Editorial standards

Think of this page as our rulebook. It covers every desk and every byline, and it is the standard we invite readers to hold us to.

Sources, in order of trust

For a setting or feature, the first stop is documentation from the company that builds it: Microsoft for Windows, Google for Android, Apple for its own devices.

For news, research and figures, we return to the original announcement, filing, dataset or study rather than someone else's summary of it.

The main sources behind each guide sit at its foot, so any reader can retrace our steps.

Nothing goes in unconfirmed

A step earns its place in a guide only once it has been confirmed. Anything we cannot pin down is cut, or marked plainly as unconfirmed.

Hands-on testing is mentioned only when it actually took place, and a guess is never dressed up as a fact.

Written to be used

Guides open with the short answer, move on to numbered steps, then explain the trade-offs. Technical terms are explained the first time they appear.

When the right choice depends on your circumstances, the guide says so and helps you decide instead of forcing a single answer on everyone.

Revised as products change

A menu that existed last month may be gone today. We revisit guides when products change and revise them once their facts no longer hold.

Each article shows its publication date, and a separate updated date appears after a revision.

Corrections

Factual slips are fixed in the open, with a note on the article describing the change. The corrections policy sets out how to report one.

Money stays out of the verdict

Advertisers, sponsors and affiliate partners have no influence over our topics or recommendations. Paid placements carry a sponsor label, and affiliate links are flagged on the article.

The full rules live on our disclosure page.

Software in the workflow

AI tools support parts of our research and first drafts. A member of our team reads every article before it goes live, checks its claims against the cited sources and is accountable for it.

The AI policy covers the details.

Bylines

Each desk publishes under its own byline, so you can see which part of the site owns an article. Some bylines are pen names, and every article is reviewed before publication whatever name it carries.

Our writers page introduces each desk.