How to Stop Your iPhone Microphone from Listening to You & Improve iPhone Security

I have a friend who calls folks who believe in conspiracy theories "the tinfoil hat people." So, at the risk of being a tinfoil hat person, have you ever wondered, "is my phone listening to me?" The truth is, yes, it's listening, but it's not some nefarious iPhone monitoring scheme; it's only so your iPhone can meet your needs more easily. Nevertheless, I'm one of those people who would like my iPhone to stop listening to me. We've gone over how to turn off Siri and how to turn off the microphone on your iPhone. In this article, I'll show you how I got my iPhone to stop listening to me. First, we'll turn off a setting that lets Siri listen for "Hey, Siri" at all times. Next, we'll turn off the microphone, app by app. Let's get started.  

Related: iPhone Location History: How to Turn Off Significant Location Tracking

How to Get Your iPhone to Stop Listening to You: Change Siri Settings & iPhone Microphone Settings 

Does your phone listen to you? Your iPhone may be listening to you; here's how to see whether Siri or your apps are using your iPhone microphone to listen to you, and how to turn these settings off to improve security and preserve your privacy. After you've worked through the steps in this article, you may want to check out a few more ways to keep your iPhone safe, private, and secure:

• What Are the Orange & Green Dots on the iPhone Status Bar?
• iPhone Location History: How to Turn Off Significant Location Tracking
• How to Prevent Web & App Data Tracking on Your iPhone in iOS 14
• How to Customize Which Photos Each App Can Access (New for iOS 14)

How to Turn Off Listen for "Hey Siri"

*Note* Once you turn off this setting, you'll no longer be able to summon Siri by saying, "Hey, Siri." Instead, you'll need to press the Side button or Home button for Siri.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Siri & Search. 
   
   
    
3. Toggle off Listen for "Hey Siri". 
   
   

How to Get Apps to Stop Listening with Your iPhone Microphone

Now that your iPhone is no longer constantly listening and waiting for you to say "Hey Siri", you can find out which apps are using your iPhone's microphone to listen to you. Once you have this information, you can make more informed decisions about allowing this access. To begin:

1. Open the Settings app again. 
2. Tap Privacy.
   
   
    
3. Tap Microphone.
4. You'll see a list of all apps that you've granted Microphone access; toggle off any apps you'd like to stop from using the mic.
   
   

Keep in mind that these apps may tie microphone and speaker use. This means that if I turn off microphone access for YouTube, for example, the app will no longer play audio for my YouTube videos.