Have you met the new undercover agent, iOS 14?

The iOS 14 update comes equipped with some super-intelligent spy detection technology and iPhone users around the world are freaking out at what it has discovered. Okay, so we’re being slightly dramatic, it’s not actually spy detection technology.

The new update has brought users a feature that informs them when their mic and camera is on. If users are recording a voice message for example, an orange light appears in the right hand corner and a green one for video.

A photo of an iPhone displaying the orange dot that's shown when an app is using the mic.
The orange dot appears when an app is using your microphone. 

We’re all guilty of thinking our phones are spying on us from time to time. Those moments when we’ve been talking about a new coat or a pair of shoes and an advert for them has suddenly appeared on our social media.

Apple fans are worried that their worst fear has come true. There’s been an influx of tweets and posts where people are claiming that the orange dot appeared when they opened some of their favourite apps like TikTok and YouTube.

A photo of the YouTube app displayed on an iPhone.
Is YouTube listening to us sing?

One user took to Twitter to express their worry and tweeted, ‘BRUH. I got the little orange dot the second I opened TikTok. Wtf.’

It looks like this orange dot is appearing before users even begin recording any videos – talk about spooky season!

Another user tweeted, I have been seeing this orange dot when I open YouTube and just watch videos.'

It would be awful if YouTube were secretly listening to us. Imagine how many people scream along to songs, blissfully unaware that anyone can hear them - the embarrassment would be torture.

Chances are that these issues are down to a bug or some problem with the apps, but after years of conspiracy theories claiming that sites like Facebook were listening to our private calls and conversations, users can't help but feel that something sinister is going on.

If you swipe to the Control Centre, you can see which apps are accessing your mic and if you're really suspicious, you can check your app's permissions in Settings and control which apps can access your microphone or camera.

It seems iOS 14's mission is over the spy has been detected and it's a mission success. Check out the rest of iOS 14's amazing features here.