If you’ve ever noticed a green dot at the top of your Android phone’s screen, it could be a warning sign that someone is watching you or listening.

The dot is an indicator that an app is using the sensors on your Android’s phone, either the microphone or the camera.

It’s possible to appear for entirely innocent reasons, for instance, if you’re using a voice recorder app or making a call.

But if you see the green dot and don’t know why it’s there, it could be a sign of ‘spyware’ apps on your phone.

DailyMail.com has detailed how a similar warning sign sometimes appears on iPhones. 

Thankfully, it’s easy to work out which app is using your mic (the Privacy Indicator dot was added to every Android phone in the Android 12 update, and will be there whether you’re using a Samsung, Pixel or other brands).

Most of the time, the green dot isn’t anything to worry about, but if you suspect you’re being spied on, you should act fast, said Jamie Akhtar, CEO and co-founder of CyberSmart, speaking to DailyMail.com.

Akhtar said: ‘Ordinarily seeing a green on your Android screen isn’t something to worry about. In most cases, it simply means that an app is using your device’s microphone (or camera. 

‘This can be caused by any third-party app or a basic function of your device such as a voice assistant.

‘Generally, these will be apps you’ve permitted to use these functions, but if you see an orange or green dot even if you aren’t using any apps, it’s time to investigate. 

‘The most likely cause is simply that you’ve given an app permission to access your camera or microphone even when it’s not in use. Check this in the ‘permissions’ section of your device’s settings.

‘If this isn’t the case, it could mean your phone has been hacked and is using spyware to track what you’re doing.’

If you suspect spyware has been installed on your phone, Akhtar recommends running a malware scan (open Play Store, then tap your profile, then Play Protect, then Scan.

Akhtar recommends changing your passwords (particularly important ones like email passwords), but not doing it on the affected device, then factory resetting the device.

If you see the green dot, it’s quite easy to find out which app has triggered it.

Swipe down from the top of the screen if you see the green dot, and you’ll see either a microphone or a camera, to show which sensor is being used.

Tap on the icon, and you’ll see which app is using it.

From that screen, you can revoke the app’s permissions to use the microphone or camera (although if an app is using either unexpectedly, it may be better to uninstall altogether).

You can also see a clear record of which apps have been using which sensor, minute by minute.

From this screen, tap on the app which has been using your microphone or camera, and you can see a full list of the sensors the app has been using.

From here, you can revoke the permissions (although it’s worth noting that some apps require permissions to work, ie a voice recorder won’t be much use without access to the microphone).

If you’re worried about which apps have been accessing the sensors in your phone, Google also introduced a new Privacy Dashboard feature in the same Android update.

This offers an overview of which apps have accessed your device’s sensors, as well as private information such as call logs and contacts.

To access it, open the Settings app, tap Security and Privacy or Privacy.

To find the privacy dashboard, you may need to tap Privacy again.

Tap Privacy dashboard.

To change the app permissions, just tap on permissions such as Location, Microphone, Calendar, Call Logs, Contacts from the list.

You can allow apps to use the sensors all the time, only when open, or never.

Warning over new WhatsApp update that allows friends to see EVERYTHING on your screen

• WhatsApp have introduced a popular video call feature called Screen Share
• The function, already offered by some video platforms, will be rolled out soon
• But be careful before clicking ‘Share’ as your pals will be able to see everything 

By Jessica Hamilton

Published: 10:05 EDT, 13 August 2023 | Updated: 15:55 EDT, 13 August 2023

When Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone, he described it as ‘literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone’ – and the device’s slick touchscreen was a big part of that.

But if you’ve got your hands full or you’re in a hurry, there are now a lot of functions you can unlock on the iPhone without touching the screen.

You can do everything from turning on the torch to opening your favorite apps by clicking buttons, tapping on the device, or using pre-made voice commands.

Within certain apps, you can also use the buttons instead of the screen, for a better experience when shooting pictures or videos, for example.

Below, we’ve run through some of the best iPhone functions you can unlock using taps, buttons and even shaking your device.

