A big win for the right to repair

PLUS: Dumb down your iPhone.

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The battle between farmers and farm equipment manufacturer John Deere over the right to repair their tractors and other machinery has been brewing for more than a decade, but farmers secured a big win this week. The Federal Trade Commission and John Deere have settled a 2025 lawsuit, with the company now required to give farmers and third-party repair shops access to equipment and repair resources that John Deere provides to its official dealers. This level of support and even software access must be provided over the next 10 years, and the FTC will monitor it. In similar news about wresting control over your own devices, WIRED senior writer Jeremy White discovered a hidden way to turn an old iPhone into a dumb phone for his kid. It’s called Assistive Access and was designed for those with cognitive disabilities, but it more or less makes the interface easier to navigate with large tiles on the home screen. More importantly, you can completely block internet browsing by not allowing access to Safari in this mode. Just choose a handful of apps you want your kid to access, like Maps and Messages, turn on the four-digit passcode, and that’s it. Read his story for more details on how to set it up.

Julian Chokkattu Senior Gear Editor

THIS WEEK'S PICKS

The FTC Settlement With John Deere Is a Huge Win for the Right-to-Repair Movement   By Boone Ashworth   After more than a decade of pushback, farmers and repair advocates have won access to equipment and services John Deere had long kept under its control.

Why this ad?

All Your Favorite Gadgets Are Getting Way More Expensive … Again   By Boone Ashworth   Thanks to the AI-driven chip shortage, prices for phones, computers, and consoles are sky-high—and still climbing.

Shut Those Laptops! Anthropic Puts Its Claude Cowork Agent on Your Phone   By Reece Rogers   Claude Cowork now keeps working on tasks even after you close your laptop. It’s part of a larger push toward smartphone-controlled agents.

HOW TO

Switching From iPhone to Android Is Easier Than You Think. Here's How

No matter what kind of smartphone you own, I think it’s safe for me to assume that your phone is very, very important to you. The one thing iPhone users and Android users have in common is that both camps have 100 percent confidence in their decision and can passionately argue for their apparently objectively superior choice. In other words, we’re all stubborn about and protective of our all-knowing rectangles, which is why it’s rare to see someone switch over from one company’s gadget to another. If you’re an iPhone user who, against all odds, let an Android user break through your Apple-indoctrinated brain, here’s how to gracefully make the switch. You may lose support from the cult of Apple, but at least you won’t lose your data.—writes Elana Klein.

Why this ad?

These New Smart Glasses From Solos Come With a Privacy Shield for the Cameras   By Boone Ashworth   You can clip a cover over the cameras, which could be a double-edged sword.

Meta Now Lets Anyone Use Your Instagram Photos in AI Images—Unless You Opt Out   By Reece Rogers   As part of Meta’s Muse Image model rollout, Instagram users with public accounts need to opt out to block AI generations of their content.

TEST LAB

This Apple Feature Makes an iPhone a Dumbphone Apple built a tool for people with cognitive disabilities, but WIRED accidentally discovered that it also happens to be the best kids’ phone setup no one is talking about—not even Apple ✚ Read more: WIRED’s Jeremy White accidentally discovered the best kids' phone setup no one is talking about—not even Apple. Never Mow Your Lawn Again—Let a Robot Do It Smart mowers are an expensive alternative to old-fashioned yard work, but they’re finally good enough to consider if you’d rather put your feet up and let a robot handle the lawn this summer ✚ Read more: Why mow the lawn when you could be lollygagging in a hammock with a cold drink, watching a robot mower do it for you?

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