https://blog.jgc.org/2025/12/if-you-care-about-security-you-might.html John Graham-Cumming's blog 2025-12-28 If you care about security you might want to move the iPhone Camera app There's a quirk in the iPhone Camera app that can drive a security conscious iPhone owner crazy: if you touch your finger on the Camera app icon without actually opening the app, the camera starts operating. That causes the little green dot indicator on the iPhone to turn on and then after a few seconds disappear. This can easily make a security-conscious iPhone user worry that some app is nefariously using the camera. [AVvXsEh_n7C7-AZVWdKp41tN41JNMVQqj-nzIXSD8K3pHXC9Zijl5Z3wtLA7OXRX0h7QRNDzE6juLUc10qyIoRf_CO] Because touching the Camera app icon without opening the app is enough, it's easy to activate the green dot while swiping between screens or even just holding your phone. This was driving me nuts and I thought some app was using the camera when I didn't want it to. [AVvXsEgO6PJijthJhA5iuemg6BWxxH9aWJTKJkI-uGMvvzqJlS-75oqgWNswAYCu-IQgT1aAtx99xL68ZS5vnp] I enabled Apple's App Privacy Report (under Privacy and Security) in Settings and, sure enough, it confirmed that the little green dot was happening because the camera was being used by the Camera app. Merely swiping while accidentally touching the Camera app's icon was enough to add an entry in the App Privacy Report. [AVvXsEj4Fi9G3ADvNdBP5kXYwOl0n4VpXG-rFv_qaxzhd1fVt5v06gpeIUxq3Mm2mJQCGZBEoO-AZY_VaT8SZulmYA] The solution was moving Camera app away from where I was liable to brush it with my fingers or thumb. That reduced the errant green dots to almost zero and reassured me that nothing untoward was happening. [AVvXsEgKcb_6Q4FTr9F23LeQyECWRe7CcdXbyEw7] One of the big problems in security is people get used to odd behaviour they can't explain and end up overlooking a real problem masked be the things that "always happen". The accidental green dots could have been hiding actual nefarious use of the camera. Better to be tidy and eliminate the false positives. (I previously used the term "hover" for what I was experiencing and that was causing confusion. This happens if you touch the Camera app icon without actually opening the app.) at December 28, 2025 Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Labels: pseudo-randomness, security No comments: Post a Comment Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Search This Blog [ ] [Search] Labels * anti-spam * babbage * behind the screens * calculators * codes and ciphers * gnu make * hardware * machine learning * mathematics * minitel * popfile * privacy * pseudo-randomness * radio * retro * security * the geek atlas * well... actually Popular Posts * [AVvXsEh_n7] If you care about security you might want to move the iPhone Camera app There's a quirk in the iPhone Camera app that can drive a security conscious iPhone owner crazy: if you touch your finger on the Camera ... * [Picture] Your last name contains invalid characters My last name is "Graham-Cumming". 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