Post by lifeinwoodinville on Sept 3, 2017 0:02:17 GMT -5
I love my iPhone but I don't trust my iPhone or Apple. Settings have a tendency to change after updates, new features are added already enabled, and weird stuff just happens sometimes. After each update I check all my settings to make sure nothing has changed. I have to be honest, my wife and I share an iTunes profile, however our son has his own. I am sure that some of these things occur because we share a profile but some of this stuff is not dependent on that.
This list is not intended to approve or disapprove of anyone's personal choices. This is meant to be informational advice on iPhone operation that you may not have known about. That being said, if you are looking for privacy on your iPhone then read on.
iMessage: There is a setting in iMessage (Settings > Messages > Send & Receive) that allows you to set up your device to send and receive messages as any member of your iTunes family account. For example I can set up my iMessage to allow me to send and receive as my wife or son by simply selecting them from the list. They will get a splash screen message notifying them of the change which can be dismissed without even unlocking the phone. I found out about this because after an update about two years ago my wife and I started receiving each other's iMessages.
iCloud: There are some options (Settings > Photos & Camera) called iCloud Photo Library, My Photo Stream, and iCloud Photo Sharing. Each of these has the potential to automatically send a copy of any image you take or add to your photo library and send it to your other devices for you. In this case "other devices" are my wife's phone and my son's iPad. I strongly suggest that the three options listed above are turned off.
Automatically Download Apps: Another awesome feature available to iPhone users is automatically download apps (Settings > iTunes & App Store). Any time I download an app from the app store I can automatically have it downloaded on all my other devices. So... say I were to download the Ashley Madison app, it would automatically appear on the other devices on my account that also have this feature enabled. How fun is that?
Siri App Suggestions: Siri, which I personally think is worthless anyway, will make app suggestions for you based upon the time of day and how much time you spend in that app. The terrible part of this is that anyone can take your iPhone, swipe from left to right and see what apps you use the most without entering your pass code! So, if you spend two hours a day in Tinder, then that app will be on the list. To disable this go to Settings > General > Spotlight Search and toggle off Siri Suggestions. If that does not work, from your iPhone lock screen, swipe left to right, when the widget screen appears scroll down to the bottom of the screen, touch Edit, enter your passcode, find Siri App Suggestions, touch the red circle to the left of the app icon, touch Remove.
Location Services: If you use Find iPhone you probably have Location Services turned on (Settings > Privacy > Location Services). If you do not have this set correctly others on your iTunes account can see where you are on a map at any given time. You need to change your settings in Share My Location, turning off the option and limiting in your family who can see your location. The option explains all this once you are in there.
Call Log: I still have not figured this one out. About six months ago my phone call log started appearing on my wife's phone mixed in with her phone call log, and vice versa. I have googled it and tried a few fixes but it's still doing it. I'll figure it out sooner or later.
If anyone knows of anything else please feel free to add it to the list.
This list is not intended to approve or disapprove of anyone's personal choices. This is meant to be informational advice on iPhone operation that you may not have known about. That being said, if you are looking for privacy on your iPhone then read on.
iMessage: There is a setting in iMessage (Settings > Messages > Send & Receive) that allows you to set up your device to send and receive messages as any member of your iTunes family account. For example I can set up my iMessage to allow me to send and receive as my wife or son by simply selecting them from the list. They will get a splash screen message notifying them of the change which can be dismissed without even unlocking the phone. I found out about this because after an update about two years ago my wife and I started receiving each other's iMessages.
iCloud: There are some options (Settings > Photos & Camera) called iCloud Photo Library, My Photo Stream, and iCloud Photo Sharing. Each of these has the potential to automatically send a copy of any image you take or add to your photo library and send it to your other devices for you. In this case "other devices" are my wife's phone and my son's iPad. I strongly suggest that the three options listed above are turned off.
Automatically Download Apps: Another awesome feature available to iPhone users is automatically download apps (Settings > iTunes & App Store). Any time I download an app from the app store I can automatically have it downloaded on all my other devices. So... say I were to download the Ashley Madison app, it would automatically appear on the other devices on my account that also have this feature enabled. How fun is that?
Siri App Suggestions: Siri, which I personally think is worthless anyway, will make app suggestions for you based upon the time of day and how much time you spend in that app. The terrible part of this is that anyone can take your iPhone, swipe from left to right and see what apps you use the most without entering your pass code! So, if you spend two hours a day in Tinder, then that app will be on the list. To disable this go to Settings > General > Spotlight Search and toggle off Siri Suggestions. If that does not work, from your iPhone lock screen, swipe left to right, when the widget screen appears scroll down to the bottom of the screen, touch Edit, enter your passcode, find Siri App Suggestions, touch the red circle to the left of the app icon, touch Remove.
Location Services: If you use Find iPhone you probably have Location Services turned on (Settings > Privacy > Location Services). If you do not have this set correctly others on your iTunes account can see where you are on a map at any given time. You need to change your settings in Share My Location, turning off the option and limiting in your family who can see your location. The option explains all this once you are in there.
Call Log: I still have not figured this one out. About six months ago my phone call log started appearing on my wife's phone mixed in with her phone call log, and vice versa. I have googled it and tried a few fixes but it's still doing it. I'll figure it out sooner or later.
If anyone knows of anything else please feel free to add it to the list.
