Orange Dot the iPhone, privacy leaflets and more

Apple’s iOS 14 has many new features, including an orange or green iPhone dot and privacy labels. Here’s what they mean and how they work.

Since its launch in September, Apple’s iOS 14 has added a whole wave of new features to iPhones and iPads. Many of these are obvious, but in many cases, these capabilities have just appeared and may not make sense to some users.

Take, for example, the orange dot. When Apple launched iOS 14, it added a feature that sees an orange or green dot light up on the right corner of your phone.

You may not have even noticed at first, but suddenly, you are on the phone and you see the orange dot. You may see the green dot when you are on Instagram.

In most cases, you don’t have to worry about this new iOS 14 feature. Your iPhone needs the mic to make a phone call, and you need to get to your camera to upload a photo to Instagram.

Why is there an orange or green dot on my iPhone?

So why did Apple add the orange and green dots to your iPhone? He wants your own safety and peace of mind. A bad app could get to your camera or mic without you knowing, and Apple is using this new capability to let you know when this happens from time to time.

At the same time, some camera apps may be allowed to use your iPhone when they don’t need it. To see which apps have access, go to Settings> Privacy> microphone / camera.

You can deny access to those who do not need to work. Additionally, you can see which apps your son or camera used in the iPhone Control Center.

IOS 14 privacy sheets

Another new feature just launched in iOS 14.3 is a privacy label on apps in the Apple App Store, which lets you see what kind of data an app collects about you before you download it.

I’ve written an article on how to use this useful new feature, so why not take a look.

Facebook series and features against iOS 14

Anyone who follows Apple, or indeed the news, may have noticed the big series going on between Apple and Facebook Mark Zuckerberg this week. Soon, Facebook is upset that Apple is planning an iOS 14 feature in 2021 that will affect known as advertisers (IDFA) that allow companies like Facebook to search across apps and websites .

So much so, that Facebook has posted full-page newspaper ads slowing down Apple for hurting the advertising industry, 9to5Mac reports.

Apple rightly argues that users need to know that they are being tracked, and soon iOS 14 will give you a pop-up service asking you when an app wants to track you , so you can opt out. This feature is coming in 2021, but we don’t know for sure when.

If you can’t wait, I’ve written a guide on how to turn this search back on.

Weak Wi-Fi security warning

Another secret message you may have from an update to iOS 14 is the “weak security” Wi-Fi warning. Like the orange or green dot, this is usually not a concern, only Apple makes sure you are as secure as possible. My guide to this feature explains more.

There’s no denying that Apple’s iOS 14 is still its most secure and private operating system, but the features are making some people get used to it.

I hope this article has helped you to get over any confusion about the changes on your iPhone, but please let me know if there are any other iOS 14 features that would be would like to see them explained.