Over time, apps collect permissions you have forgotten about: location, microphone, camera, contacts, photos. A five-minute tidy-up switches off the ones no app needs, and your phone keeps working exactly as before.
On iPhone
Open Settings, then Privacy and Security. You will see each permission listed, such as Location Services, Microphone, Camera, Contacts, and Photos. Tap into one, and you get a list of every app that has asked for it. Turn off any app that has no reason to use it.
On Android
Open Settings, then Privacy, then Permission manager (wording varies a little by phone). You will find the same categories: Location, Microphone, Camera, Contacts, Photos. Tap a category to see which apps have access, and switch off the ones that do not need it.
What to look for
- Location: keep it for maps and ride or delivery apps. A game, a torch, or a photo editor does not need it. Where offered, choose « only while using the app ».
- Microphone and camera: keep these for apps you actually call or take photos with. Turn them off elsewhere.
- Contacts: switch off for apps that do not need your address book. This stops an app quietly uploading everyone you know.
- Photos: where your phone offers it, choose to share only selected photos rather than your whole library.
If in doubt, turn it off. If an app genuinely needs a permission, it will simply ask again the next time you use that feature. Nothing breaks permanently.
A calm five minutes. This is a tidy-up, not an emergency. Do one category today, and you have already closed the doors that matter most.
Related in this set. Lock and update your devices · What a lost or hacked phone exposes