iPhone Green and Orange Dot: Check Your Camera and Mic in 2 Minutes

Your iPhone tells you every time an app turns on the camera or the microphone. Most people never notice the signal. Here is what it means and how to act on it.

1. Know the two dots

Look at the top of the screen, near the battery.

A green dot means an app is using the camera (and maybe the microphone with it).

An orange dot means an app is using the microphone.

If you turned on Differentiate Without Color in Accessibility settings, the orange dot shows as an orange square instead.

2. See which app it was

Swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center. While an app is using the camera or microphone, or just after, the app's name appears at the top. If you see an app you did not expect, write its name down.

3. Check who is allowed

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera, then do the same for Microphone. Each list shows every app that asked for access. Switch off any app that does not need it. A banking app, a photo app or a video call app may need the camera; a flashlight or a game usually does not.

4. Look at the history

For a longer view, open Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report and turn it on. After a few days it shows when each app used the camera, microphone, location, photos and contacts. More on reading it: iPhone App Privacy Report in 5 minutes.

5. When the dot shows up and you did nothing

Close the app from the app switcher, then check its permission in step 3. If you do not recognise the app at all, delete it. If the dot keeps appearing with no app in Control Center, update iOS in Settings > General > Software Update.

What a VPN changes, and what it does not

A VPN encrypts the connection between your phone and the VPN server, so the Wi-Fi network and your internet provider cannot see which sites and apps you talk to. It does not decide which apps can use your camera or microphone. Those switches live in Settings, and only you can turn them off. More on the limits: What a VPN cannot protect you from.

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