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Have you ever spotted a tiny green or orange dot on top of the iPhone’s display? Well, many may not be aware, but these are not something to worry about. In simple words, these are indicators for the microphone and cameras that help you to identify if an app or service is actively accessing them.
If an app such as an audio recorder that only uses the microphone is on, then the iPhone will display the orange dot. And, if an app using a camera is active, including the main camera app, then there will be a green dot on top of the display. Similarly, when an app uses both a microphone and camera, the iPhone will display just the green dot.
Apple introduced this feature with the release of iOS 14, and the same feature is also available on all modern iPads and Macs running the latest version of iPadOS and macOS.
No, you cannot disable the appearance of orange or green dots on your iPhone. However, you can, instead, limit access to the camera or microphone on certain apps from the Settings > Privacy and Security menu.
These features will inform users about the real-time activity of the camera, microphone, and their usage, making it easy for users to understand which apps and services will trigger these resources. This feature could also help you spot any illicit apps that might be secretly accessing your iPhone’s hardware, available on iPhones with the notch and also on the iPhones with Dynamic Island.
Not much. Most modern iPhones come with an OLED screen, and these indicators only light up a couple of pixels on the screen, causing no major battery drain.
If you ever feel someone else has control over your iPhone, these indicators will be your life saviour. If these indicators remain active even when you are not using the iPhone, then there is a possibility that someone else might be accessing these remotely via an app or service. While it’s impossible to sideload spoofing apps on iPhones in India, there are other ways to get access to an iPhone.
If you see a green or orange indicator when you are on the home screen of your iPhone, it means an app or service is using these features. Users can check the app or service that has been accessing these services from the Privacy & Security settings, and remove or disable the same from their iPhone.
Similarly, on older models such as the iPhone 8 or the iPhone SE 3 (review), Apple also uses other colour codes such as a blue pill on the right corner of the display to indicate the screen is being mirrored or if a service is actively using the location; similarly, it will show a red pill if the phone is recording the screen or sound.
