This week, we saw major decisions that could rock the tech world, as social media was called addictive in a landmark trial, and the US banned foreign Wi-Fi routers.
To catch up on this, as well as the latest reviews and other essential tech news stories, scroll down for our full ICYMI recap of the week.
When you’re done here, be sure also to read our experts’ picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to watch this weekend.
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On Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and Google are liable for designing products that are deliberately addictive, a case that could change social media forever. The plaintiff, a woman known only as KGM, testified that “she became addicted to YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine”, leading to body image issues and self-harm.
KGM’s lawyers, in their closing remarks, said: “How do you make a child never put down the phone? That’s called the engineering of addiction.” We pinpointed three persuasive tricks social media companies use to keep users glued to their screens, and exactly how the infinite-scroll loop hijacks children’s still-developing brains — all according to the latest scientific research.
2. We heard the Sonos Play in all of its glory
We’ve spent a few weeks testing the Sonos Play speaker, and it’s a real return to form for Sonos. Not because it’s the best-sounding speaker in the world (though it’s really impressive for something that size) or because it has every feature imaginable (though it offers more options than basically anything else in its price range) — but because it gets back to what Sonos was known for: speakers so convenient that you’ll listen to more music than ever.
It’s a battery-powered portable speaker that’s compact and light enough to grab and take around with you, but that’s also powerful and high-quality enough to use as your main home wireless speaker in a room. That means it’s always grabbable at a moment’s notice, so we found ourselves using it more often, in more places, than with other portable speakers.
The great, durable design with a charging cradle is what helps cement this as maybe the ideal do-anything wireless speaker for the home, though it’s not cheap.
3. We flew the DJI 360 drone
We’ve tested the DJI Avata 360, and our verdict is in: it’s the 360 drone to beat. It’s more agile and versatile than the previous frontrunner, the Antigravity A1, and boasts excellent 10-bit image quality — did we mention it’s more affordable too?
Yes, other DJI drones offer better pure image quality, and 360 footage requires post-production editing. Still, as an all-rounder that’s both a capable 360 camera and a thrilling FPV flyer, the Avata 360 delivers brilliantly.
4. US banned non-American routers
In this week’s rendition of what weird tech law the Trump administration will dump on us, it just banned new non-US-made Wi-Fi routers — meaning they’ll be banned unless they’re made in the States.
According to the FCC, routers manufactured outside the US represent both a “supply chain vulnerability” and a “severe cybersecurity risk”. Essentially, they fear these foreign routers could be used to spy on US citizens.
While this isn’t the most illogical move, the big trouble is that finding American-made routers isn’t easy, and all of the best we’ve tested are made outside the country — meaning a new router you ‘upgrade’ to could in fact be a downgrade.
5. OpenAI killed Sora
Sora, we barely knew ya. Just six months after launching what might be the world’s first social AI app and just 18 months after launching the Sora generative video model into the world, OpenAI pulled the plug.
Sora, as a platform and app, seems to be no more.
OpenAI announced the news in a social post and has since offered little explanation. We have some guesses, like the skyrocketing costs of supporting all that video generation, the shrinking interest in the app, or maybe OpenAI’s preparation for going public. It’s something they might need to do since Disney also just pulled out of a $1B deal with the AI company.
6. iOS 26.4 sparked a controversy
iOS updates usually deliver fun new treats for iPhone fans, but this week, iOS 26.4 came with a less welcome gift — age verification checks for UK users.
When you install the update, you have to prove you’re over 18, and that’s caused problems for many who don’t have a driving license or a credit card to scan. The buggy process and concerns around the security of age verification checks have also doused this already hot topic with extra gasoline.
If you’re having iOS 26.4 issues, we’ve outlined some potential fixes in our guide below. This controversy is likely only just getting started, but maybe WWDC 2026 (also announced this week for June 8) will help give us some answers.
Still, to put this is furore in context, it isn’t quite on the scale of the Apple‘s biggest tech crimes — check out our new, definitive list of the worst Apple gadgets ever, voted for you by you.
7. Netflix hiked prices
It’s that time of year again! We’re not talking about the changing of the seasons, no, of course, it’s Netflix hiking prices. Yippee…
The world’s biggest streaming service has quietly announced that the Standard with ads tier is going up by $1 to $8.99, while both ad-free tiers, Standard and Premium, are going up by $2 to $19.99 and $26.99, respectively.
What’s more, Netflix’s extra member fee will rise from $7.99 to $9.99 — yikes!
It’s not clear if this change will launch outside the US anytime soon, but you can always count on three things in life: death, taxes, and Netflix price hikes.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
