Featured Image Credit: Apple/Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Topics: Apple, Social Media, Technology, iPhone
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Apple, Social Media, Technology, iPhone
People are flooding to social media in appreciation of a little-known iPhone privacy feature from Apple.
A 'superb' iPhone feature was brought out in the iOS 14 update released in 2020, however, not many have heard about it and many probably haven't even noticed the three little dots which sometimes appear on the top right of your phone's screen.
You know when you've been to see a friend and all you've talked about is how you need to book another holiday and the next thing you know, you're travelling back on the bus and you open Instagram and get hit with a wave of airline advertisements and bikini promotions?
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Yup. It can feel like your phone is always listening to you.
However, this isn't always the case and there's a way to tell when your phone has a cheeky ear up to your conversation - and even when your camera is being used - and it comes in the form of three little dots.
The orange and green dots appear in the top right area of your screen, above your signal, wifi and battery indicators. But what do they mean?
Well, Apple's website explains: "With iOS 14 or later, an orange dot, an orange square or a green dot indicates when 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 if the Differentiate Without Colour setting is on. To enable Differentiate Without Colour, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
"A green indicator means either the camera or the camera and the microphone are being used by an app on your iPhone."
The final dot is blue with a right arrow inside.
"A blue arrow may appear when the app you’re using requests your location," Apple states.
According to The Stem Support, the dot indicators appear through a computer programme written by Apple called Application Programming Interface.
"This means a visual indicator will appear no matter if your app is telling you it's using your microphone or not," the outlet notes.
It's all very well and good to be aware you're being spied on, but how do you find out which app is guilty of using your microphone and/or camera?
If you swipe down, bringing up the Control Centre, you should be able to see.
iPhone users have flocked to social media in appreciation of the privacy hack.
One Twitter user said: "This talks more than anything about how apple takes care of privacy. This dot indicates when an app is using a microphone or a camera. Just superb."
However, another user questioned: "Why? I have no apps that have requested use of microphone!"
A third replied: "I feel like they added the dots to let the users know that they can feel safe. If Apple hadn’t added the dots, we would never know that our microphone/camera is on. Every app has a privacy option in the settings."
A final iPhone user resolved: "The best and most underrated iOS 14 feature is the Orange, Green dots indicators and Copy-Paste indicator."