer for configurability
BypassGPT – Best undetectable AI writer overall
Kicking off our list, we have BypassGPT. Capable of taking AI-generated text from ChatGPT, GPT3, GPT4, Gemini and many other tools and transforming it, this is the ultimate undetectable AI writer. In testing, it consistently delivers results, obtaining perfect human scores and bypassing every AI detector, from Originality to GPTZero. The screenshot below shows just how effective BypassGPT can be:
Not only does BypassGPT get the basics right, but it also boasts a range of other advantages. This undetectable AI writer features multiple bypass modes, including Fast, Creative and Enhanced. Each mode adjusts the AI text in different ways to give you different results, perfect for beating any detector and creating the kind of content you need.
In addition, BypassGPT also offers multilingual support. It works in dozens of different languages from across the globe, making it perfect for international use. It’s also very effective at retaining the meaning of your text and even adding valuable keywords to help with SEO rankings.
Is BypassGPT truly capable of bypassing AI detectors?
Experiments were conducted on BypassGPT to ascertain whether it successfully bypasses AI detectors. The following are the findings from BypassGPT:
Content at Scale anticipates with high certainty that BypassGPT’s text is entirely human-produced.
BypassGPT has received a high rating from Originality.ai, with 98% of content likely to be created by humans and a mere 2% probability of being generated by AI.
GPTZero evaluates a 92% probability that a real person authored the content from BypassGPT, with a minor portion of the text recognized as a blend of AI and human input.
Pros
Bypass all AI detectors every time
Easy three-step humanization process
Produces flawless, plagiarism-free content
Cons
Doesn’t work with file uploads yet
Pricing
BypassGPT offers a free plan for new users, as well as three premium plans. Monthly prices start as low as $8, and you can choose to pay annually to get the best rates.
HIX Bypass – Best undetectable AI writer for features and usability
Another amazing undetectable AI writer is HIX Bypass. Produced by the same team behind the industry-leading writing copilot HIX.AI, this tool can help you bypass AI detection with ease. It’s jam-packed with features that allow you to humanize AI-made text however you like, with fast processing times and error-free results.
HIX Bypass doesn’t do any kind of plagiarism, so you can have faith in the quality and originality of the content it produces. As if that wasn’t enough, this tool also offers built-in AI scanning to save you tons of time, as well as support for lots of different languages.
Pros
Produces high-quality content with good levels of readability
Very easy to work with
Created by a trusted developer with a proven track record of success
Cons
More expensive than others
Pricing
You can test HIX Bypass for free, but if you want to use it seriously, you’ll need to switch to one of the paid plans. It offers three premium plans, ranging in price from as low as $9.99 a month for Basic up to $49.99 a month for Unlimited.
Undetectable AI – Best undetectable AI writer for remaining undetected
Next up, we have Undetectable AI. As the name of this tool suggests, its main aim is to help users make their AI writing undetectable and avoid any kind of detection. So, you can count on Undetectable AI to help you bypass AI detectors like Originality, GPTZero, Copyleaks and so on. It’s even capable of getting perfect human ratings on many of those tools.
Undetectable AI can work with almost any kind of text, too. That goes for short-form pieces of text like emails and social media posts, as well as much longer and more complicated passages, such as Ph.D. papers, essays and so on. It consistently produces high-quality, error-free text and even functions in 50-plus languages.
Pros
A proven solution for bypassing AI detection
Works in lots of different languages
Lightning-fast processing times to help you hit deadlines
Cons
You must pay to work with large pieces of text
Pricing
Undetectable AI offers three different premium plans: Basic, Pro and Unlimited. Subscribers can pay for either monthly or annual memberships, with prices as low as $6.99 for a monthly Basic subscription.
AIHumanizer – Best undetectable AI writer for SEO rankings
AIHumanizer is another leading undetectable AI writer, and this one’s notable for its SEO benefits. This undetectable AI platform can scan the text you paste into it, spot valuable SEO keywords and themes, and then preserve the value of the text, even while humanizing it. The result is a piece of high-quality, SEO-optimized content, without any plagiarism or AI watermarks.
AIHumanizer is also very efficient at bypassing spam filters and AI detectors. It’s therefore precious for users who intend to post AI content as part of their business strategy, such as marketing agencies, bloggers, and so on. With fair prices and proven results against detectors like Originality and GPTZero, it’s a top tool to use.
Pros
Preserves the meaning and SEO keywords of your text
Produces high-quality, error-free results
Multiple bypass modes to suit your situation and targets
Cons
Best for professional users
Pricing
AIHumanizer is free to test, with a trio of premium plans to consider. Prices start as low as $9.90 for the simplest Basic plan, making this one of the most affordable undetectable AI writers.
