Technologies

Neon, the Popular Free App That Pays for Call Recordings, Has Been Disabled

Despite a server «pause» and a reported security flaw, Neon remains one of the top-downloaded free apps in the iOS app store.

A new app that promises to pay people for recordings of their phone calls, which are then used to train AI models, has been disabled after a major security flaw was reported.

Neon is still in the top 10 of iOS free app downloads, but after TechCrunch reported Thursday about a security flaw that the news site found in the service, its servers have apparently been made unavailable to users.

The app can still be downloaded, but it’s no longer functioning. It’s unclear whether the service will return or how long it will take.

Emails to Neon Mobile, the company behind the app, have not been returned.

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According to TechCrunch, a flaw in the app allowed people to access calls from other users, transcripts and metadata about calls. The company notified Neon users that it was pausing the service but did not explicitly mention why, TechCrunch said.

Before the app was disabled, a legal expert warned about trouble it might cause, in addition to potential security flaws.

David Hoppe, the founder and managing partner of Gamma Law, which advises clients on thorny technological issues, told CNET that because some states have consent rules on recording phone calls, people using Neon should be very careful or avoid it entirely. Without certainty of its legality, he warned, «do not use this app.»

Cash for calls

Neon is still available (at least for the time being) on iOS and Android. The company records users’ outgoing phone calls and pays them up to $30 a day for regular calls or 30 cents a minute if the call is to another Neon user. Calls to non-Neon users pay 15 cents a minute. The app also offers $30 for referrals.

«You can cash out as soon as you earn your first ten cents,» a Neon app FAQ says, «Once redeemed, payouts are typically processed within three business days, though timing may occasionally be shorter or longer.»

The company promises it only draws from the recording of one side of the phone conversation, the caller’s, which appears to be a way of skirting state laws that prohibit recording phone calls without permission.

While many states only require one person on a call to be aware that a call is being recorded, others, including California, Florida and Maryland, have laws that require all parties on a phone call to consent to recording. It’s unclear how Neon functions with calls to those states. For Neon-to-Neon calls, two-party consent would presumably be implied.

The app doesn’t record regular phone app calls, only those made within the Neon app or received from another person using Neon.

While the iOS version has shot up in popularity — it reached as high as the No. 2 spot this week — the Android version appears to be having some problems, at least according to some of the most recent reviews on the Google Play Store. The Android app only has a 2.4-star rating, and some user comments report network errors when people try to cash out on the Neon app.

Training AI using your data

According to the company’s FAQ, the call data is anonymized and used to train AI voice assistants. «This helps train their systems to understand diverse, real-world speech,» it says.

AI companies need increasing amounts of data to train their models, which may be why Neon is offering the monetary incentive.

«The industry is hungry for real conversations because they capture timing, filler words, interruptions and emotions that synthetic data misses, which improves quality of AI models,» said Zahra Timsah, CEO of i-Gentic AI, which works in AI compliance.

«But that doesn’t give apps a pass on privacy or consent,» Timsah said.

Pushing legal limits

TechCrunch, which was one of the first sites to write about the app, pointed out that sharing voice data can be a security risk, even if a company promises to remove identifying information from the data.

Neon could be pushing its luck, especially across states and countries, when it comes to privacy and IP laws or regulations, depending on how it handles consent and where the data ends up.

«We don’t know if there are sufficient safeguards to exclude the person on the other end of the conversation, but some level of consent would be required, and informing them of it being provided,» said Valence Howden, a data governance expert and advisory fellow at Info-Tech Research Group.

Howden said that even if the data is anonymized, AI might not have a hard time retroactively discovering who is on the line in a Neon conversation.

«AI can infer a lot, correct or otherwise, to fill in gaps in what it receives, and may be able to provide direct links if names or personal information are part of the exchange,» he said.

Can I be liable for call recordings?

Putting aside the requirements the Neon app had to meet in order to be included in Apple’s App Store, it’s reasonable to still have questions about the legality of recording phone calls, especially in states where all parties must consent.

That may be a major reason to avoid Neon, according to Hoppe, the legal expert.

«In the United States, it is not legal to simply record a phone call because an app’s terms of service say you can,» Hoppe said. «So, imagine a user in California records a call with a friend, also in California, without telling them. That user has just violated California’s penal code. They could face criminal charges and, equally scary, be sued civilly by the person they recorded.»

Violations, he said, could result in penalties of thousands of dollars per incident.

Hoppe said Neon’s terms of service won’t protect an app user if they face legal liability over recordings. And it doesn’t help, legally speaking, that the person recording was paid for doing so.

«The user is the one pressing the record button,» Hoppe said. «My strongest recommendation to anyone considering this would be: unless you are absolutely certain of the consent laws in your state and the state of the person you’re calling, and you have explicitly informed and received consent from every other person on the call, do not use this app.»

Technologies

Nintendo’s Pokemon Legends: Z-A Is a Hit. Just Ask My Kid

Pokemon Legends: Z-A has sucked my family in, and I can’t get my Switch controller back from my son.

I’d love to tell you all about Pokemon Legends: Z-A, arriving this week, and what it’s been like to play on the Nintendo Switch 2. I can mostly do that — but for most of the past five days, it hasn’t really been me playing. What started as co-playing together quickly turned into my kid taking over completely as he got hooked. And honestly, I’d say that’s a good sign.

Nintendo makes a lot of Pokemon games, too many for me to keep track of. But Legends Z-A is the first that’s Switch 2-optimized, although you can play on original Switches, too. I can’t tell you what that’s like, though — my early review access limited me to playing Pokemon Legends: Z-A on the Switch 2 only at home. I was doubtful about how much a city-based game would truly feel like a must-have experience, but so far it’s already become one of my favorite Pokemon games ever.

