Orange dot with “hey siri” on

That is a great question. If "Hey Siri" is active then the microphone is always on and therefore why is there no continuous Orange Dot? Activation of "Hey Siri" is the only time that the microphone is active continuously and in turn it would have kept the Orange Dot visible continuously. If the Orange Dot is visible continuously then it would not be able to indicate that the microphone is in use when it comes to other apps.

"Hey Sir" is activated with the user's permission so there is no intrusion to report and therefore the Orange Dot remains OFF. This paves the way for the Orange Dot to appear and disappear as other apps attempt to make use of the microphone.

Axel F.

I am not an Apple employee. I am a user of this forum just like you are. I have not seen this question asked before. If you would like to leave a direct feedback for Apple then you may do so here  ➔ Product Feedback - Apple

Axel F.

Any idea why the orange dot is still appearing when I make a call even though I’ve revoked microphone and camera access from all apps? I thought it was perhaps bcs I have Siri turned on but since im not activating her with “Hey Siri” I’m worried I’ve been hacked and can’t figure out what’s accessing my phone.

I thought the purpose of the orange dot was to alert us when an app was accessing our camera or microphone. I guess I didn’t realize that making a call was considered using an app but thank you for the clarity.

You are welcome. Yes, it does use the microphone, but I guess using the phone is so commonplace that people don’t consider the technical side of it. While it might seem trivial to show the orange dot when using the phone app, the security measure could be very important if one of the million or so apps available in the App Store has accessed the microphone without informing you.

As it is 100% impossible to make or receive a phone call without using the microphone...............