Do you know what the color-coded dots mean on your iPhone?
Did you know that iPhones have warning signs to indicate when your privacy is being compromised?
If you’ve ever noticed the color bar at the top of your Apple smartphone, then you’ve seen it in action.
The colors appear in the black status bar at the top of the device. The three different colors mean three very different things.
The orange dot means your microphone is on
Your eyes can be tricked by seeing this as yellow, it means you’re using your microphone, whether it’s for a FaceTime call or while watching a YouTube video.
Orange, which your eyes can trick you into seeing yellow, means you’re using your microphone, whether it’s for a FaceTime call or while watching a YouTube video.
The green dot means that your camera is activated
The green dot means you’re using your camera one way or another, based on Apple’s own color-coding system.
This is triggered if your camera is looking directly at you, so not necessarily automatically when you open an app that has an extra camera feature, like Instagram.
The blue dot is the last dot that you may see appearing on your phone from time to time. It has a white arrow inside.
The blue dot means that your app has just been updated, and if you are using maps
This arrow is pointing up: It’s been an iPhone feature since iOS 15 was released, in 2021.
This arrow turns gray if your location services are active, for example if you are navigating somewhere using a map app.
But there’s another blue dot that you might see appearing on your iPhone’s fancy status bar.
All it means is that an app was updated not too long ago, and this is a good sign in any case.
Have you ever noticed the nifty color-coded bar at the top of your Apple smartphone? These appear in your black status bar, at the top
It’s only natural that some apps need access to more sensitive parts of your phone — if you’re a TikToker, your camera is the piece of equipment you need for your job.
And even if you don’t like social media, if you ever bought an Uber, you would have let your phone access your location.
The problem arises when your applications take polling too far.
For example, alarm bells should start ringing if a calculator app triggers the green camera dot.
But if you head to ‘Control Center’ in your iPhone’s ‘Settings’, you can check the dot icon at the top to show you which exact app is using your microphone, camera or location.
If you’re more concerned, it’s best to head into settings and then turn on ‘App Privacy Report’; this will show which apps have been triggering these dots and when.
