An orange dot on your iPhone screen simply means that an app is using your microphone. But that fact didn’t stop some social media users from posting disturbing rumors about this handy feature.
Apple’s comment
First, here’s Apple’s official words, straight from Apple’s support page:
On iOS 14 and later, an orange dot, orange square, or green dot indicates the microphone or camera is being used by an app.
An orange indicator means the microphone is being used by an app on your iPhone. This indicator appears as an orange square when the Differentiate Without Color setting is on. To enable differentiation without color,[設定]>[アクセシビリティ]>[表示とテキストのサイズ]Go to.
A green indicator means that the camera or camera and microphone is being used by an app on your iPhone.
Claim: “Someone is listening to you”
Readers inquired about the orange dots appearing on iPhone screens after several social media users claimed, without evidence, that the indicator meant that strangers were intercepting without their permission.
For example, Instagram user @thenewjerseyshade made this type of claim in a video posted on November 1, 2022.
Here’s what New Jersey Shade said:
If you see this orange dot on your iPhone, you need help seriously and quickly. If you see an orange dot like this one at the top of your iPhone, it means someone is listening to you. A lot in the news these days, the orange dot is a warning sign from Apple that someone is using your microphone without your permission. If you haven’t opened the app and this is still there, someone is spying on your phone and listening to your conversations. please ask for help.
In the video, New Jersey Shade showed an article and said, “It’s been in the news recently.”
However, The Sun article he showed in a video he claimed was “recently” published was actually first printed in September 2020, and it took two years before the video was posted. It’s been a while.
According to The Sun, an iPhone update announced in September 2020 allowed users to see an orange dot to indicate that an app was accessing the microphone. The update also helped show apps that have recently taken advantage of the device’s microphone capabilities.
New Jersey Shade argued that users with orange dots on their iPhone screens should “seriously and quickly seek help.” But that seems to have been a slightly alarming view. If you see an orange dot on your iPhone screen, it could mean that an app has access to your microphone in the background. Access to this microphone can be easily disabled on a per-app basis.
How to disable access to the microphone
The iPhone User Guide website has details on how to allow or deny microphone access to individual apps.
“[設定]>[プライバシーとセキュリティ]to, ”said the guide. Tap hardware features such as Camera, Bluetooth, Local Network, and Microphone. The list shows apps that have requested access. You can turn on or turn off access for apps on the list. ”
So far, we haven’t found any news articles about users reporting to police about strangers accessing their microphones, or any crime reports related to orange dots appearing on their iPhone screens. I’m not saying there can’t be such news in the future, just that as of early January 2023, our searches were empty.
This story will be updated as more details emerge in the future.
sauce:
“About the Orange and Green Indicators in the iPhone Status Bar” apple supporthttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211876.
“Controls access to iPhone hardware features.” apple supporthttps://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/control-access-to-hardware-features-iph168c4bbd5/ios.
Keach, Sean. “Watch out for this orange dot on your iPhone. Someone is listening.” usa sun17 September 2020, https://www.the-sun.com/lifestyle/tech-old/1487788/iphone-listening-ios-14-update-microphone-active/.
@thenewjerseyshade. “New Jersey Shade on Instagram: ‘This is crazy!????'” Instagram1 November 2022, https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkbXdqkgs31/.
