This is the news from Wednesday 4 November. Read the latest news
Daily news
PageSpeed scores jump, GitHub blocks a trigger and Gutenberg 24.3
Today in 30 seconds
- PageSpeed Insights scores may jump after the Lighthouse 13.6 update
- GitHub will block pull_request_target workflows by default on 2 December
- Search Console shows a strange spike in clicks for some sites
- Google may be testing Search without the AI Mode button
- John Mueller says technical SEO still matters in AI search
- Anthropic’s IPO filing warns it may soon hit its AI self-improvement line
- MIT researchers had GPT-6 Astra fix a small model by editing its weights
- Gutenberg 24.3 lets you format text across several blocks at once
- Vercel adds vercel.toml and blocks bad npm packages on every plan
- Apple will rate dating and AI companion apps 18+ from 16 November
- Google’s Quick Share SDK will let Android and iOS apps share files
Good morning. Your PageSpeed score may have gone up overnight, and you did nothing. Enjoy it, then read why. We also have a GitHub change to fix before December, a strange click spike in Search Console and an AI that edits another AI’s brain.
PageSpeed Insights scores may jump after the Lighthouse 13.6 update
PageSpeed Insights now runs Lighthouse 13.6.0, which came out on 27 October. It changes how Lighthouse simulates page loads. Chrome’s Barry Pollard says the new FCP and LCP estimates are more accurate and generally produce higher scores.
Lighthouse now uses Chrome’s own label to decide which files block rendering. When the largest element is text, it estimates LCP from the same requests it uses for FCP. Pollard says JavaScript-heavy sites are more likely to see a change. Lighthouse 13.6 should reach Chrome DevTools in Chrome 159, due on 8 December.
Why it matters A higher score this week may not mean your site got faster. Before you celebrate, check that both reports list the same Lighthouse version. Then compare real-user data from the last 28 days.
Lab scores are a guide, not a grade. My plain guide to LCP, INP and CLS explains which numbers Google uses.
GitHub will block pull_request_target workflows by default on 2 December
From 2 December, GitHub Actions will block the pull_request_target trigger by default in public repositories. It affects GitHub Free, Team and Enterprise Cloud. Private and internal repositories are not affected.
There are two test outages first, on 9 and 16 November from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC. In those windows, blocked workflows fail and don’t run. Until then, the rule only warns you. To keep a workflow, allow the trigger in an Actions event policy and limit it to the files that need it.
Why it matters I like this change. This trigger runs with your repository’s secrets. If it runs code from a fork, a stranger could steal them. Check Insights before 9 November so a release doesn’t fail mid-brownout.
Search Console shows a strange spike in clicks for some sites
Some sites saw a sudden jump in clicks in the Search Console Performance report over the weekend. Impressions stayed flat. Glenn Gabe saw it on a few properties, and Joy Hawkins saw it on three sites.
Hawkins says she is “fairly confident it’s bot traffic”. Gabe says it “very well could be a bug”. One reader blamed rank trackers, and saw five times the usual clicks with no extra real visits. Google has not commented yet.
Why it matters I wouldn’t report these days as a win. Compare Search Console with your analytics for the same dates. If clicks rose but visits didn’t, treat the spike as noise.
Google may be testing Search without the AI Mode button
Google may be testing a search bar with no AI Mode button. Len Raleigh spotted it in Chrome’s incognito mode and called it “just a test”. He still had AI Mode on his other machines. The button first arrived in May 2025.
Barry Schwartz could not reproduce it. He expects Google is comparing a small group without the button against everyone else. Google has not said anything.
Why it matters Google is still working out how people should reach AI answers. Where that button lives changes how much traffic classic results get. It is worth a glance at your search referrals over the next few weeks.
John Mueller says technical SEO still matters in AI search
Google’s John Mueller told David Iwanow that AI systems build on SEO. He said technical SEO “is going to remain very relevant”. AI crawlers work a little differently, but he called that “another flavor of technical SEO”.
He also warned against short-term tricks like thin listicles. They are not always spam, but a list “needs to add value”. In a separate reply, Mueller said a site with only its home page indexed “sounds like a general quality issue”.
Why it matters There is no secret AI SEO trick. Crawlable pages, clean code and useful content still do the heavy lifting. Ask any vendor selling “AI SEO” what they change on your site.
My guide on how AI search finds your site covers the crawler side.
Anthropic’s IPO filing warns it may soon hit its AI self-improvement line
Anthropic’s updated IPO filing, lodged on 2 November, adds a new risk warning. Internal estimates suggest a future model “may imminently meet” its definition of “dramatically accelerated progress attributable to AI”. Anthropic says no current model has crossed that line.
