What does the orange dot mean on an iPhone? Apple values privacy and is dedicated to keeping your iPhone secure. Apps can only access your iPhone microphone and camera if you give them permission. Not only that, but when any app does that, your iPhone will let you know. All you have to do is look for a green or orange dot on your iPhone. Here’s how to check what app is using your camera or microphone on your iPhone.

Why You’ll Love This Tip

Easily see which iPhone apps are using your microphone, camera, or location.
Figure out if you need to uninstall apps that access your private data.

How to See Which Apps Are Using Your iPhone Camera or Microphone

System Requirements

This tip was performed on an iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 26.3. Find out how to update to the latest version of iOS.

Ever seen a green or orange dot on your iPhone? If you’re wondering what these dots mean, it means that an app on your device has used the camera or microphone recently on your iPhone. You can also see other colored dots, which will let you know information like whether an app used your location. For more iPhone security and privacy advice, sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter. Now, here’s how to test if your phone is listening to you:

When you see a green or orange dot on top of the iPhone, swipe down from the top right corner to open the Control Center.
You’ll see a series of icons with the names of apps that accessed the camera, microphone, or location recently, which you can tap.
When you tap that, you’ll open a window called Privacy, which will list apps and services that have used your camera, microphone, or location recently.

That’s how to see which app last used the camera on iPhone, as well as the microphone and location. Now, if you ever see an orange or green dot on iPhone, you'll know exactly what it means. Next, find out how to turn off the microphone on your iPhone.