Does your iPhone have a coloured dot? This is what it means

Some iPhone users may wonder why their smartphones show coloured dots lighting up on their devices. Well, it's fairly simple. The coloured dots are indicator lights that signal that certain apps or tools have access to the device's camera or microphone.

The coloured dots are there to give users more control over what permissions their apps have. For instance, if a user is continuously browsing TikTok videos or Instagram Reels, then they are enjoying the video content passively. So there's no reason for TikTok or Instagram to have access to the microphone or camera since the user is not using them.

The dots are displayed on the top right-hand side of the iPhones, near their cellular connection and wifi symbols. 

The indicator dots which appear on the iPhones are usually yellow, orange, or green.

The orange and yellow dot indicates that their microphone is being used by an app on the iPhone. An orange square indicator may appear on the screen if the 'Differentiate Without Color' feature is switched on under the Accessibility settings.

While the orange or yellow dots may not appear when the camera is used, they might flash when a recording app is ready for use. The default microphone application, apps like TikTok and Instagram can trigger the yellow or orange notification that appears on the top and front part of the iPhone.

A green dot at the front of the iPhone indicates that the camera is being used or that both the camera and the microphone are in use.

If the camera application is opened, the green dot will light up to indicate that the camera is ready to take snaps. Social media platforms that cause the green dot to flash include Instagram and TikTok where users can take pictures directly through the applications.