Bypass AI – Best undetectable AI writer for accuracy and reliability
Next, meet Bypass AI. This is another undetectable AI writer with a great track record of being able to bypass AI detectors like Content at Scale, Originality, Copyleaks and GPTZero. Thanks to its advanced undetectable AI technology, it’s effective at producing highly accurate, up-to-date content.
Thanks to that, you shouldn’t have to worry much about making lots of manual edits when you use Bypass AI. You can just feed your text into the simple user interface, let this tool make it undetectable, and then post, share or submit it. It’s a huge time-saver, and it even has built-in AI detection, plus support for lots of languages.
Pros
Produces the most accurate, error-free text
Never copies content or does any kind of plagiarism
Three bypass modes to beat any AI detector
Cons
You have to pay to access higher word limits
Pricing
You can use Bypass AI for free to start with, but for big texts, you’ll have to pay for a premium plan. Like many other undetectable AI writers, this tool offers three paid plans. Prices are quite affordable, with monthly rates ranging from just $6.99 to $29.99.
Humbot’s Undetectable AI – Best undetectable AI writer for a 100% human score
Humbot’s Undetectable AI tool is one of the few undetectable AI writers that can consistently achieve a perfect 100% human score. Even on advanced AI detectors like Orignality.AI, Copyleaks, Winston, Turnitin and GPTZero, this tool gets results. It’s ideal for those who don’t want to merely bypass AI detection, but also leave no trace at all of AI writing.
Humbot carefully and cleverly scans each piece of text fed into it. It knows exactly how AI detectors work and what to look for. So it spots the signs of ChatGPT or other AI use and then removes them. It can even remove Open AI’s “ChatGPT watermarks.” Plus, it works against spam filters and has fairly priced premium plans for all budgets.
Pros
Helps you bypass AI detection every time
Works quickly and efficiently to deliver top-quality text
Capable of optimizing text for SEO and preserving meaning
Cons
Free plan isn’t very generous
Pricing
There are free premium plans to pick from with Humbot, plus a limited free trial. Prices begin at just $7.99 monthly. Each plan comes with its own word count limit, so you can upgrade accordingly, depending on how much undetectable AI text you need to make.
StealthWriter – Best undetectable AI writer for free use
With most undetectable AI writers, you have to pay quite quickly if you want to start humanizing large pieces of text. However, StealthWriter has the benefit of quite a generous free mode. You can use this as much as you like to create undetectable versions of AI-generated text, though it’s not quite as powerful as the paid “Ghost” mode.
You can bypass a lot of different AI detectors with StealthWriter, and it aims to produce 100% plagiarism-free, original content every time. It also has some SEO features, working to keep keywords in your content to help your content rank higher in search results.
Pros
A generous free mode for budget-conscious users
Capable of creating undetectable AI content from a prompt
Easy to work with
Cons
Doesn’t always beat AI detection
Sometimes makes very basic mistakes
Pricing
StealthWriter is free to start with. If you want to access all of its features and technology, you’ll have to pay for a premium plan. Prices start at $20 per month (or $200 a year) for the Basic plan.
AI Undetectable – Best undetectable AI writer for essays
Next, we have AI Undetectable. This tool stands out for being primarily aimed at the student crowd. It even uses words like “Your Essay” instead of “Your Text” on the undetectable AI-generation page. So, students may like to consider this undetectable AI writer to help them avoid detection with their schoolwork.
It can take text you’ve generated with the aid of AI tools like Gemini and Claude, then transform it to be less easily spotted by AI detectors. It also offers additional features to adjust the writing quality to various levels, like high school or Ph.D. level, and options to add more words or decrease the total word count.
Pros
Many functions and features
Reasonable pricing
An intuitive and easy-to-understand process
Cons
Interface could use some updating
Not always the most reliable
Pricing
You don’t sign up for a premium plan with AI Undetectable. Instead, you buy words on demand, according to your needs. There are different word bundles, starting as low as $5.99 for 10,000 “Regular Words.”
Phrasly – Best undetectable AI writer for adjustable humanization
Phrasly is another undetectable AI writer that aims to appeal to a broad audience. Everyone from blog writers to e-commerce business owners can consider using this tool, and it has some interesting features. Arguably the best feature of Phrasly is its adjustable humanization technology.
It has three levels of humanization – Easy, Medium and Aggressive. You can pick different levels; the tool will adapt accordingly. This allows you to make more or fewer changes to your text, depending on how much you think it needs transforming. It’s very helpful for preserving your text’s meaning or making wholesale changes to beat a stubborn AI detector.
