My iPhone is showing an orange dot in the status bar every time I make a phone call

Question

I noticed today that my iPhone has suddenly started showing an orange color dot at the top of the screen every time I am making a call. I clearly remember this did not used to be the case before, but has started happening today.

This is how it appears:

I have not changed any phone setting. Does anyone know why is this dot appearing? What does it mean? Can I remove it?

Answer 1

Your iPhone has been updated to run iOS 14.

iOS 14 has introduced a new privacy feature which causes an orange dot 🟠 indicator to appear in the iPhone status bar when the device microphone is used by an app. Additionally, if an app is accessing the device camera, a green dot 🟢 is shown in the status bar.

The feature is also available on iPads running iPadOS 14.

You can learn more about it in the Apple Support document here:

• https://support.apple.com/kb/HT207354

If you see orange or green indicators in the status bar

With iOS 14, you might see an orange or green indicator in the status bar on your iPhone. These indicators appear when the microphone and/or camera are being used by an app.

An orange indicator 🟠 means the microphone is being used by an app on your iPhone.

A green indicator 🟢 means either the camera or the camera and the microphone are being used by an app on your iPhone.

This is intended to let the user know that an app is using the device microphone or camera, and to check against any unintended access to the microphone or camera.

To determine which app is accessing the microphone or camera, you can open Control Center to see the name of the app:

Microphone:

Camera:

Can I remove it?

This features is enabled by iOS and is turned on by default. It's not possible to disable it.