I’ll let my son tell you. He’s gotten deep into the trading card game and has played most of the recent Pokemon titles over the past year, and he says this is his favorite so far. When I asked him why, he said it’s because the game completely rethinks how battles work. The quick, real-time system feels more immediate and far less sluggish than in past Pokemon games. Plus, he’s loving the story… and honestly, so am I.

A city full of surprises

My son loves the «peculiar» storyline, the fast-paced battles (which he now wants in every Pokemon game) and the constant sense of surprise while exploring Lumiose City.

All of Pokemon Legends: Z-A (at least from what I’ve seen in my 10-plus hours so far) takes place entirely within Lumiose City — a Paris-like metropolis where the CEO of a company called Quasartico Inc. is planning to rebuild everything into a new world where Pokemon and humans can better coexist. The setup reminded me of the Detective Pikachu movie during my demo a few weeks ago, and it turns out my instincts were right.

Pokemon roam in wild zones within the city, occasionally spilling into urban areas, while mysterious rogue «Mega Evolution» Pokemon have begun appearing and threatening the city’s calm. There’s clearly a deeper mystery at play, and while I’m still uncovering it, I won’t spoil anything here.

The game seems to mostly involve a journey to level up in rank from Z to A by battling various Pokemon trainers, but that’s not the whole story. There’s a group of friends you hang out with at a local hotel, along with research missions you have to carry out. Side quests are everywhere. The city, though it can feel a bit sparse at times, stretches all the way up to its rooftops, where all sorts of hidden spots are waiting to be discovered. It feels like a living maze, and one I’m still navigating.

And the city’s always changing, too. Wild zones keep multiplying, and from day to night the city’s dynamics shift. Battles take place at night, with trainers gathering in new pop-up spots each time. It’s not as lively as I’d hoped — this isn’t Grand Theft Pokemon — but the cozy, vibrant world still makes me daydream about what a real-life Universal Pokemon theme park could someday look like.

The Pokemon shine

I keep reminding myself to take extra time to discover and level up my Pokemon. At least that’s what my son’s telling me to do. He loves how many Pokemon can become Mega Evolved in this game, and how much fun the battle moves are to pull off. I’m happy he’s happy. I thought I’d get lost in the RPG aspects of the game, but I think the real-time Pokemon battles put me in a looser state of mind, more able to explore and not feel locked down into systems and rulesets. Swapping Pokemon battle moves and reassigning them to buttons is easy, too.

The stronger focus on trainer battles — and the sheer variety of Pokemon capable of mega evolving — gives the game more of that classic, Pokemon-centered energy than Pokemon Legends: Arceus ever did. I found myself more excited to see how different Pokemon looked and behaved than to uncover new realms to explore. After all, for all of Lumiose City’s secrets, you’re spending a lot more time roaming one massive location than in any other Pokemon game I can remember. Thankfully, the visual upgrades on the Switch 2 make those Pokemon look fantastic in battle.

I do want to spend more time in Lumiose City, though, and can’t help but wonder if this is a glimpse of how all Pokemon games will keep evolving. It’s hard to say, since Legends games like Z-A and Arceus have been more experimental than the rest of the series. But, like Arceus, Z-A is now one of my favorite Pokemon games on Switch. And on Switch 2, it plays smoother and feels better than any Pokemon game ever has before.

Technologies

iPhone 17 Preorders Spike and Overall Phone Sales Aren’t Slowing Down Despite Tariffs

Global smartphone shipments saw a notable increase in the third quarter of 2025. Plus, preorders for Apple’s new iPhone 17 beat out the iPhone 16.

Despite tariffs and market uncertainty, global smartphone shipments increased 2.6% in the third quarter of 2025, compared to the same time last year, according to the International Data Corporation. Additionally, preorders for the iPhone 17, which launched last month, outpaced last year’s iPhone 16.

These increased sales include premium phones like the latest iPhones and Samsung foldables, suggesting yet again that pricier phones still sell in periods of economic strain. It’s a remarkable achievement, says IDC senior research director Nabila Popal, citing shrewd financing options as the reason people keep buying these high-end phones, which cost anywhere from $800 to nearly $2,000.

«[Phone makers] have mastered the art of innovation not only in hardware and software to entice upgrades but also in removing purchase friction. They have flawlessly combined cutting-edge devices with innovative financing models and aggressive trade-in programs that make the upgrading decision a ‘no-brainer’ for consumers,» Popal said in an IDC press release.

Apple sold 58.6 million iPhones this quarter, an increase of 2.9% over the same period in 2024, with more preorders for the iPhone 17 series than its predecessor. But Samsung wasn’t far behind, with its Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 selling better than all of the company’s prior foldables. The company still reigns atop the phone market with 61.4 million phones sold, representing 19% of the market in the third quarter of this year — an increase of 6.3% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Apple lands slightly behind Samsung with 18.2% market share this quarter.

The other phone makers trailing Apple and Samsung are, in order: Xiaomi, with 13.5% of the market; Transsion, with 9%; and Vivo with 8.9%. The remaining companies in the phones industry, from Chinese stalwarts like Oppo and Honor to Motorola and Google, make up the remaining 31.4% of the market for the quarter. All told, 322.7 million phones were sold, up from 314.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, according to IDC.

IDC’s findings for the third quarter continue the small but steady growth of phone sales over the year, including a modest 1% increase in the preceding three months — which includes the April deadline when President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs. In the second quarter, IDC cited midrange devices like Samsung’s Galaxy A36 and other phones that started incorporating AI. But even persistent tariffs haven’t slowed down people’s appetites for pricier phones in the third quarter.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.