What are the microphone and camera indicator dots in iOS 14+ and Android 12+, and how do they change the security model for covert recording?

• A.The indicators appear for apps holding a permanent camera or microphone grant (a one-time grant is signalled differently, with a badge on the app icon rather than a dot in the status bar), and every permanent grant lights the dot for the duration of the access; a covert recorder therefore avoids the indicator by requesting one-time access on each launch, the gap researchers reported when the feature shipped. Apple closed it in a later release.
• B.iOS and Android use different colours for the same signal (iOS shows orange for the camera and the microphone alike, while Android shows yellow for the microphone alone), and neither platform lights an indicator for the camera on Android. The change to the security model is that a user can compare the two platforms, and nothing prevents an app suppressing the dot.
• C.iOS 14 introduced green (camera) and orange (microphone) indicator dots in the status bar that illuminate whenever any app accesses camera or microphone; Android 12 added similar privacy indicators. These cannot be suppressed by any app (enforced at the OS level); they provide a visible UI signal to users that recording is occurring, making covert recording while the user is looking at the screen harder for malicious apps.