The Green Dot You Should NEVER Ignore on Your Android Screen

If you have ever noticed a green dot at the top of your Android phone screen, it could be a warning sign that someone is watching or listening to you.

The dot indicates that an app is using your Android phone’s sensors, either the microphone or the camera.

It’s possible to pop up for completely innocent reasons, such as if you’re using a voice recording app or making a call.

But if you see the green dot and you don’t know why it’s there, it could be a sign of “spyware” apps on your phone.

DailyMail.com detailed how a similar warning sign sometimes appears on iPhones.

Luckily, it’s easy to tell which app is using your mic (the privacy indicator dot was added to every Android phone in the Android 12 update and will be there whether you’re using a Samsung, Pixel, or other brands).

Most of the time, there’s nothing to worry about the green dot, but if you think you’re being spied on, you need to act fast, said Jamie Akhtar, CEO and co-founder of CyberSmart, speaking to DailyMail .com.

Akhtar said, “Normally seeing a green on your Android screen is not something to worry about. In most cases, this simply means that an app is using your device’s microphone (or camera).

“This can be caused by any third-party app or a basic function of your device such as a voice assistant.

“Usually these will be apps that you’ve authorized to use these features, but if you see an orange or green dot even though you’re not using any apps, it’s time to investigate.”

“The most likely cause is simply that you have allowed an app to access your camera or microphone even when it’s not in use. Check this in the “permissions” section of your device settings.

“If not, it could mean your phone has been hacked and is using spyware to track what you are doing.”

If you suspect spyware has been installed on your phone, Akhtar recommends running a malware scan (open Play Store, then tap your profile, then Play Protect, then Scan.

Akhtar recommends changing your passwords (especially important ones like email passwords) but not doing so on the affected device and then factory resetting the device.

If you see the green dot, it’s pretty easy to tell which app triggered it.

Swipe down from the top of the screen if you see the green dot, and you’ll see either a microphone or a camera, to show which sensor is in use.

Tap the icon and you’ll see which app is using it.

From this screen, you can revoke the app’s permissions to use the microphone or the camera (although if an app unexpectedly uses either, it may be best to uninstall it altogether).

You can also see a clear record of which apps used which sensor, minute by minute.

From this screen, tap the app that used your microphone or camera, and you can see a full list of sensors the app used.

From here you can revoke permissions (although it should be noted that some apps require permissions to work, i.e. a voice recorder won’t be very useful without access to the microphone).

If you’re wondering which apps accessed your phone’s sensors, Google also introduced a new privacy dashboard feature in the same Android update.

This offers insight into which apps have accessed your device’s sensors, as well as private information such as call logs and contacts.

To access it, open the Settings app, tap Security & Privacy or Privacy.

To find the privacy dashboard, you may need to tap Privacy again.

Tap Privacy Dashboard.

To change app permissions, just tap permissions like location, microphone, calendar, call logs, contacts in list.

You can allow apps to use sensors all the time, only when they’re open, or never.