Turn on your torch and open your camera with a tap

Apple’s ‘Back Tap’ function lets you activate functions on your phone by tapping, double-tapping and triple-tapping on the back.

One way people tend to use this is to turn on the torch, but you can configure Back Tap to do everything from triggering the camera app to turning the volume down.

You can even use it to trigger Shortcuts – automations which you can use to do everything from triggering a music app when you put on Bluetooth headphones to automatically sending text messages.

To set up Back Tap, go to Settings > Accessibility > Back Tap, then assign an action to double and triple taps (it helps to tap very rapidly to activate it).

Snooze your alarm clock

Rather than fiddling with the screen, you can use either volume button to instantly silence your alarm.

Just make sure you have the Snooze option enabled to enjoy an extra five minutes.

Delete text by shaking your phone

Typed something wrong? You can automatically delete what you’ve just done by shaking your phone.

When you shake the handset, a menu comes up saying ‘Undo Typing’: select Undo, and the text will vanish.

Call emergency services

You don’t need to unlock your phone or deal with your PIN code to call emergency services.

If you need to call 911, hold down the lock button and either volume button.

After a few seconds Emergency Call slider will pop up on screen.

Voice control apps and set your own command words

Using iPhone’s ‘Voice Control’ settings, you can create your own command words (ideally something you don’t say very often) to open apps and more.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control and enable it. This allows you to use commands such as Open Siri, Open Spotlight, or Open any app.

If you are feeling adventurous, you can create your own custom commands – select the Customise Commands button and then Create New Command.

Type in a trigger phrase, then select actions to take within any app (it will mimic your finger gestures and repeat them when you say the word).

You can use this to trigger a favourite playlist (for example) although it takes practice to get it right.

You can even use this to enter your PIN code to unlock your phone, although we wouldn’t recommend this for security reasons.

A blue microphone in the top right corner of the screen tells you that the iPhone has heard your command.

Call people on speakerphone

You can call people using Siri (as long as you have your phone set up to listen for Hey Siri), and for a fully hands-free experience, you can even route the call through your phone’s speaker.

To activate this, simply say, ‘Hey Siri, call [Contact] on speaker’.

Take photo bursts

If you’re shooting something fast-moving like a sporting event (or children who won’t sit still), burst photo mode lets you take multiple shots using your volume up button.

You’ll obviously have to have the camera app open (you can do this using a voice command if you want to, see below).

To enable this, go to Settings > Camera and select Use Volume Up For Burst.

Force restart

This one is very useful to know if your phone freezes and won’t restart: it’s a hard reset, which means it forces all apps to shut down.

You might lose data, but unlike a factory reset, it won’t wipe your phone.

Press and quickly release the volume up button. Press and quickly release the volume down button.

Press and hold the side button. When the Apple logo appears, release the side button.

Get your card ready in Apple Pay

You can get cards ready to pay in stores, or if you’re about to go into the subway, by simply double-tapping the device’s side button.

To do this, enable ‘Double-Click Side Button’ in Settings > Wallet and Apple Pay.

It has been 40 years since this actress shot to fame while sharing the screen with a then-little-known Tom Cruise as he launched to stardom in his breakout role. 

The now 73-year-old was thrust into the spotlight after portraying the role of a prostitute in one of Tom’s hit films.

The blockbuster saw a Chicago teen looking for fun at home while his parents were away – but the situation quickly got out of hand. 

So, 40 years after the box office hit was released, can you guess who it is? 

In case you haven’t put it together yet, the actress is Shera Danese who shot to fame alongside Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay in Risky Business.

In the film De Mornay’s character Lana gets intimate with Cruise’s high school-aged character Joel. 

And, after the encounter, she invites Vicki, played by Danese, over to crash at his house with her while his parents are out of town.

The trio get high together and after Lana wrecks Joel’s parents’ Porsche, she recruits Vicki and her other friends to turn the house into a brothel in order to raise money for the repairs. 

Following on from the success of Risky Business, Danese continued her a career as a Hollywood actress with her most notable appearances being in Baby Boom (1987), John Q (2002) and Alpha Dog (2006).

Beyond her professional success, she was married to actor Peter Falk.