Pros
Can work for a wide range of users
Adjustable humanization modes to beat various detectors
Generally easy to work with
Cons
Free trial only supports 550 words
Even the paid plan comes with a strict 2,500-word limit
Pricing
There are just two plans with Phrasly. The free plan is 100% free but quite limited. Then, there’s the premium Unlimited plan, which costs $10.99 a month (if you pay annually) and lets you get as much undetectable AI content as you need, in batches of 2,500 words at a time.
CogniBypass – Best undetectable AI writer for configurability
Last up, we have CogniBypass. Based on a powerful AI algorithm, this undetectable AI writer is essentially able to take AI text and rewrite it to sound more like it was made by a regular person. The result is generally of good quality, with low rates of error, and it tends to bypass most AI detectors, if not all.
A good feature of CogniBypass is its configurability. Users can adjust a range of settings and filters to get the exact type of content they want. You can even select from various modes to refine and modify how much the text is changed or altered, helping you preserve your original meaning and message while bypassing AI detection.
Pros
A flexible and versatile tool
Lots of features
Rarely makes mistakes
Cons
Often fails to beat some AI detectors
A little too complex for beginners
Pricing
There are four pricing tiers with CogniBypass. The Amethyst plan is totally free. Then there are Saphire, Emerald and Ruby plans with prices ranging from $9.99 to $29.99 a month and beyond.
Get undetectable AI content today
Overall, there are some excellent undetectable AI writing tools to choose from. They’re all generally effective at beating AI detection, and each one offers clear pros, cons and helpful features. Weigh those pros and cons and try a few of these tools today to see which one can help you bypass AI detectors regularly.
The AI auto-generates channel recaps to give people key highlights of stuff they missed while away from the keyboard or smartphone, for keeping track of important work stuff and office in-jokes. Slack says the algorithm that generates these recaps is smart enough to pull content from the various topics discussed in the channel. This means that you’ll get a paragraph on how plans are going for Jenny’s cake party in the conference room and another on sales trends or whatever.
There’s something similar available for threads, which are smaller conversations between one or a few people. The tool will recap any of these threads into a short paragraph. Customers can also opt into a daily recap for any channel or thread, delivered each morning.
Slack
Another interesting feature is conversational search. The various Slack channels stretch on forever and it can be tough to find the right chat when necessary. This allows people to ask questions using natural language, with the algorithm doing the actual searching.
These tools aren’t just for English speakers, as Slack AI now offers Japanese and Spanish language support. Slack says it’ll soon integrate some of its most-used third-party apps into the AI ecosystem. To that end, integration with Salesforce’s Einstein Copilot is coming in the near future.
It remains to be seen if these tools will actually be helpful or if they’re just more excuses to put the letters “AI” in promotional materials. I’ve been on Slack a long time and I haven’t encountered too many scenarios in which I’d need a series of auto-generated recaps, as longer conversations are typically relegated to one-on-one meetings, emails or video streams. However, maybe this will change how people use the service.
We were promised more AI video updates at Adobe Summit 2024 – and here’s the first. Adobe has offered a sneak peak at generative AI video tools coming to Premiere Pro.
Powered by Adobe Firefly, the new AI tools are set to give professional video editors new ways to add post-production polish. Early comments appear broadly positive, likening the tools to a VFX powerhouse After Effects – but we’ll have to wait until May to see how that comparison holds up.
We took a look at what’s new from Adobe and how the new non-destructive Firefly AI tools could change the way you edit videos.
A useful tool for when the narrative needs that extra beat, Generative Extend is the definition of ‘fix it in post’. The AI here adds additional frames to clips, giving editors more to play with. According to Adobe, the “breakthrough technology creates extra media for fine-tuning edits, to hold on a shot for an extra beat or to better cover a transition.”
2. Adding and removing objects
A familiar set of tools for genAI users, Object Addition and Object Removal are making their debut on Premiere Pro. In Adobe’s preview video, we’re shown a case of diamonds. As with any AI art generator, by selecting an area of the frame and writing a text-to-video prompt, users will be able to add to the scene. In this case, more diamonds. Other uses highlighted are adding or removing unwanted props, set dressing, brand logos, and crew, which may lead to a dangerous drop in IMDb-listed goofs.
3. Third-party support
This is an intriguing proposition for any video pro currently using other AI tools. Adobe Firefly’s Premiere Pro will let users use models from third-party sources, including Pika, Runway, and Sora from OpenAI to find the best shot for the project. These last two examples will use text-prompts directly inside Premiere Pro, creating variations that can be added straight to the timeline. Adobe are calling these ‘explorations,’ and since Sora itself is still very much in beta, expect this one to develop over time.
