There’s a feature on iPhones that has been flying under the radar for years, yet it serves a crucial purpose.
Smartphones, and iPhones in particular, have become an essential part of daily life. But unless you’re a tech enthusiast, you might not be aware of all the capabilities your pocket-sized supercomputer holds.
As long as you can access social media, browse the internet, and make calls or send texts, it often feels like you’ve unlocked everything your phone can do.
This feature from Apple can provide peace of mind if you’re concerned about security.
In today’s world, where you’re constantly bombarded with ads, it can sometimes feel like your phone is listening in on your conversations to target you with personalized advertisements.
While this isn’t always the case, there’s a way to know when your phone might be eavesdropping or using its camera. It’s indicated by three small dots.
The orange and green dots appear in the top-right corner of your screen, next to the signal, Wi-Fi, and battery icons. But what do they actually mean?
According to Apple’s website: “With iOS 14 or later, an orange dot, an orange square, or a green dot indicates when the microphone or camera is being accessed by an app.”
An orange dot on your iPhone means that an app is currently using the microphone. If you have the “Differentiate Without Colour” setting turned on, this will appear as an orange square instead. To activate this setting, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
A green dot indicates that either the camera, or both the camera and microphone, are in use by an app on your iPhone.
There’s also a blue dot with a right arrow inside, which shows up when an app requests your location, according to Apple.
The dot indicators are part of a program written by Apple known as Application Programming Interface (API), which ensures that a visual indicator will appear even if the app doesn’t notify you about using your microphone.
While it’s good to be aware that your phone may be monitoring you, you might wonder: how can you find out which app is using your microphone or camera?
By swiping down to open the Control Centre, you can see which apps are using your microphone or camera.
Many iPhone users have taken to social media to praise this privacy feature. One Twitter user expressed appreciation, saying, “This speaks volumes about how Apple prioritizes privacy. The dot shows when an app is using the microphone or camera. Just superb.”
However, another user raised a question, saying, “Why? I have no apps that have requested use of the microphone!”
A third user responded, “I think they added the dots to make users feel secure. If Apple hadn’t added them, we’d never know when our microphone or camera is on. Every app has a privacy setting in the options.”
One final iPhone user summed it up perfectly: “The best and most underrated feature of iOS 14 is the orange and green dot indicators, along with the copy-paste notification.”
