Black Dot on iPhone Screen: What It Is and How to Remove It

Keeping up with your phone's software updates is one of the best ways to ensure your device is operating at peak performance. These updates often bring new features and settings that can enhance your user experience. For example, when iOS 18.4 was released earlier this year, it introduced a new UI element: a black dot placed to the right of the Dynamic Island.

The black dot is a cosmetic enhancement for two privacy indicators first introduced with iOS 14—the orange and green dots. The green dot indicates that an iPhone app is using your camera, while the orange dot shows that an app is using your phone's built-in microphone. In iOS 18.4, developers moved these indicators out of the Dynamic Island and added a black background to both, making them more visible.

If you want to get rid of the green or orange dots with a black background, simply close the app that's using your iPhone's camera or microphone. If you're unsure which app is causing the indicator to appear, pull down from the top-right of the screen to open Control Center. You should see usage information for active apps, including which software is using the camera or microphone.

Read more: I Fell In Love With The iPhone 16 Pro Max, But I Still Returned It And Went Back To The 14 Pro - Here's Why

You can't disable the dots, but you can control your privacy. When checking for privacy indicators on phones, like the green dot on Android phone screens, it's also good to pay attention to which apps your phone is running. Whether you're using an iPhone or Android device, a privacy indicator might be your only tip that there's malware running behind the scenes if you're sure your apps aren't triggering it.

How could it have gotten there in the first place? A myriad of methods, with one of the causes being a juice-jacked connection. This is why you should avoid using public USB charging ports, or at least start using a protective accessory like JSAUX's USB Data Blocker if you desperately need to charge your phone and don't have your own power bank.

Unfortunately, if the green or orange dot is a nuisance to your iOS experience, you won't find a master kill switch for the indicators. That said, you can individually grant and revoke camera and microphone permissions. To do so, open Settings, then tap Privacy & Security, and select Camera or Microphone. Once you revoke an app's camera or mic usage from the list, the indicator dots should no longer appear when you run this software, and they will stay off for apps you've never granted authorization.

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