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Is Someone Spying on Your Device?

Device Safety

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 Table of Contents

  1. Check for Microphone and Camera Use
  2. Call Forwarding and Other Devices
  3. Forwarded Text Messages
  4. Check Location Sharing
  5. Review Battery Usage
  6. Review Cloud Devices
  7. Turn On Lockdown Mode
  8. Use Apple’s Safety Check (iOS 16 or Later)

Last Updated: January 28, 2026

1. Check for Microphone and Camera Use

Your devices can show you if your microphone and/or camera are in use with indicators. If you see these when you’re not recording, using video calls, or taking photos, it might mean an app is accessing your camera or mic in the background.

 

Apple Devices

According to Apple Support, an orange square, an orange dot, or a green dot indicator tells Apple device users when the microphone or camera is being used by an application in devices with iOS 14 or later.

Orange Square / Dot Indicator: An app on your Apple Device is using the microphone.

Green Dot Indicator: An app on your Apple Device is using either the camera only or the camera and microphone.

To check which app is using your Apple device’s microphone or camera:

  1. In your Apple Device, open Settings.
  2. Tap Privacy & Security.
  3. Tap Microphone or Camera.
  4. Toggle off any apps you don’t want using your microphone and/or camera by tapping the icon to the right of each app.

 

Android Devices

According to Android Help, a green indicator will appear at the top right corner of your Android device screen for versions running Android 12 (S OS) or newer when an app is using the microphone and/or camera.

To check and change which apps have permission to the microphone or camera:

  1. In your Android device, open
  2. Tap on Privacy.
  3. Tap on Permission Manager
  4. Tap on Camera or Microphone
  5. Review and select which apps you are okay with accessing your camera or microphone.

Source: Samsung

 

To check which app is using your Android device’s microphone or camera using the Quick Settings Panel:

  1. To access the ‘Quick Settings Panel’, swipe down from the top of the
  2. Tap on the green indicator.
  3. Tap Being used by camera or Being used by Mic.
  4. Tap on Camera heading to Don’t alow.
  5. Tap on Mic to Don’t allow.

Note: For Android versions before Android 12 (S OS), some of these steps may not work.

Source: Samsung

 

2. Call Forwarding and Other Devices

The feature called ‘Call forwarding unconditionally’ is a setting that can automatically forward all incoming calls to another number without any conditions.

To check if your phone is unconditionally forwarding / redirecting calls:

  1. Dial *#21# on your phone
  2. Press call.
  3. Look at your screen.
  4. If your phone shows “Disabled” or “Call forwarding unconditionally. Voice: Not Forwarded” for all services (voice, data, fax), your calls aren’t being forwarded or redirected to another phone number.

Note: Some online videos say this means someone is spying, but it’s not always true. Call forwarding can only send your calls to another number, and can’t secretly record them.

Alternate dial code options:

The *#21# dial code should work for any 4G, 5G or GSM network (e.g., Rogers and Telus). If it doesn’t work for you, try using *92 or *72 (Source: Norton).

To manage the call forwarding feature on Apple or Android devices, read below.

 

Apple Devices

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap Phone.
  4. Tap Call Forwarding.
  5. If the model has a Dual Sim card, choose a line
  6. Tap Forward To and type in the number you want to forward the call to.
  7. To finish, tap Back.

Source: Apple Support

 

Android Devices

  1. In the Phone app, tap 3 dot menu ⋮ on the top right of the screen.
  2. Tap Call Settings.
  3. Tap Supplementary Services.
  4. Tap Call Forwarding.
  5. Disable any unrecognized

Source: Samsung

 

3. Forwarded Text Messages

General safety tips when wanting to forward text messages:

  • Turn off any devices you don’t
  • Make sure only your trusted devices are

 

Apple Devices

Source: Apple Support

Your iPhone can share your text messages (SMS, MMS, or RCS) with other Apple devices, like your Mac, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro through messages in iCloud. On each device, you’ll need to sign into the same Apple Account.

If you didn’t set this up yourself, it’s important to check which devices have access to your messages.

To set up iCloud for Messages on your iPhone or iPad

  1. Open
  2. Tap [your name].
  3. Tap iCloud.
  4. For these next steps, you’ll need to know the iOS of your iPhone/iPad.
    • For iOS 2, iPadOS 17.2, or later:
      • Tap Messages in iCloud.
      • Toggle on “Use on this ”
    • For iOS 16 to 1 or iPadOS 16 to 17.1:
      • Tap Show
      • Tap
      • Toggle on “Sync this [device].”
  1. Check the following to ensure you can see messages on all devices:
    • iMessage Account:
      • Once you’ve confirmed you’re signed into the same Apple Account, open Settings on your iPhone or iPad
      • Tap Messages
      • Tap Send & Receive
    • Text Message Forwarding:
      • To receive SMS and MMS messages across all devices, open Settings.
      • Tap Messages.
      • Tap Send & Receive
  1. To view iCloud stored messages, open the Messages app.

 

To set up iCloud for Messages on your Mac

  1. In your Mac on the Messages app, click Messages.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click which email addresses and phone numbers you’d like to send and receive messages from on your Mac.
  4. To view iCloud stored messages, open the Messages app.

