T-Mobile (TMUS) recently enforced a major change that has been a tough pill for some customers to swallow.
Earlier this year, the phone carrier launched its T-Life app, which has been advertised as a “simplified experience” that allows customers to manage their own accounts and services, making them more self-sufficient.
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T-Mobile later began requiring employees to encourage customers to download the app when they visit stores. For each customer that downloads the app, employees allegedly earn a maximum bonus of $10. If they fail to encourage a certain number of customers to sign up for the app, they allegedly face repercussions.
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The heavy push for customers to use the T-Life app, which can be used to upgrade phones, pick up devices from stores and conduct transactions, has led to frustration as some customers have taken to social media to claim that the app is complicated to use.
T-Mobile customers make a shocking discovery
Amid the controversy, T-Mobile customers recently made an unsettling discovery about the T-Life app, which is adding fuel to the fire.
In a recent Reddit post, a T-Mobile customer flagged that the T-Life app has a “screen recording tool” that is automatically turned on when a customer downloads the app. The tool records your screen when the app is in use and doesn’t record any activity outside of it. The feature can also be toggled on and off.
“We use a tool to record how customers use the app to analyze and improve our experience,” said T-Mobile in the T-Life app. “Only T-Mobile will review and analyze your info.”
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However, some T-Mobile customers are skeptical and uncomfortable with the feature, especially since it is automatically enabled. Some even claim that the tool raises privacy concerns.
“I personally don’t want all my personal data being screen-recorded without asking me permission first, and I’m rather worried they did it in the first place,” wrote on user on Reddit.
“One more reason to leave T-Mobile. You wait till their screen recordings get hacked,” wrote another Reddit user.
“Turned it off. This should be something they need to ask permission for,” said another Redditor.
T-Mobile previously suffered data breaches in 2021, 2022, and 2023, which impacted tens of millions of U.S. customers, so it is no surprise that customers are raising privacy concerns.
T-Mobile customers are already jumping ship
The controversy comes as more customers are cutting ties with T-Mobile amid increased competition and after it decided to initiate a few price increases earlier this year.
In its first-quarter earnings report for 2025, T-Mobile revealed that it added 495,000 new postpaid phone customers during the quarter, which is 6% lower than the amount it welcomed during the same quarter in 2024.
Also, T-Mobile’s postpaid phone churn, the number of customers who cut their phone service, increased by 5 basis points year-over-year.
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During an earnings call last month, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said that the recent spike in churn is mainly due to consumers becoming more anxious about the economy.
“So overall, you saw across the industry churn was just on the margin a little elevated, and I think there’s a number of dynamics there,” said Sievert during the call. “That probably has more to do with kind of macro questions than with competition. You know, I think there’s a certain element out there where people are in a time of uncertainty about the future, grabbing what they can afford now. And so, you’re seeing kind of some amount of probably move forward of upgrades and switching.”
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