Technologies

FTC Sues Amazon for ‘Tricking’ Customers Into Prime Memberships

The agency says Amazon also made it hard to cancel subscriptions.

Amazon is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission for signing up customers for Prime memberships without their consent. In a complaint filed on Wednesday, the agency also accused the company of undermining the cancellation process for consumers. The news comes on the heels of the e-commerce giant announcing its July Prime Day sales event.

According to the filing, Amazon used a tactic called «dark patterns» to coerce millions of consumers into enrolling in auto-pay Prime subscriptions. The FTC’s complaint states that the company does not sufficiently convey the monthly cost of membership. Additionally, the suit cites Amazon corporate leaders who allegedly subverted changes to the user interface that would reduce nonconsensual enrollments.

FTC head Lina Khan took to Twitter and said Amazon purposely worked to botch subscription cancellations, internally «analogizing the cancellation process to the epic tale of a brutal war» by calling it «Iliad Flow.» While the FTC acknowledged that the retailer made significant adjustments to its cancellation procedures for some subscribers shortly before the suit was filed, the agency asserts that the company has violated the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

Khan also urged the public to submit comments on the FTC’s proposed «click to cancel» rule, which would require companies to make it quick and easy to cancel auto-renewed subscriptions.

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

Technologies

Apple’s iPhone 16 Still Leads the Smartphone Pack in New 2025 Sales Data

Apple’s flagship line dominated first quarter sales, with Samsung close on its heels.

You might have a sense that Apple’s iPhone is one of the most successful smartphones on the market even without looking into the specifics, but now it’s official: the iPhone 16 is the bestselling smartphone of the year so far.

This new data comes from market analysis firm, Counterpoint Research, and its Global Handset Model Sales Tracker. According to the findings, for the first quarter of 2025 — January through March — the base model iPhone 16 was the top-selling smartphone globally. Apple maintained a strong grip on the rest of the firm’s top 10 list, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro and previous-generation base model iPhone 15 taking up the second, third and fourth slots, respectively. They were trailed by the iPhone 16 Plus, which took tenth place.

Notably, Counterpoint highlighted that this quarter saw the current base model iPhone return to the top spot. In recent years, including the first quarter of 2024, the high-end Pro Max variant took first place. The firm attributed this in part to issues in China, where the government has subsidized cheaper phone models and where Huawei’s premium offerings have offered stiff competition.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elsewhere on the list, Samsung was right on Apple’s heels last quarter, with the Galaxy A16 5G, Galaxy A06, Galaxy A25 Ultra and Galaxy A55 5G taking the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth spots, respectively. Rounding out the list was Chinese manufacturer Xaomi’s Redmi 14C 4G, an extremely budget-friendly offering that you can snag at most US retailers for less than $150.

Technologies

Apple Expands Official Self Service Repair Options to Include iPads

DIY types, take note, the updated Self Service Repair Store provides iPad owners a whole new world of options.

Having iPad trouble? With Apple’s May 29 expansion of its Self Service Repair Store, you may be able to fix your device at home.

Users will have the choice of taking their iPads to an Apple Store Genius Bar or attempting certain repairs by themselves with help from Apple’s own resources. The Self Service Repair Store will now offer genuine iPad parts (including displays, batteries, cameras and charging ports), repair toolkits and the ability to arrange an Apple Diagnostics session, among other add-ons. This change also affects independent repair providers who were not previously able to legally repair iPads or offer parts to customers.

The service expansion will cover the iPad Air (M2 and later), iPad Pro (M4), iPad mini (A17 Pro) and iPad (A16) models.

This follows past expansions Apple has made to its self-repair program, which started in 2022, such as adding the MacBook Pro in 2023. At the time, we noted that this move may be in response to the Right to Repair movement, which has led to repair-oriented legislation in all 50 states. Whatever the reason, Apple has now expanded its own self-repair options to tablet owners.

«At Apple, our goal is to create the world’s greatest products that last as long as possible,» Brian Naumann, vice president of AppleCare, said in a statement. «With today’s announcement, we’re excited to expand our repair services to more customers, enabling them to further extend the life of their products, all without compromising safety, security, or privacy.»

Apple also announced its Self Service Repair options would be expanding this summer into Canada, making it the 34th country offering the program. A representative for Apple did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Technologies

T-Mobile Says It’s Not Spying on You. What the New Screen Recording Tool Actually Does

A new setting that looks like a privacy risk is popping up for some customers. T-Mobile explains what’s really going on.

Some T-Mobile customers during the past week have been surprised to discover a new — and enabled by default — feature in the T-Life app called «Screen recording tool.» In light of recent iffy recording tools such as Microsoft’s Recall AI feature in Windows, seeing a feature that records the contents of your screen is bound to raise privacy concerns.

Screen Recording in T-life
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u/Ok_Theory5606 in
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How to disable Screen recording tool if you see it

If you’re a T-Mobile subscriber, you can check if this new option has been turned on by opening the T-Life app, tapping Manage and then tapping Settings (the gear icon). The Screen recording tool option shows up under the Preferences heading.

If the option is there, tap it to reveal a description and a toggle switch. The description reads: «We use a tool to record how customers use the app to analyze and improve your experience. Only T-Mobile will review and analyze your info. If you turn this toggle on or magenta, we will record your screen while you use the app. If you turn this toggle off or gray, we will not record your screen.»

To disable the feature, tap the switch so it becomes gray. (The «magenta» and «gray» in the text refer to the color of the toggle switch to indicate whether it’s active or not, respectively.)

Why T-Mobile stands behind the new feature

When I reached out to the company for more information, a T-Mobile spokesperson defended the feature, saying it was designed to improve the user experience.

«To help us give customers who use T-Life a smoother experience, we are rolling out a new tool in the app that will help us quickly troubleshoot reported or detected issues,» the spokesperson said. «This tool records activities within the app only and does not see or access any personal information. If a customer’s T-Life app currently supports the new functionality, it can be turned off in the settings under preferences.»

According to a post on droidlife, which earlier referenced the issue, the new option shows up on both iPhone and Android phones.

Why opt-in is so important

On the face of it, the Screen recording tool appears to do what it says, and the fact that it’s limited to just the T-Life app is a reasonable, and expected, limitation.

But as with all potential privacy issues, the fact that T-Mobile is enabling the feature by default has rightly made customers suspicious. It should be off initially, and if an issue arises that would require screen recording, then the company could get permission from the phone owner to turn it on.

T-Mobile in fact has a similar setup within the T-Life app. There’s another screen recording feature that is completely separate from this new Screen recording tool. In the app’s settings, under Help & support, is Screen Share, which can be used during a support call. It allows a T-Mobile expert to view your phone’s screen while troubleshooting an issue. It requires several steps and requires you to consent to having your screen recorded before allowing a support expert to connect to the app.

If you’ve ever tried to help a friend or family member over the phone and asked them to describe what’s on the screen, you’ll appreciate how helpful it can be to view what they’re seeing directly.