The yellow dot, or sometimes orange dot, on iPhone screens is a new feature that Apple introduced in iOS 14. This privacy-centered indicator light lets users know when apps are using the camera or microphone.
This feature is part of Apple’s ongoing push to prioritize user privacy and security on the company’s devices. But some users have expressed concern that the feature could be a sign that a stranger is listening in without their consent.
1. Go to Settings
Apple introduced many privacy features in iOS 14, including a yellow dot that appears on the top of the screen when an app has access to your microphone. We got a lot of questions from readers who thought this dot meant that someone was listening in to their conversations without their consent.
The fact is that the yellow dot is a security feature that lets you know when an app has accessed your camera and microphone. While it’s not the best way to spot an unauthorized app, it’s certainly better than nothing!
If you’re concerned that a particular app is trying to listen in to your voice, it can be easy to revoke their access. That’s where the Control Center comes in handy.
To access the Control Center, simply swipe down from the top right of your iPhone’s screen (if you have an older style iPhone with a home button, swipe up from the bottom). Then, scroll down to see the name of the app that’s using your camera or microphone and tap on it.
You can also open the Control Center by swiping down from the top of the screen while on a call. This way, you can quickly turn off access to your camera or mic if you’re talking on a call and want to keep it private.
The control center also lets you quickly switch between your music library, turn on airplane mode or check the time with a swipe. If you’re on a long phone call, this feature can save you a lot of time.
2. Tap on Privacy
With the recent scandals at Facebook, TikTok, and other online apps where users have found their data sold and shared without their knowledge, concerns about privacy have never been so high. That’s why Apple added a few new privacy-focused features in iOS 14.
One such feature is access indicators that let iPhone users know when their camera and microphone are being used. These dot symbols appear at the top of the screen and can be green when your iPhone’s camera or a particular app is using it, or orange if your phone’s microphone is being accessed.
You can use these dot symbols to get a sense of how your camera and microphone are being accessed by different apps, which is useful for checking whether a specific application has been recording or listening in on you. The indicator lights are also helpful for avoiding rogue applications that try to access your iPhone’s microphone without permission, as well.
If you’ve been seeing a yellow dot on your iPhone screen that indicates that an app has been accessing your mic, you can disable the app by swiping it away from the Recent Apps list. However, this is a privacy feature that cannot be disabled entirely, so you’ll have to deal with it on an app-by-app basis until you find the right way to turn it off completely.
In the meantime, if you want to learn more about your phone’s camera and microphone permissions, it’s a good idea to take a look at the privacy settings of each app you download. You can see which ones have been requesting access to your microphone or camera at any time, and you’ll be able to turn off that access for all of them by heading to Settings > Privacy.
3. Tap on Microphone
The yellow dot is one of the new privacy features that was added in iOS 14 and it’s helping iPhone users to protect their personal information. It’s a simple way to know when an app is accessing your phone’s microphone or camera.
You can check out these indicators by swiping down on the screen’s top right corner, or tapping the Control Center. From there, you can view which apps are using the mic and the camera, and see if they’re legitimate ones.
If the dot is showing up only when you’re on a call or using an app that lets you record your voice, you can try turning off the access to your phone’s microphone. You can do this by going to Settings > Privacy and adjusting the permissions of any apps that you suspect are using your microphone.
4. Tap on Turn Off
The yellow dot on the top of your iPhone screen is a security feature that lets you know when apps have accessed your microphone. This can be a helpful warning to look out for when you’re on a call or using an app that records voice messages and audio.
There are also other colored dots that appear on your device that can help you understand what’s going on with your phone. The green dot on your iPhone means that the camera is in use, while the orange or yellow dot on your iPhone indicates that the microphone is being used.
While the green dot on your iPhone may only be triggered when you open up the camera application, the orange or yellow dot on your iPhone is triggered when your device is being used to record voices or videos. Some popular apps that trigger this dot on your iPhone include Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram.
If you want to stop a specific application from accessing your microphone, you can swipe away the app on the Recent Apps list or you can tap on Turn Off in Settings. This will stop any mic access from that particular app on your iPhone.
In iOS 14, Apple introduced a new feature that allows you to double-tap the back of your iPhone to activate a wide range of system tasks, including opening Notification Center, taking a screenshot, switching to Accessibility mode, and more. It’s called “Back Tap.”
Before you can activate this feature, though, you must first enable it. The Back Tap option is available under the Accessibility section of the Settings app.
Once it’s enabled, you can customize what happens when you double- or triple-tap the back of your iPhone. You can choose from a variety of commands, and you can also add Shortcuts to your back tap features as well.
This feature is especially handy for people who aren’t comfortable using the Side button or Raise to Wake feature on their iPhone X. But since the feature is so easy to accidentally tap on your display, it can drain your battery faster than you’d think.