How to disable smartphone microphone

Are you looking for how to disable smartphone microphone ? Here is a complete guide on how to mute your phone’s microphone to apps.

I am sure that you will have happened to talk about a certain topic with a family member or friend, for example about buying a car, and to have found yourself invaded by ads or advertising banners on the car you had thought of buying on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or other websites.

Do our mobile phones and tablets listen to us? Are our cell phones spying on us? “ Through the microphones of our smartphones and tablets it is technically possible for app manufacturers to activate the microphone, and listen to us “. Following the Striscia service and many other television programs, including newspapers and magazines, we have decided to help you understand how to disable smartphone microphone to all those apps that ask for permission to activate the microphone and that you have granted because you are taken by the desire to use the service, without reading the privacy policy.

Index

• How to disable smartphone microphone
  • How to turn off Android cellphone microphone
  • How to turn off iOS cellphone microphone

How to disable smartphone microphone

According to this article from the Guardian , apps such as: WhatsApp , Instagram , Facebook , Telegram , Twitter , Snapchat and LinkedIn have access to the phone’s camera and microphone. These apps might do the following:

• Access the front and rear cameras.
• Record your voice at any time.
• Take pictures and videos without telling you.
• Upload photos and videos without telling you.
• Perform facial recognition in real time and detect your facial expressions.
• Live stream.
• Detect if you are on the phone alone or with another person.

The same Google app to use Voice Search or Voice Typing asks to access the microphone.

Just think that an app like Find My Phone is able to spy on every moment of the life of the person who has taken possession of your mobile device through the camera and microphone of the phone itself.

Even The New York Times in its article confirmed that in the apps and games for Android and iOS mobile devices (about 1,000) there is a hidden software called Alphonso capable of capturing what users watch on TV or in the cinema. This system records audio when apps that include it are running in the background .

Now that you have had an overview of a fact that has already been known for some time, but which has only come to light in these days with the Media, let’s see together the simple steps that must be taken to limit access to the microphone of apps on Android smartphones and iPhones.

Read also: How to disable the integrated webcam

How to turn off Android cellphone microphone

Deactivating the microphone on the mobile phone on Android is quite simple and does not require great computer skills. What you need to do is take your phone and go to Settings> Applications . Press on the three overlapping dots at the top right and tap Manage permissions .

Scroll down the page and locate the Microphone item to plug on it. You will see all the apps that can record your audio with this permission. Select the app you want to remove access to and check the Deny item .

This way you will have removed the ability to record audio to the selected app. You can also do this on the other apps and decide which one to leave it to.

For system applications, on the other hand, always on the app screen, tap on the three vertical dots , at the top right, and select Show system .

Most apps, to which you have disabled the microphone, will ask you again for permission to use the microphone as soon as they need it . In that case you can grant the authorization and in case deactivate the microphone later by following the steps indicated above.

How to turn off iOS cellphone microphone

To turn off an iPhone’s microphone, go to Settings> Privacy> Microphone . Tap the latter option to see all the apps that have access to the microphone on your iPhone.

Turn the switch to OFF on all apps and that’s it.

As with Android, when you return to using some of these applications, it is possible that you will be asked for permission to use the microphone again.