It's not easy to maintain your privacy when using technology today. That's largely the fault of companies who prioritize data collection over the integrity of their users. But even though I'm quite used to the lack of respect most companies pay towards my privacy and security, I have to admit, I'm a bit taken aback by T-Mobile's latest decision. T-Life, T-Mobile's tech support app, has a rather unconventional and unnerving feature. For some users, it appears T-Life can record your screen whenever you have the app open. This setting is quite hidden, and worse, enabled by default. Who signed off on this?How T-Life's screen recording worksThankfully, the privacy and security implications aren't quite as bad as the headlines make it seem. T-Mobile says the feature is strictly for T-Life tech support—not for spying. As a T-Mobile spokesperson told CNET, "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. This tool records activities within the app only and does not see or access any personal information."Still, this explanation doesn't excuse quietly enabling in-app screen recording for customers without their knowledge. I have no issue with a company like T-Mobile offering tools that aid tech support when all parties are willing and able, but as CNET points out, the app already has such a feature called "Screen Share" under Help & support. Seems redundant to have a separate "screen recording" setting that serves a similar purpose—especially when it appears the company wasn't planning on telling people about it before the news broke. When you do take a look at the setting in the T-Life app, you'll see the following description: "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." Yikes. How to disable T-Life's screen recordingTo disable the feature, open T-Life, then head to Settings > Preferences. Here, you'll see Screen recording tool, where you can disable the setting. (You'll know it's off if it turns gray.) If you don't see the setting, you might not be affected. T-Life hasn't rolled out this feature to all users yet, so it is possible the app isn't screen recording for you at this time. Reports say T-Mobile has rolled this out to iPhone and Android users alike, so don't assume you're safe because you use one platform or the other.

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Earlier in April, T-Mobile launched two new mobile family plans intended to replace the Go5G and Go5G Plus services, which included unlimited talk, text, and premium data. The new plans - "Experience Beyond" and "Experience More" - carry over the benefits of Go5G but also tack on new perks like a 5-year fixed price guarantee, a higher mobile hotspot data cap, T-Satellite with Starlink (for "Experience Beyond"), and more, all at a lower monthly rate.T-Mobile Experience Plans: What They OfferT-Mobile's New Experience Family PlansSee it at T-MobileT-Mobile's Experience plans are currently available as two separate tiers. The "Experience More" plan offers 3 lines for $140 per month with AutoPay (otherwise $185 per month), plus taxes and fees. The "Experience Beyond" plan offers 3 lines for $180 per month with AutoPay (otherwise $230 per month). The benefits for each plan are as follows:1. T-Mobile Experience More ($140/mo with AutoPay)5-year price guaranteeUpgrade-ready every two yearsUnlimited talk and textUnlimited 4G & 5G LTE premium dataNetflix (standard with ads) subscription includedApple TV+ subscription included60GB of high-speed mobile hotspot dataUnlimited text, 15GB of high-speed data in Canada & MexicoUnlimited text, 5GB of high-speed data in 215+ countries & destinationsFull-flight texting and Wi-Fi with streaming where available2. T-Mobile Experience Beyond ($180/mo with AutoPay)5-Year price guaranteeUpgrade-ready every yearUnlimited talk and textUnlimited 4G & 5G LTE premium dataT-Satellite with Starlink service (through end of 2025)Netflix (standard with ads) subscription includedApple TV+ subscription includedHulu (standard with ads) includedUnlimited mobile hotspot includedUnlimited text, 30GB of high-speed data in Canada & MexicoUnlimited text, 15GB of high-speed data in 215+ countries & destinationsFull-flight texting and Wi-Fi with streaming where availableWatch & tablet lines just $5/monthThe "Experience More" plan is more than sufficient for most people, since you get unlimited talk, text, and premium 5G and 4G LTE data for $45 per month (with autopay) plus a 5 year guarantee and both Netflix and Apple TV+ subscriptions. The 2 year upgrade path is perfectly reasonable since most people don't replace their phone every year.If, however, you do like to be at the forefront of smartphone tech, or you plan to connect an additional device like your tablet or Apple Watch, and/or you travel often (and could benefit from a higher international data cap or Starlink accessibility), then the "Experience Beyond" plan is an attractive option at $60 per month (with autopay).Did you know? T-Mobile offers incentives for switching carriersAs part of its Family Freedom initiative, T-Mobile will cover up to $800 per line to help pay off your AT&T and Verizon phones (even if they’re locked) and a new smartphone when trading in that device. Families score with deals like four flagship smartphones on Us and four new voice lines for just $100/month on Essentials.These plans with no yearly contract - What does that mean?Not to be confused with your phone's financing planT-Mobile's "Experience" are postpaid plans that don't lock you into any sort of yearly contact, so you are free to cancel your service at anytime. Keep in mind, however, that if you finance a phone through T-Mobile, you are still required to make payments on the phone for however long the contract entails, usually for a length of 24 months. Although you can opt to pay your phone off early, T-Mobile often offers discounts on their phones in the form of bill credits that are applied every month. So, paying a phone off early could mean you forfeit the bill credits for the remainder of the term. As per the norm, common sense dictates that you read the fine print before committing to any form of contractual obligation.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.