iPhone app permissions: check location, photos and notifications

When you first open an app, you often tap "Allow" on its permission pop-ups without much thought. Months later, it's hard to remember which apps can use your location, your photos or your microphone. In this post we look at where to find permissions on iPhone, how to review location, photo and notification access, and how to turn this into an easy habit.

What are app permissions for?

A permission is the approval an app asks you for before it can use other information or hardware on your phone. According to Apple's guide, the first time an app wants to use information from another app, you see a request with an explanation. You can change the permission you gave, or didn't give, at any time later.

Most permissions are genuinely useful: a maps app needs your location for directions, a photo editor needs your library. The trouble is the permissions that pile up over time and that you no longer use. A permission you gave once stays on until you turn it off.

This matters even more on a phone where you keep health information. Your photo library may hold pictures of prescriptions, test results or medicine boxes; your calendar holds your doctor's appointments. Knowing which apps can reach them keeps you in control.

Where do you find permissions on iPhone?

On iPhone you can look at permissions from two directions: by type of information or by app. Using both together gives you a quick review:

1. Look by type of information: In Settings, open Privacy & Security. Tap a category such as Location Services, Photos, Camera, Microphone, Contacts or Calendars to see the apps that asked for that information; you can turn access on or off for each one.
2. Look by app: In Settings, scroll down and tap an app's name to see all the permissions that app uses on one screen.
3. Check how they're used: According to Apple, the App Privacy Report under Privacy & Security shows how apps use the permissions you gave them and their network activity. If the report is off, you can turn it on in the same place.

Take a closer look at Calendars and Contacts too. If you keep your doctor's appointments in your phone's calendar, every app with calendar access can also see the titles of those appointments. Your contacts may include the numbers of your doctors and pharmacy. Turning off access for apps that don't really need this information keeps your health details from spreading.

Menu names can vary slightly depending on your iOS version and language settings. If you can't find a setting, the easiest way is to type "location" or "privacy" into the search field at the top of Settings.

Location: Always or While Using the App?

Location is one of the permissions most worth reviewing, because it can indirectly reveal where you live, where you work and which hospital or pharmacy you visit. According to Apple's support page, in Location Services you can choose one of these options for each app:

• Never: The app can't access your location.
• Ask Next Time Or When I Share: The app asks again the next time it wants your location.
• While Using the App: Your location is used only while the app or one of its features is on screen.
• Always: The app can access your location even when it's in the background.

For most apps, While Using the App is enough; it makes sense to save Always for apps that really need your location in the background. If you turn off the Precise Location switch on the same screen, the app sees only your approximate location. For apps that don't need an exact address, like weather, that's often enough.

Apple notes that the status bar may turn blue when an app with While Using the App permission is actively using your location. When you notice it, checking which app is looking at your location is a good habit. You can turn Location Services off entirely, but some apps, such as maps, may not work properly then; deciding app by app is a more balanced approach than the main switch.

Photos, camera and microphone

When you give photo access, you don't have to open your whole library. iPhone offers a limited access option that lets an app see only the photos you choose. If you only need to upload a picture of a single document to an app, you can use this option instead of opening your entire library.

Check camera and microphone permissions in the same list. It's natural for video call or voice note apps to need them; but if an app you never use those features in has access, you can turn it off. The small colored dot that appears in the top corner of the screen while the camera or microphone is in use also helps you notice the moment access happens.

Turning off a permission doesn't break the app; when you want to use that feature again, it may ask for permission again. Turning off a permission you're unsure about and switching it back on when you need it is less risky than leaving unnecessary access open.

Notifications: what shows on your Lock Screen?

A notification permission isn't data access, but it decides how much can appear on your Lock Screen. In the Notifications section of Settings, you can choose for each app whether to allow notifications and when previews are shown.

• For health, banking and messaging apps, showing previews only when your phone is unlocked is a good start.
• Turning off notifications completely for apps you don't really need protects your attention and keeps your Lock Screen simple.
• For important notifications like medication reminders, consider hiding their content instead of turning them off.

If you'd rather not have medication names showing on your Lock Screen, take a look at hiding medication names in notifications. If you're wondering where your health data is kept, where is your health data stored? reads like the next step of this check.

Your privacy settings in Oveluni

In Oveluni, your records are stored on this iPhone; there's no automatic cloud backup or analytics tracking. For reminders to reach you, you need to allow Oveluni's notifications on your iPhone. If you don't want details to show, Notification privacy in Settings lets you hide medication names on the Lock Screen and in the Live Activity. With App lock you can also lock Oveluni with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode; we explain why this helps in locking your health app with Face ID. You can always see for yourself which permissions are on by tapping Oveluni's name in iPhone Settings. For the other features, see the Features page; Oveluni is coming soon to the App Store.

Sources

1. Apple: Control access to information in apps on iPhone
2. Apple: Turn Location Services and GPS on or off