The two were married for 34 years before he passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. 

Danese met the actor while he was making the 1976 film Mikey & Nicky in her hometown of Pennsylvania.

‘He saw me walking down the street and that was it,’ Danese previously told The LA Times.

In his 2017 biography Beyond Columbo, authors Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Brines penned that she initially turned down his offer but ended up conceding and grabbing a cocktail with him.

At the time, he was married to his first wife, Alyce Mayo. The book states that he had been unfaithful for a while but his behind-the-scenes rendezvous with Danese was seemingly the last straw.

The couple divorced in 1976 and that same year he brought Danese out to Hollywood where she made her first appearance in his show Columbo – even though she knew little about acting at the time.

‘As soon as I came out here in the mid-70s I did a Columbo,’ Danese said during her LA Times interview. ‘I was dumb then. I was just checking my lip gloss.’

In fact, her main goal was to become a singer ‘but when I came out here, I started acting. Singing seemed to be a harder business to get into.’

After tying the knot with Falk – who was 22 years her senior – in 1977, she appeared on Columbo once again. 

‘I was a mess. I didn’t know how to act as a person. I didn’t want to act like his wife,’ she said of her second appearance on the show.

She would work alongside her husband again in Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991) but he had some stipulations around her appearance in the film. 

‘I wanted to play the rock star in this one, but he wouldn’t let me because she is in bed with some young guy,’ Danese explained. 

‘But I am singing her songs. How is that for a twist? She is doing the sex scenes and I am doing the singing.’

Outside of their on-screen appearances, their relationship was reputably rocky. 

‘They were known across Hollywood as the Fighting Falks, always arguing, breaking up, then reconciling,’ wrote Beyond Columbo author Lertzman, claiming Falk wasn’t faithful throughout their relationship.

‘They would have stand-up rows in public.’

However, through thick and thin, they stood by each other’s side.

When Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2008, Danese slowed down her acting career – only making a cameo in the show Cold Case in 2010.

At the time, his doctor claimed he ‘rapidly slipped into dementia after a series of dental operations.’

During that period, the two resided in his $5million Beverly Hills estate.

His daughter, Catherine Falk, filed for conservatorship over her father in 2008.

As per The Guardian, court documents from that time stated that Falk required ‘full-time custodial care for his health and safety’ and was no longer able to protect himself against ‘fraud or undue influence.’ 

His daughter also asserted that her father could not ‘recognize his physical needs or communicate those needs to others who can meet them.’  

In addition to the court documents, Catherine claimed through her lawyer, Steven Hogan, that Danese had ‘cruelly’ prevented her ‘and others’ from visiting Peter since Father’s Day in June.  

‘He has Alzheimer’s that has gotten significantly worse. She wants to make sure he gets the care he needs,’ Hogan said at the time.

After hip surgery in 2010, he deteriorated even further and ultimately passed away in June 2011. 

‘He died very peacefully with his wife by his side,’ a source told Radar at the time.

‘Peter left the bulk of his estate to Shera,’ a source told the showbiz website. 

‘The house that the two of them lived in together, art work, investment accounts, and more have been left to Shera.’

Citing the drama between her and her step-daughter Catherine, the source revealed that Catherine had been quickly denied conservatorship at the time, finding Danese to be a reliable caretaker. 

‘Peter’s daughter Catherine had a very strained relationship with her stepmother, Shera for years, and tried to get conservatorship of Peter several years ago,’ the source added.

‘The judge flatly denied that request because Shera proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was providing excellent care of her husband at home.’

Since Falk’s passing, Danese has continued to live a fulfilling life. 

She was honored with the Albert Schweitzer Award at the Last Chance for Animals Gala in 2015.

In a video pre-recorded for the gala, Danese revealed that she has dedicated her life to helping rescue dogs. 

‘It’s very rewarding to take an animal that no one else wants to give a chance to,’ she said in the video as she played with her five dogs.

‘You do know animal people are crazy?’ She joked in the video. ‘I just brought anything home that was on the street.’

Her most recent red carpet outing was at the 2022 premiere of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, during which she was pictured alongside Kathy Hilton.