How Amazon Auto Buy already scored me a deal
Plus: Android meets AirDrop, a better way to clip digital grocery coupons, and my favorite phone cases
Greetings, and thanks for reading my newsletter. I really appreciate you taking the time to follow along.
It has been another rainy week in Los Angeles, but I still managed to make the most of it.
I spent some time at Ring. Jamie Siminoff, the founder, joined me on the radio show last weekend, and then we taped a segment for TV this week. It was interesting to see how far Ring has come. When I first met Jamie, Ring was a scrappy startup in a small, cluttered office. Today, it is a massive headquarters in Hawthorne after its billion dollar Amazon acquisition. Jamie has a new book called “Ding Dong,” and I’m really enjoying it. If you like business stories or the history behind the Ring video doorbell, it is worth a read.
Ironically, back in 2018 I was the one handing Jamie a signed copy of my book.
Since it is Thanksgiving week, I hope you get to enjoy some time with friends, family, and loved ones. A couple of quick notes before the holiday. If you missed my Dear Abby style newsletter, you can read it here. I’m also running a Cyber Week subscription special. Paid subscribers get instant access to the full archive of past newsletters, which lock after a week, along with an ad free, high quality audio version of my podcast. You can take advantage of that here.
There will be a newsletter this week, but it will arrive early on Wednesday. It is fully dedicated to my best Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping tips. It will be packed with everything you need to save money and shop smart, so keep an eye out for it.
And if you have not told a friend about the newsletter, please forward it along. Word of mouth is the most helpful thing you can do.
Android meets AirDrop at last
Let’s add this to the list of things I never expected to see. Google just made its Pixel phones compatible with Apple’s AirDrop.
When I first saw the headline, I figured there was no way Apple allowed it. Plenty of developers have tried to work around Apple’s system, and we all remember what happened when the Beeper app tried to bring iMessage to Android. Apple shut that down instantly.
But after digging into Google’s blog post, the story became much more interesting. Google didn’t hack anything and Apple didn’t approve anything. Instead, Google made its own system, called Quick Share, fully interoperable with AirDrop by using the same underlying standards. That means there is nothing special you need to do. Just update your Pixel.
I tested it, and it works exactly how you would expect. You can send files from a Pixel 10 to a Mac or an iPhone and go the other direction from an Apple device to a Pixel. Google says they want to bring this to more Android phones, but it is not clear how long that will take. So if you are on a Samsung, hang tight.
This is a big moment for making iPhone and Android play nicer together. The only question now is whether Apple will leave it alone.
Bitcoin takes a sharp dive
If you have Bitcoin friends, this might not be the week to bring it up. The price has taken a major hit. All the gains from the year have been wiped out and then some.
To put it in perspective, Bitcoin is now around $80,000 a coin. In October it hit an all time high of $126,000. Some people even predicted it could reach $200,000 by the end of the year.
I am not a financial expert, but analysts say the drop comes from broad uncertainty in the market. A lot of investors are unloading assets, especially institutional investors with the deepest pockets.
Ask Bitcoin believers, though, and they will tell you the opposite. They say times like this are the best moments to buy because everything is on sale.
Like any kind of investing, it depends on your perspective.
Amazon’s Auto Buy scored me a deal
Remember a couple of newsletters ago when I told you about Amazon’s new Auto Buy feature? It lets you set a price alert on a product and Amazon will either notify you when it hits that number or automatically place the order for you.
I tried it on a power strip Jared Newman mentioned in his newsletter. I’ve been wanting to clean up the mess of wires behind my TV. It was selling for about $25, but I wanted to see if it would drop below $20. In the mobile app you tap the little Rufus AI icon, say “set a price alert,” choose your price, and check the Auto Buy box if you want Amazon to place the order automatically.
I set it and forgot about it. This morning I woke up to an email saying my order had been placed because the price dropped under $20.
If you shop on Amazon and you’re hunting for deals, this is a great way to handle holiday shopping because it puts everything on autopilot.
Sponsored: ShopBack just added Zara - first U.S. cashback app to have it
ShopBack just became the first U.S. cashback app to offer Zara. It’s live now, and through Black Friday, you’ll get 20% cashback on Zara purchases.
For those of you doing holiday shopping, that’s worth knowing. But here’s what’s more relevant for tech and electronics shoppers:
Black Friday is just days away, and ShopBack is running some massive cashback deals. Amazon has a 50% cashback flash sale on Black Friday from 4-5 PM Pacific. Best Buy hits 10% all day. Home Depot, 10%. Then on Cyber Monday, Walmart jumps to 25% during another one-hour flash from 4-5 PM.
ShopBack is still the only major cashback app that works on Amazon - 1.5% normally, but these Black Friday rates are significantly elevated, including 5% cashback on Amazon. And it all stacks on top of sale prices and coupons.
Set it up now before the rush. These are one-hour flash windows and you don’t want to be creating accounts when deals are live.
New users get a $20 bonus with code RICHONTECH at https://app.shopback.com/usa/partner/RICHONTECH
Works at 5,000+ stores. Takes two minutes.