4. VFX workflows
As soon as Adobe revealed the tools, the inevitable comparisons to After Effects came tumbling in. From what we’ve seen, there’s no denying the tools are effectively light visual effects tools. Ok, it doesn’t quite look like an alternative to After Effects just yet. But the tools add an extra level of VFX, letting users tidy up footage without jumping between software.
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5. Audio workflows are changing too
Alongside the headline-grabbing video tools, the company is introducing a handful of generative AI audio tools – also set for a May release. Expect interactive fade handles, automatic AI tagging to categorize music, ambience, sound effects, or dialogue, and redesigned waveforms that should make it quicker to ‘read’ the project.
Bonus: Content credentials
Alright, it might not radically alter anyone’s workflow, but since Firefly’s introduction, Adobe has been championing more transparency around AI usage media. With Content Credentials, users can see if AI was used, and which training model, in the creation of the footage.
“Adobe is reimagining every step of video creation and production workflow to give creators new power and flexibility to realize their vision. By bringing generative AI innovations deep into core Premiere Pro workflows, we are solving real pain points that video editors experience every day, while giving them more space to focus on their craft,” said said Ashley Still, Senior Vice President, Creative Product Group at Adobe.
AI and the way it shapes our society has come a long way from the early days in Alan Turing’s labs, from totally replacing smartphone apps to generating incredible new images in under two seconds. It’s no wonder then that many businesses are bought into and benefitting from AI-based tools and platforms. In fact, a recent IDC report found that 71% of businesses are already using AI while 22% plan to in the next 12 months.
However, to truly realize the benefits of AI, businesses need to carefully consider how much they are reliant on humans to assess the output of AI tools and solutions, and if this is actually enabling them to gain business value or make a meaningful difference. From this will come the opportunity to explore exactly how human beings and technology working in tandem is the answer to unlocking real AI implementation value.
So why aren’t businesses seeing gains from AI?
Despite the gains that many businesses have been offered, lots just aren’t seeing these come to fruition – at least not in the instantaneous way they expected. If you take AI-powered translation software as an example, pharmaceutical companies have narrow windows to turn around advisory literature on patient guidance and the most safe and effective use of their products. This process would benefit from AI-powered translation to make this happen at scale, but this comes with its own challenges.
Thomas Labarthe
Language Services and Technology President, RWS.
The output also requires human review from qualified language specialists with specific subject-matter expertise, which can slow down the process and arguably counteract the benefits of using AI in the first place. What organizations are seeing is that this post-editing stage remains the critical gap and the last mile between AI translation output and translation that is trustworthy and fit for purpose – particularly for specialist industries like pharmaceutical, financial services or law.
Additionally, we are seeing that poor or inefficient implementation is holding organizations back from that real AI value add. In fact, a recent Slack survey showed that more than 40% of workers had not received any guidance on how to actually use AI within their role.
Employees need to be onboarded onto the tool properly, given time to understand it and ask questions so they can make the most use of it. This means it can be used at the correct place, at the correct time.
AI solutions that combine artificial and human intelligence at the correct stage can both help increase efficiency and accuracy. This creates an output for the business which is built on Genuine Intelligence. This is a synergistic combination of artificial intelligence and human intelligence, as opposed to curtailed as to when they are able to bounce off one another. This way AI continually learns and adapts to the context to which its exposed, which itself is selected by human experts.
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So, with the pharmaceutical translation example spoken about earlier, a tool which has been properly implemented and built with Genuine Intelligence, would mean language specialists would be involved at the most critical points to assess and teach the AI. Then, translation can still be completed for the business to a high-level of accuracy, but we have not removed the all-important human element which ensures the quality of work is high.
AI tools and platforms that drastically reduce the need for the human-in-the-loop but are also trustworthy enough to have a meaningful impact to the business, are becoming a must within more complex industries.
How can businesses benefit?
Pioneering innovations like this, that aim to lighten the burden on human workers, and not totally replace them, will enable businesses to benefit from a platform that achieves human-like translation quality, almost instantly, significantly reducing the time required for a human-in-the-loop during the translation process. This allows language specialists, for example, to focus their skills and cultural expertise on content that requires their attention.
Through combining artificial and human intelligence, creating genuine intelligence, AI can begin to get closer to becoming the desired ‘silver bullet’ that solves complex business challenges and resource crunches. AI-based solutions developed using genuine intelligence can improve operational efficiency, create accurate content, augment the productivity of humans, and allow more room for humans to focus on the work that they truly excel at.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
Billed as a commercially safe AI image generator, iStock released its AI photo platform back in January 2024 – and during a live demo of the latest update, we spoke to Chief Product Officer Grant Farhall and Bill Bon, Director of Editing, about creative efficiencies, business-first AI, and what makes a good AI text-to-image prompt.