The filing admits Anthropic has “in the past not identified” big speed-ups until after they happened. It says it does not expect Claude to build new frontier models “without meaningful human supervision or understanding”. It is also considering changes to its Responsible Scaling Policy.
Why it matters AI tools are improving faster, and the makers say so in legal documents. A filing is also a sales pitch, so read the claim with care.
MIT researchers had GPT-6 Astra fix a small model by editing its weights
MIT CSAIL researchers asked OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra to make Qwen3.5-0.8B better at maths. There was no training. Astra found what made the model loop forever, then changed about 0.016% of its weights.
The small model’s MATH-500 score rose from 7.9% to 48.1%, and GSM8K rose from 13.8% to 67.1%. The gains were much smaller with fewer test runs. On a model that rarely loops, Astra could not help. The authors call these “very early results”.
Why it matters One AI repairing another without retraining could make small, cheap models much better. It was the top story on Hacker News last night.
Gutenberg 24.3 lets you format text across several blocks at once
Gutenberg 24.3 came out on 28 October, and Make WordPress shared the details on 2 November. You can now bold or link text that spans several blocks. Notes get emoji reactions, and the media inserter shows a grid with previews for audio and other files.
Save errors are clearer too. Autosave failures explain the cause and count down to the next try. “My patterns” becomes “Site patterns” with an author filter. Cover and Video blocks no longer autoplay uploaded videos when a visitor prefers reduced motion.
Why it matters The release includes the WordPress 7.1.4 security fixes, so update the plugin if you run it. The reduced motion change is a quiet win for visitors who get motion sick.
If you want to do the same in your theme, here is my guide to reduce motion.
Vercel adds vercel.toml and blocks bad npm packages on every plan
Vercel projects can now use a vercel.toml file. It supports the same settings as vercel.json, but it allows comments and has a flatter layout. Use only one config file per project.
Vercel also blocks known malicious npm package versions on all plans, with no setup. It checks your lockfile before install and blocks bad downloads during install. If it finds one, the deploy fails and names the package. Update it, refresh the lockfile and redeploy.
Why it matters Npm attacks keep coming, and this stops a poisoned package before it reaches your site. Comments in config files are a small joy too.
Apple will rate dating and AI companion apps 18+ from 16 November
From 16 November, App Store developers must declare two features in the age rating form. One is sharing a user’s location with other people. The other is dating, including virtual companions with romantic content. Dating apps get a minimum rating of 18+.
The questions apply when you submit an update or change the form. Every app must answer them by 12 January 2027. Brazil has its own ratings for both features.
Why it matters If your app has a “share my location” or “meet people” feature, update the form before your next release. Otherwise, a review delay could hit your next update.
Google’s Quick Share SDK will let Android and iOS apps share files
Google announced a Quick Share SDK at Android Dev Summit on 2 November. Apps on Android and iOS will be able to send files with Quick Share inside the app. Users won’t need the system share sheet.
Transfers are end-to-end encrypted and work offline. Photos and videos are not compressed. The SDK sets up the connection itself. It is due in the first half of 2027. Google’s November system update also adds automatic photo backup from Android to Windows.
Why it matters Fast sharing between iPhone and Android has been a pain for years. I’m glad to see it. If you build an app with photos or files, put this on your 2027 list.
Quick hits
- Gemini 4 Carbon nearly matches Claude Opus 5.5 on SemiAnalysis’s GDPx test at about a third of the cost. 9to5Google
- Google AI Overviews for brand searches now often sit in the right column on desktop. Search Engine Roundtable
- Google AI Mode linked only to Google Flights in Barry Schwartz’s flight tests. Search Engine Roundtable
- Google will turn off Search and Gemini for K-12 student accounts until schools switch them on. Search Engine Roundtable
- Cloudflare cut its slowest DNS build delays from 14.6 minutes to 1.21 minutes. Cloudflare
- GitHub Desktop 3.6.10 adds short-lived sign-in tokens. Sign out and back in to get one. GitHub
- watchOS 27.3 beta brings Siri Recap and Live Rewind to Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. Engadget
- iPad mini (A20 Pro) scores 8.5 out of 10 in Engadget’s review, with price the main drawback. Engadget
- Peak Design launches its first chargers, including a US$100 wireless battery with a kickstand. Engadget
- Android November update fixes 216 flaws, including critical zero-click bugs. Install the 2026-11-05 patch. SecurityOnline
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