WhatsApp bug that misleads users confidentiality Indicators and notifications in the privacy dashboard went viral after an engineer working on Twitter shared a screenshot, claiming that WhatsApp was accessing and using his phone. microphone when he is sleeping. Matters escalated when Elon Musk replied to the tweet and said that WhatsApp’s microphone access was “weird”.
Soon after, Meta and Google confirmed that it was a bug in the Android operating system that was showing incorrect microphone usage in the privacy dashboard.
Thankfully, there are several methods you can use to determine whether WhatsApp is accessing your phone’s microphone or camera. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps.
prerequisites
Android smartphone running version 12 or above
Active WhatsApp account with microphone access
Steps to check whether WhatsApp is using the microphone in the background
With the launch of Android 12, Google has added a dedicated privacy dashboard to the operating system that allows users to keep track of all the permissions granted. apps And also keep track of usage timeline with time and date. This privacy dashboard will help us to determine whether WhatsApp is using microphone in inactive state or not.
But, before that check if you see a random green indicator randomly in the top right corner. This indicates that there is some app that is using the camera or microphone. If this is the case with you too then you need to pay extra attention.
Meanwhile, here’s how you can check whether WhatsApp is using the microphone in the background. Also, for this you need to make sure that you have not used WhatsApp to make calls, record voice notes or create voice status.
Soon after, Meta and Google confirmed that it was a bug in the Android operating system that was showing incorrect microphone usage in the privacy dashboard.
Thankfully, there are several methods you can use to determine whether WhatsApp is accessing your phone’s microphone or camera. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps.
prerequisites
Android smartphone running version 12 or above
Active WhatsApp account with microphone access
Steps to check whether WhatsApp is using the microphone in the background
With the launch of Android 12, Google has added a dedicated privacy dashboard to the operating system that allows users to keep track of all the permissions granted. apps And also keep track of usage timeline with time and date. This privacy dashboard will help us to determine whether WhatsApp is using microphone in inactive state or not.
But, before that check if you see a random green indicator randomly in the top right corner. This indicates that there is some app that is using the camera or microphone. If this is the case with you too then you need to pay extra attention.
Meanwhile, here’s how you can check whether WhatsApp is using the microphone in the background. Also, for this you need to make sure that you have not used WhatsApp to make calls, record voice notes or create voice status.
- Open Settings on your Android phone and tap on the Privacy & Security option
- Scroll down and tap on Privacy
- Tap the microphone icon to see a complete timeline of all apps using the microphone.
Now, check that WhatsApp has disabled the microphone when it was not in use. If yes, then WhatsApp is most likely not affected by the recent bug. But, if he’s using a microphone, there’s a problem.
What should you do if WhatsApp is using the microphone in the background?
The first instinct in this case should be to disable microphone access from WhatsApp. For this just go to WhatsApp from the app section and then disable microphone access.