Famed for its stock media library, the company, owned by Getty Images, has been focused of late on creating a good, usable AI tool that’s accessible at pretty much every level of an organization. And a commercially safe one, too, untrained on copyrighted materials that might bring down unnecessary lawsuits on businesses big and small.
The latest additions to the toolkit, Refine and Expand, add an extra layer of creativity. We took a look at how they worked while discussing iStock’s AI future.
You can check out the iStock Ai generator by clicking here
Finding creative efficiencies
Business may be the order of the day, but Farhall told us that iStock has made sure the tool was fun to use. Fun. It’s a word that’s repeated often during the live demo, feeling like a byword for simple, accessible, engaging. And it’s hard to deny that using certain AI art generators can feel like a slog, especially professional tools with their unintuitive or overly complex interfaces. In contrast, iStock is trying to balance exciting capabilities with usability – a factor the company feels gets overlooked in the rush for AI-everything. “It’s all about making lives easier,” said Farhall, “Letting users create in an elevated way.”
That’s evidenced from the start, with the platform employing a helpful prompt builder that guides you through the key information needed to generate AI images. Better prompts means better results.
Refine and Expand, the platform’s latest tools, are another example of this. The former lets users highlight areas of AI-generated images, then prompting the tool to add objects and people, or tweak elements of the image. In one example, we’re shown how easy it is to add a scarf to a photorealistic image of a man, just by selecting the neck area and telling the AI what to add. In another, a tiger was added to a jungle scene.
Expand, a tool favoured by designer Bon, intelligently adds to the background. Streets become longer, more populated, woods thicker – and, Bon explained, those expansions should make contextual sense. The social media advantages for time-poor designers and non-designers, where every platform demands different image dimensions, are clear.
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The focus is on the ability to “expand what’s possible”, said Farhall, “finding creative efficiencies”. With AI, anything is possible.
Well, almost anything.
It’s rare in a live demo that we’re intentionally shown the limitations of a product. Here, what the tool can’t do is announced with the sort of fanfare usually reserved for massive updates, new features. The iStock AI Generator is, effectively, a safe – commercially safe – sandbox. In part the goal, said Farhall, was to prove you don’t need a mass dataset culled from every corner of the internet to train an AI; that it’s possible to provide a transparent process where creators are compensated and businesses can feel confident using the platform.
The AI generator can’t, for instance, generate existing logos or celebrities or copyrighted images. Nike swooshes, Taylor Swift, Mickey Mouse, the golden arches of McDonalds – as far as the iStock AI is concerned, these things simply do not exist. They’re not part of the training model, they’ll never be generated. Nor will a company’s AI generations get cycled back into the model. It’s a creative silo for businesses.
Since unveiling its tool, iStock has gone hard on legal business protections. From the beginning, it offered the same $10K legal coverage enjoyed by users of its pre-shot media library. The company hopes this will allow for seamless use between its AI and the stock media platforms.
That’s essential, Farhall explained, since the real issue with AI is that it’s always “looking back.” He cited the pandemic as an example, where photographers could be commissioned to get current images. Users, then, should get the best of both worlds. Expect closer integration between the two worlds, too. We’re told the ability to use the AI tool to edit and refine pre-shot is in the pipeline, and users will also soon be able to fine-tune AI images to create branded generations in May.
Before wrapping up, we ask veteran prompt writer Bon the secret behind what makes a good text-to-image prompt? He explained that it’s experimentation, but a good AI text prompt places important details at start. Make it long, 30-40 words using cinematic language, like whimsical and spooky, and include specifics like subjects and lighting style. And use image filters to make photoreal images more filmic. So, now we know.
A few times a year, Sephora discounts nearly its entire stock, and that includes some of our favorite hair straighteners, blow dryers, and hot brushes. The caveat? You need to be a Sephora Beauty Insider, which is free to join, and the percentage off the sale price is based on which membership tier you fall into. Some brands aren’t included in the sale, like MAC and The Ordinary, and there are some limitations, like how you can buy only one Dyson and one Shark product.
Be sure to enter code YAYSAVE at checkout or mention it in-store. All the prices listed here are 20 percent off for the Rouge portion of the sale. We’ll update it when the next tier discounts start. Here are the details on the various tiers:
Insider members: This is the base tier, which doesn’t require you to spend any money. You’ll get 10 percent off from April 9 through 15.
