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How to manage app permissions on iPhone

In This Article

In This Article

Apple has been on something of a privacy crusade in recent years, and one of the ways it manifests that is through app permissions.

This is due to the increased amount of information most apps and web services track when you use them. We’d always recommend any privacy conscious user invest in aVPNto help alleviate this. But on top of that using the iPhone’s inbuilt permission controls smartly, can help you get a proper view of and control over what information you’re handing over to the apps you’re using.

Here’s how to manage app permissions on iPhone.

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What we used

The Short Version

Step1

Open you iPhone’s settings

Open you iPhone’s settings

The exact position of this will depend on your home screen layout, but it looks like the above icon.

Step2

Open Privacy settings

Enter the Settings app, scroll down, and select Privacy.

Step3

Select Apple app

Select the Apple app or function that you wish to control access to. This will reveal all of the apps installed on your iPhone that have requested access to that particular source of data.

Step4

Toggleapp permissionson or off

A green toggle means that the app has access to this specific data source. Flick it to the off/grey position to cut off access to that data.

Troubleshooting

Quite possibly, but if an app needs access to certain data sources to function properly, it will ask you the next time you use it.

Enter Settings > Privacy, scroll down to the bottom and tap App Privacy Report. Turn On App Privacy Report, if asked. This screen will now show whenever any apps use your personal data.

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Jon is a seasoned freelance writer who started covering games and apps in 2007 before expanding into smartphones and consumer tech, dabbling in lifestyle and media coverage along the way. Besides bein…

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Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.