Android 12: Finally the camera and microphone indicator

Android 12: Finally the camera and microphone indicator

This time the iPhone was faster, but now Android 12 is following suit: With the new operating system, the user finally gets indicators for camera and microphone access. Now he can finally see when an app or a service switches it on without you having to initiate it yourself.

A lot is happening with the new Android in terms of privacy. You can now completely block access to the camera and microphone in Android 12. If you don't always think about it, there is another new level of security: A small message on the display shows you when the camera and microphone are being accessed.

Camera and microphone indicator - how does it work?

Nobody wants apps and services in the background to access the camera or microphone without them knowing. While showering, many have already thought about whether the lying cell phone can now film them. In theory, this is actually possible. If a corresponding malware app has reached your cell phone, it can not only be used to log keystrokes and take screenshots, but also photos, videos or sound recordings.

Now Google has responded and integrated a camera and microphone indicator in Android 12 that shows you when the hardware is being accessed.

As soon as an app, a service or a function of the smartphone accesses the camera or the microphone, a small "warning icon" first appears and then a small, green dot is permanently displayed.

In this case, however, it is not always clear who exactly has access to the camera or microphone. So if a green dot suddenly appears in the top right of the normal home screen, you should be suspicious. To see if the camera or microphone is currently in use, simply swipe down from the top of the screen to open quick settings. The camera or microphone symbol is then also displayed there.

In the data protection dashboard of Android 12 you can see in more detail which app has accessed the hardware and at what time. Over time, you should just get into the habit of blocking access to the camera or microphone entirely when you don't need them.

Monitor the camera and microphone in Android 10 or 11

If your smartphone is not yet the turn of the Android 12 update or is not getting it at all, you still don't have to do without this plus in security. A few apps have been around for a while now that do just that.

There is, for example, the free "Camic Viewer" app, which not only shows you with clearly visible symbols (green dot with camera and orange dot with microphone) when the hardware is in use, but also records access. At the same time, a message indicating which camera is active is displayed at the bottom. In retrospect, you can see in a log file who used the function and whether, for example, the front or rear camera was used.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nazhino.camicviewer

Incidentally, this app also works with a OnePlus Nord - which sometimes terminates such services on its own.

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