VIB members: This is anyone who spends $350 in a year. You’ll get 15 percent off from April 9 through 15.
Rouge members: If you spend at least $1,000 per year, you’ll get 20 percent off from April 5 to 15. This means you also get first access to the sale.
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Dyson has mastered air manipulation, and WIRED writer Brenda Stolyar loved the Airstrait (8/10, WIRED Recommends), saying it halved the time she spends on her hair routine. Instead of hot plates, the Airstrait uses air flow to dry and straighten hair in one go—you can lock the plates closed and use it as just a hair dryer, but it shines in its straightening abilities. You may need to play around with it to see whether it works best on wet or damp hair, which will vary depending on your hair type. It’s also available in a really cute limited-edition rose-gold color.
T3 makes great hair tools, and this flat iron is among them. It uses what T3 calls HeatID Technology to set temperature based on hair texture, length, and whether it’s color-treated. Refresh Mode lets you touch up already straightened hair at a lower temperature based on the previous settings. It’s a small but mighty feature.
I’ve been testing this flat iron for the past few weeks, and it’s become one of my favorite straighteners. It’s a classic that I somehow had never tried before, but it seriously straightens my course curls quickly. There are five heat settings, but the buttons are right where my hands want to rest, so I often accidentally change the temperature.
GHD Platinum+ Styler Flat Iron
Photograph: Amazon
You’ll either love or hate this iron from popular tool brand GHD. There’s no heat control, so it’s always at 365 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s great for some hair types—it straightened one writer’s hair in one pass—and prevents people from needlessly frying their locks, but courser or curlier hair might be a struggle.
Like Dyson’s Airstrait, the GHD Duet uses air to dry and smooth hair, and some hair types will get pin-straight styles from just this step. But if you need more help to straighten it, you’ll still need to turn on the hot plates once your hair is totally dry. That means it might take a little longer than the Dyson, but it also cuts out having to have two tools.
WIRED contributor Victoria Woollaston-Webber says this is one of the best dryers she has tried, quickly getting her hair dry and shiny without burning her scalp. But the buttons are exactly where you want your hand to go, so you may end up changing the settings while styling.
The Dyson Supersonic is a solid hair dryer with accessories like a wide-tooth comb and flyaway smoother. It may even cut your drying time down. But no one needs to spend $400 on a dryer unless you really won’t miss the money. Like the Airstrait, it’s also available in a pretty rose color.
Photograph: Sephora
The version for curly and coily hair is discounted to the same price. This model took a bit longer to dry my hair than the brand’s HyperAir, but it worked and takes up less room. Its RapidGloss Finisher attachment did the impossible and actually tamed some of my frizz.
We haven’t tested this dryer, but it’s included here because we typically love and trust T3 tools. I tried the Aireluxe, which was super light and worked well but was lacking a diffuser. This one looks nearly identical but is more compact and has the diffuser I missed, plus other attachments. If you need something light, it may be worth a try.
T3 Switch Kit Wave Trio Interchangeable Curling Iron
Photograph: T3
T3’s Switch Kit tops of list of best curling irons. It’s one handle with three barrels for achieving different styles. This one comes with half-inch and 1.25-inch wands and a 1.5-inch clip barrel. If you don’t need something as small as the half-inch, the Wave Trio swaps it out for a 1-inch wand.
We have cheaper wand recommendations, but we like the SinglePass because its tapered barrel goes from 0.75 inch to 1.3 inches. It gives long hair nice beachy waves and allows you to make smaller curls around your face.
If you’re a GHD fan, you’ll like this curling iron with a 1-inch barrel that works for short and long hair. It uses a clamp, which takes some getting used to if you primarily use wands, but our writer suggests testing it out while it’s off so you can become accustomed to the movement. It also has a cool tip that’s larger than others we’ve tried, so you can safely control the tool without singeing your fingers.
Blow-Dry Brush and Multi-Tool Deals
Shark FlexStyle Multi-Styler
Photograph: Shark
If you’ve been eyeing the Dyson Airwrap but can’t fathom spending the money, you simply don’t have to. Shark’s FlexStyle (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is nearly identical, letting you dry your hair, blow it out, or curl it. The Airwrap barrels attracted hair a little better, but for the money saved, it was manageable. The curly and coily hair bundle comes with a diffuser.
Want to stick with Dyson instead of the Shark? This set comes with the new barrel that can create curls in both directions instead of the need for two—it’s the bigger one for longer hair. It also has other curl tools like a comb and diffuser. There are other bundles and accessories available, including the long barrel without the curly tools and a regular set in rose gold and blue and orange.
