MILLIONS of Android phones have special warning signs that you may have missed.
It’s important to keep an eye out – they could reveal if something very dangerous is happening on your Android phone.
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At some point, most smartphone owners will have wondered if an app could spy on them.
It’s a common fear: that apps may be listening in through your microphone, or watching via the camera.
A rogue app operated by cyber-crooks could very easily use your device as a spying tool.
That’s why Google built special indicators into your Android phone to alert you when this might be happening.
They were added back in Android 12, so check your settings to make sure you’re running at least that – or later.
You’ll notice them appearing (usually in green) in the top-right corner of the screen.
They’ll show up as either a small microphone icon or camera icon – and sometimes both.
This indicates that an app is currently using either your microphone or camera.
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And you can tap the icon to find out more information.
It’s all part of the Privacy Dashboard.
This lets you quickly and easily see which apps have been using your private data.
And you can revoke access at any time.
So if you suspect an app of foul play, it’s easy to block the app from accessing your camera or microphone in seconds.
“With the new Privacy Dashboard, users will have a simple and clear timeline view of the last 24 hour accesses to location, microphone and camera,” Google explains.
Some apps should be using your camera or microphone.
For instance, you might see one of the icons when snapping a pic on Instagram or recording a voice message on WhatsApp.
But if you see the warning icon at strange times or linked to an app that doesn’t feel quite right, you may be experiencing dangerous snooping.
In that case, it’s important to deny app access permissions and investigate what might be going on.
Golden Apple
If these indicators feel familiar to any iPhone owners out there, that’s because Apple offers a similar feature.
In fact, Apple added these microphone and camera indicators first.
They were bundled into iOS 14, which was released to the public in September 2020.
These notifiers appear in the top-right of iOS as tiny dots.
If you see a green dot then that means the iPhone camera is in use.
And if the dot is orange, it means that the microphone is in use.
You can check the dots at any time and find out which app is using them.
And if it seems suspicious, simply go into Settings and deny camera or microphone permissions for the app in question.