Automatic grocery coupon clipping
You know all those digital grocery coupons you can never clip because they live inside an app, and you have to tap through them one by one before you shop? There is an app called SaveWise that now does it automatically.
You sign up on the website, add the browser extension, then visit your grocery store’s site. The extension pops up and asks if you want it to activate your coupons. If you say yes, it goes through every available offer and clips them for you. When you check out, any item you buy that has a digital coupon will automatically apply.
It works with more than 3,000 grocery stores, including Safeway, Albertsons, and Vons. Kroger is supported, but I talked to the developer, and they are still finishing support for Ralphs here in Southern California. He says it should be ready in the next couple of days.
It is an easy, free way to make sure you get the maximum savings at your grocery store.
USPS makes it easy to help a child in need
Somehow I had never heard of USPS Operation Santa until now, but it is an incredible program. Kids send letters to Santa through the post office. USPS scans them, redacts any sensitive information, keeps track of the address, and uploads the letters to the Operation Santa website. You can go online, browse through the letters, adopt one, and send a gift to that child based on what they wrote.
I was tearing up just reading through the letters, and I definitely want to participate this year. They are working with Toys R Us, which makes it easy to shop and ship gifts without even leaving the house.
If you want to join in, you have until December 13.
Hands on with Meta’s display glasses
This week on TV, I showed off the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. These are the new smart glasses with a tiny display built into the lens. They are very cool, but they cost $800, so they are definitely aimed at early adopters.
For everyone else, the standard Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are still the sweet spot. You get the camera, microphone, speakers, and the AI features. And from an accessibility standpoint, they are incredible. They even integrate with Be My Eyes, which lets someone who is visually impaired get assistance through the glasses.
The best cases I tried this week
Whenever a new phone comes out, case makers are more than happy to send me a pile of their latest models to test. It can get a little comical because they want you to see every single option in their lineup. This week I gathered everything that showed up, put each one on my iPhone 17 Pro Max, and picked my favorites.
Spoiler alert. I ended up with three that stood out. The Spigen Ultra Hybrid, the Casetify Impact with a kickstand, and the Tech21 Evo Check.
Tech tidbits
T-Mobile’s Apple TV on Us promotion ends January 1, 2026. Subscribers on higher end plans will now pay $3 a month if they want to keep the Apple TV streaming service, formerly Apple TV+.
Snapchat is now available on Amazon Fire tablets.
OpenAI released a free version of ChatGPT for teachers. It is free through 2027.
Roblox is now asking players to verify their age with a selfie check. Kids take a short video selfie so the system can approximate their age, and then they can only chat with others in their age group.
Amazon is now selling pre-owned Ford vehicles. This follows the Hyundai partnership announced a couple of weeks ago.
The rising wave of AI transcription apps
I posted on Instagram about Wispr Flow, my current favorite AI voice to text transcription app, which just raised another $25 million. That is a serious amount of money for an app that turns voice into text. It also uses AI to polish what you write. After I mentioned it, people started asking which other apps do the same thing. So here they are.
Wispr Flow is the original and still the one I use the most. The other iPhone app I have been testing is Willow.
There are plenty more, and it feels like a new one pops up every week. On iOS there is also SuperWhisper. The rest are currently Mac only, but will likely expand to phones. There is Monologue, Aqua, and Talktastic.
For note taking, there is my longtime favorites Voicenotes and Whisper Memos, plus another I haven’t fully tested called AudioPen.
Long story short, there is no shortage of ways to turn your voice into text right now. Even my favorite Mac transcription tool, MacWhisper, can do this. On Windows, check out Vibe.
Feedbag
One of my favorite parts of this job is interacting with you. It is not lost on me how many of you email each week with kind words, and they truly make my day. Here are a few of the thoughtful messages you sent this week. I am so grateful.
“Thank you for your marvelous segments on KTLA. ... I am a forever fan who appreciates your great tips and relatable advice.” - NJ Jaeger
“My wife and I have emailed you a few times and you have been so helpful. Just want to let you know we are enjoying the Dear Abby format. As usual, picking up some great tips! Thank you” - Jami and Larry
“By the way, that segment you did last week with your son was awesome.” - Dennis
“Love everything you do keep up the great work and would love to see you more on Off The Clock too.” - Karen
“Dear Rich, thank you for doing this additional newsletter, greatly appreciate it and so informative.” - Joanna
Got something to say? Get in touch!
Well, if you can believe it, that is going to do it for this week’s newsletter. One quick heads up. There is a new Chuck E. Cheese Christmas special premiering on Thanksgiving Day. It’s streaming free for Prime members and for everyone else on YouTube. I have no idea if it is going to be any good, but I will probably check it out with my kids.
Don’t forget to tune in to the radio show on Saturday starting at 11 AM on KFI AM 640. The rebroadcast airs Sunday night at 5 PM Pacific on 710 WOR in New York City. My playlist this week will be made up of songs you submitted for dedication.
Happy Thanksgiving. I cannot wait for some candied sweet potatoes and stuffing. My two favorites.
Rich