What are the green and orange dots on CarPlay after iOS 14 update?

Its main highlight, of course, is the addition of wallpaper support, a feature that users have been drooling after for many years already. Moreover, CarPlay in iOS 14 also includes support for new app categories, such as gadgets targeting electric cars.

But in addition to all of that, CarPlay also takes advantage of the additional privacy improvements available on iPhones as well.

Among them, there is a new batch of colored dots that appear on the screen, both on iPhone and CarPlay.

More specifically, Apple has introduced new privacy indicators that display in the upper-right corner on iPhone and in the app bar on CarPlay to notify users about specific features.

For example, an orange dot on the screen indicates that an app is using the microphone. Theoretically, the microphone could be activated by applications that require voice input, such as a navigation tool or a phone app, so if you see this orange dot without actively running something that requires such hardware, you need to check what happens.

The same for the green dot, which indicates that the camera is in use by an app. Needless to say, the green dot rarely appears on CarPlay, but again, if the camera is activated without running a dedicated app that uses it, then nothing might be right.

These indicators are intended to notify you when some features of your devices are used without your consent. In CarPlay, the orange dot is the one you should see often since audio input is crucial behind the wheel, but nonetheless, be sure to recheck your apps if they pop up without apparent reason.