I have too much hair to figure out how to efficiently use a blow-dry brush, but people love them. This one comes from a brand we like and has both a paddle brush and round brush attachment for whatever style you’re trying to achieve.
GHD Rise Thermal Hot Brush
Photograph: GHD
This hot brush made our list of best curling irons because even though it’s meant to lift your roots for volume, it made effortless waves and tight curls, too. Like other GHD products, its only setting is 365 degrees.
You’ve probably seen Revlon’s blow-dry brush all over social media. The newest version is great for a fraction of this price, but our tester found that the Double Shot gave her smoother, straighter hair. It just required a little bit more work given the smaller air-flow openings.
You’ve got a dilemma. You love to cook, and you love to eat, but your kitchen has no room to prepare meals. Seriously, it’s like gerbil furniture. You could just declare all hope lost and rationalize eating out night and day. But you and I both know it’s a lot healthier and cheaper to cook for yourself.
As someone who lives in New York City, I know a thing or two about small kitchens. Over the years, my colleagues and I have tested various pieces of furniture and other kitchen gear to help make cooking in a small space easier (and saner). Don’t forget to check out our other buying guides, including the Best Cookbooks, Best Chef Knives, and Best Pots and Pans.
Updated March 2024: We’ve added the Umbra Tug paper towel holder, Oxo spatula set, Le Creuset Revolution scraping spoon, and PUR faucet water filter.
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Maximize Storage Space
Schmidt Brothers Acacia
Photograph: Crate & Barrel
Magnets are hidden beneath this wood, wall-mounted bar that can house your knives. That means they won’t chip or dull your knife blades like an all-metal bar. Skip the countertop knife block—not only does it take up counter space, but it also dulls the knife blades more quickly.
Photograph: Amazon
Getting those pots and pans onto the wall will free up precious drawer and cabinet space. This bamboo and aluminum rack holds up to 30 pounds, but mine has been rock-solid and sturdy even with a full set of stainless-steel cookware and cast-iron skillets. If you’re mounting into drywall and not studs, pick up some E-Z Anchors. If you don’t have room for a shelf, a hanging bar will still get skillets, saucepans, and woks out of your way.
Le Creuset Stoneware Utensil Crock
Photograph: Le Creuset
Store your cooking utensils in a ceramic container if you’re low on drawer space. This has enough room to hold all your spoons, spatulas, and tongs and is available in several colors. You can also get the 1-quart version for $35.
Photograph: Amazon
WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu lives in New York City and has seen his fair share of tiny kitchens. He’s used this Simplehuman wall-mounted paper towel holder for years with zero problems. You can use a few simple screws to mount it into drywall (it’s easy to patch the holes with some spackle if you’re renting). Replacing a roll is dead simple too. Why take up precious counter space with a paper towel holder when you can mount it instead? If you prefer a countertop solution, I’ve used this Umbra Tug holder ($17) for years, and its weighted base and rubber-coated stem make it easy to tear a small amount with one hand.
Photograph: Amazon
Tight on refrigerator space? Swap from a pitcher filter to a faucet-mounted filter to free up quite a lot of space on your fridge shelves. The sales literature says it’ll filter 100 gallons, which should mean about three months of usage before it needs a replacement filter. You can buy a PUR Filter Replacement two-pack for $25. I cook a lot at home and make a lot of coffee, so my filters tend to last about half that, but knowing that it’s removing potential contaminants from my food and drinking water makes the regular filter replacements well worth it. A color-coded light activates whenever you run the filter, so you’ll know when to replace the filter. My previous model lasted more than seven years, and the replacement I bought last month looks nearly identical.
Photograph: Stove Shelf
WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu has been using the StoveShelf for more than a year and loves it. It’s a smart way to save some counter space, and it’s easy to clean. This is just a sheet of metal with magnets at the base, and it sticks to the top of a stove, making it super easy to install. You’ll need to make sure this part of your stove is metal and not plastic, and that there are no buttons or switches that might be blocked (like an oven light). The rear guard ensures that nothing falls into that gap between your stove and the wall. I’d make sure to avoid putting any cooking oil there.
Photograph: Amazon
You don’t need to use precious counter space to store fresh fruit and vegetables. Leave your tomatoes, potatoes, and stone fruit out of the refrigerator and regain some prep space for knife handling and mixing bowls.
Function Home Kitchen Storage Cabinet
Photograph: Function Home
Here’s another one that WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu bought in 2022. This pantry storage system will take up some floor space, but if you can swing it, you can save so much counter space, and it’s especially great for anyone with limited cabinets. It’s daunting at first because it comes in what seems like a million pieces; it took Julian around four hours to complete with no issues. But in the year he’s had it, it’s worked perfectly and has been a boon to keeping his kitchen less chaotic. The doors shut magnetically. Just measure the height of the shelves to ensure your spices and other pantry items will fit.
