Phone Tap, Orange Microphone Icon, TikTok

I believe TikTok was recording my phone calls. However, the orange light is on during phone calls anyway, I believe. Am I right about that? Is the orange dot on for just regular phone calls? Or is it just for other apps? Is there a way to differentiate between the orange dot for just phone calls, and another symbol for all other apps using the microphone?

One example of a phone tap by TikTok:

I had a phone conversation about an actor that died years ago, and the next day his movies from 40-50 years ago started showing up in my feed on TikTok. I did not search his name in a browser or any other social media app or even on TikTok. There is no way that’s just a coincidence and it happened all the time. I had the microphone disabled for the app, and never turned it on to record even once. I’ve deleted the app since, but now I want to know exactly what those dots mean.

It’s terrifying to think an app would record my conversations without approval; without any way to shut it off, or any way to know if they’re listening to a phone call.

Justin B