 

iPad

  1. Tap Settings.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap Messages.
  4. Make sure iMessage is on.
  5. Tap Send & Receive.
  6. Confirm you’re signed in with the same Apple ID as your iPhone.

 

Mac

  1. Open the Messages App.
  2. Click the Menu Bar.
  3. Click Messages.
  4. Click Settings (or Preferences).
  5. Click iMessage.
  6. Confirm you’re signed in with the same Apple ID as your iPhone.

 

Apple Vision Pro

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Open Apps.
  3. Open Messages.
  4. Make sure iMessage is on.
  5. Click/Tap Send & Receive.
  6. Confirm you’re signed in with the same Apple ID as your iPhone.

Source: Apple Support

 

Android Devices

Forwarding text messages requires a third-party app. Review your installed apps and remove any you don’t recognize or that have access to your messages.

 

4. Check Location Sharing

Your device’s location settings can show who or what apps have access to your location. Reviewing this regularly helps protect your privacy and safety.

 

Apple Devices

  1. In your apple device, open
  2. Tap Privacy & Security.
  3. Toggle on Location
  4. To select which apps can use Location Services, tap the app and select any of these Location Sharing options that suit your safety needs:
    • Never.
    • Ask Next Time or When I Share.
    • While Using the App.
    • Always.

Notes:

  • A purple arrow means the app recently used your location.
  • A gray arrow means the app used your location in the last 24

Source: Apple Support, Apple Location Services Privacy Overview

 

Android Phone and Tablet

Source: Google Support

  1. In your Android phone, open Settings.
  2. Tap Location and turn on or off.
  3. To select which apps can use Location Services (options: ‘Allow all the time’, ‘Allow only while using the app’, and ‘Deny’), tap App Permissions.
  4. To see if you’re sharing your location with specific people on Google, find the ‘Location services’ heading then tap Google Location Sharing.

 

Android Computer

  1. Go to myaccount.google.com.
  2. At the top left, select People & sharing.
  3. Scroll to “Info you can share with others” and tap Location Sharing.
  4. Tap Manage Location Sharing.
  5. Tap the person’s name you want to stop sharing with, then select Stop.
  6. If you share your location with many people, open the list of shared contacts, select a person, and tap Stop.

Tip: You can also pause all location sharing in your device’s Settings for extra privacy.

 

5. Review Battery Usage

If an app you rarely use is using a lot of battery, it could be running in the background or even be spyware.

 

Apple Devices

  1. In your apple device, open Settings.
  2. Tap Battery.
  3. To view your percentage of battery usage over the last eight days, tap View All Battery Usage.

Source: Apple Support iPhone, iPad, Mac

 

Android Devices

  1. In your Android device, open Settings.
  2. Tap Battery and device care.
  3. Tap Battery.
  4. Under Battery Usage, tap either Since last full charge or Last 7 days to view your battery usage for each app.
  5. Try deleting or disabling apps you don’t recognize or use.

Source: Samsung, Google Support (Pixel Phones and Android devices)

 

6. Review Cloud Devices

If you see devices you don’t recognize in your device’s cloud storage (e.g., iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.), remove them. This stops others from tracking your location or accessing your data.

 

Apple Devices

Here you can check to see what devices are accessing your iCloud account.

  1. In your Apple device, open to
  2. Tap [your name].
  3. Tap iCloud.
  4. For additional details, tap Storage or Manage Account Storage.

Source: Apple Support

 

Android Devices

  1. Open your Google Account.
  2. Tap Security & sign-in.
  3. Under the ‘Your devices’ panel, tap Manage all devices.
  4. Select the device.
  5. Tap Sign out.

Source: Google Support

 

7. Turn On Lockdown Mode

Turning Lockdown Mode on limits how apps and websites can communicate with your device and can help block hacking attempts. When this mode is on, your device will not function like it normally does.

 

Apple Devices

  1. In your Apple device, open
  2. Tap Privacy & Security.
  3. At the bottom, tap Lockdown
  4. Tap Turn on Lockdown Mode.
  5. Tap Turn On & Restart.
  6. Enter your device passcode.

Source: Apple Support

 

Android Devices

  1. In your Android device, open Settings.
  2. Tap Lock screen.
  3. Tap Secure lock settings.
  4. Input the security pattern or PIN
  5. Toggle on the ‘Show Lockdown option’.

Source: Android Central (for Pixel, Galaxy, and other Android phones)

If these instructions do not work for your device, search for lockdown in the settings app or search for your lockdown instructions online.

 

8. Use Apple’s Safety Check (iOS 16 or Later)

Safety Check helps you quickly review and stop sharing your information with people or apps.

  1. In your Apple device, open Settings.
  2. Tap Privacy & Security.
  3. Tap Safety Check.

You can choose:

  • Manage Sharing & Access: Review and change what you
  • Emergency Reset: Immediately stop all

Before using Safety Check, think about when it’s safest to make changes, especially if the person may notice their access has been removed.

Source: Apple Support

 

If you are experiencing tech abuse, you are not alone. Find support in your community by connecting with a BC Society of Transition Houses Member Program or check out our other safety resources at techsafebc.bcsth.ca.