Photograph: Gneiss Spice
Rather than use a wall-mounted spice rack, WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe sticks magnetic spice jars to her refrigerator. She likes Gneiss Spice, which comes in several ready-made kits. You can also specify the spices you want.
Consolidate (and Downsize) Your Cookware
Lodge Enameled Dutch Oven
Photograph: Amazon
A Dutch oven can replace several single-use pots or machines. I’ve used mine to steam oysters, slow-cook stews, and make barbecue, and the durable, nonstick enameled surface requires less care and attention than bare cast iron, although I prefer a non-enamel one for baking bread.
How often do you use that quesadilla maker or steaming basket? One multicooker can replace several specialized machines. Aside from being a pressure cooker, steamer, sauté pan, rice cooker, yogurt maker, food warmer, and slow cooker, it has 13 customizable settings for pressure-cooking everything from beans to soup to poultry. Read our Best Multicookers guide for more recommendations.
Photograph: Amazon
These silicone Oxo spatulas come in three different sizes. All are nonstick and gave me no issue with clinging to even the stickiest doughs. Not once did one slip out of my hands—no doubt thanks to the extraordinarily grippy surface.
Photograph: Amazon
Plenty of recipes ask you to scrape the bottom of the pan or Dutch oven to dislodge all the delicious bits of ingredients that caramelize and stick to it, but your options for what to dislodge it with are somewhat limited. Metal spoons can scratch the finish off cast-iron or nonstick pans. Plastic is too slick for the job. Enter the beechwood Revolution, which is firm enough for scraping but won’t harm delicate pots and pans. Sure, it’s expensive, but its ergonomic handle is comfortable for long cooking sessions, and the flat edge meant that I didn’t once come up against a sticky layer that I couldn’t break free of the skillet bottom.
Photograph: Target
A stand mixer on the countertop is a powerful kitchen tool, but it takes up a lot of valuable space. Consider a hand mixer you can stash inside a cabinet or drawer instead. It’s not quite as able to power through the thickest of doughs, but I’ve had no trouble mixing up chocolate chip cookie dough and Irish soda bread dough with this KitchenAid hand mixer, and it spins fast enough for me to make whipped cream.
Ninja 8-Inch Chef’s Knife
You don’t need that many knives. Ditch the 10-inch knife set: An 8- or 9-inch chef’s knife, a smaller paring knife, a bread knife, and maybe a couple of specialty blades will suffice. This general-purpose chef’s knife is recommended as our top choice for most people in our chef’s knife buying guide, thanks to its ability to hold an edge and its near-nonstick surface.
Photograph: Great Jones Goods
WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe makes most of her meals in this cross between a skillet, a frying pan, and a sauté pan. “It doesn’t shine in one area over any other,” she says, “but it’s sturdy, it heats up evenly, and the stainless-steel surface cleans up easily in the dishwasher.”
Photograph: Source Amazon
If you don’t have enough prep space to handle a knife safely, a food processor can slice and dice up to three cups of ingredients at a time. WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano loves using hers to make fresh pasta sauce.
Add Prep Surfaces
Catskill Craftsmen Maple Cutting Board
Photograph: Wayfair
Cutting boards take up a ton of room during meal preparation. Buy one that’s made to fit over your sink, like this solid maple cutting board. Hardwood is easier on your knife blades than bamboo, too.
Photograph: IKEA
Mounting a drop-leaf table to a nearby wall can free up space in the middle of your kitchen and make it easier to walk around. Aside from offering a place to eat, it’s 20 by 36 inches of additional counter space that swings down and away when not in use.
Photograph: Amazon
Burner covers add space to your cooktop by making a place to set down an extra cutting board or utensils. This bamboo workstation can cover half your stovetop. Get two for a continuous flat surface over all four burners.
Photograph: Wayfair
For a tiny kitchen, stick with a rolling kitchen cart that measures 36 inches (91 centimeters) wide or less, such as this one that measures just under 30 inches (76 centimeters). It has a solid butcher-block top, three hooks for oven mitts and hanging utensils, and locking wheels. You can tuck it into a corner of your kitchen and wheel it out when you need more counter space.
How to Move in the Kitchen
Photograph: photoguns/Getty Images
Here are some tips from WIRED senior writer Scott Gilbertson, who worked in the restaurant industry for six years and knows his way around tight cooking spaces:
Upgraded versions of Logic Pro for iPad and Mac will give musicians and music producers new tools for crafting killer tracks.
