Apple may use the iPhone 14’s rumored pill-shaped notch to display the privacy dots instead of the iOS status bar when the camera or microphone is being used .
- What’s happening? iOS may display privacy dots for camera and microphone access right between the iPhone 14’s pill-shape and hole-punch cutouts.
- Why care? The notch on the iPhone 14 will be visibly smaller, taking up less valuable screen space than before. And if this feature proves true, a pill-shaped notch could be more functional than ever before.
- What to do? Tell us how you feel about Apple’s notch solution for the iPhone 14.
The iPhone 14’s notch may display the iOS privacy dots
9to5Mac has learned from a source that Apple’s iOS 16 software will take advantage of the space between the two cutouts to show privacy dots for the microphone and camera. Moreover, tapping either indicator will reportedly bring up a list of apps that are using or have recently accessed your iPhone’s microphone or camera.
While it initially seemed like this would essentially be dead space, that’s not actually the case. According to a source familiar with Apple’s plans, the company will use this space to make its privacy indicators for the camera and microphone more visible.
The change will also permit iOS to display both privacy dots at the same time when both the camera and the microphone are being used simultaneously, like on a FaceTime video call, which is not currently possible.
The goal is “to make the experience more similar to a MacBook,” writes 9to5Mac’s Chance Miller. On Mac notebooks, the notch is used to display a green indicator when the camera is in use. As mentioned, iOS will black out the area between the two cutouts, creating one wide pill-shaped cutout when the display is in use.
How the camera/mic privacy indicators work
The privacy indicators for camera and mic access appear as green and orange dots in the top right corner of the iOS status bar, right above the cellular signal strength icon. Read: How to see which app is using your iPhone’s mic and camera
Apple introduced privacy dots with iOS 14. The same indicators appear at the top of the Control Center along with the name of the app that last accessed the camera or microphone. Read: 5 ways to remotely control your iPhone camera
The notch isn’t going away anytime soon
With just a few days left until Apple’s big “Far Out” event, discoveries like this one are to be expected. The rumors agree that Apple will make the iPhone 14 Pro’s hole-punch and pill-shaped cutouts appear as a single uniform pill shape.
The infamous notch isn’t going away anytime soon so Apple is going to shrink it as much as possible. At any rate, adding actual functionality to the notch beyond concealing the TrueDepth camera parts would be an unexpected but welcome move on Apple’s part. Read: How to see all your YouTube comments in one place