How to See When Apps Access Your Camera and Microphone on Android

Privacy is a big topic when it comes to mobile devices. iPhones and iPads show little orange and green indicator icons when apps access the device’s camera or microphone. Here’s an Android app that can do the same. Like the LED light on a webcam, the iPhone and iPad show colored dots in the status bar when an app is accessing the camera or microphone. Android shows when apps are accessing your location, but it lacks these indicators.

The app we’ll be using to bring this functionality over to Android is called “Access Dots.” It mimics the colored dots that are present on iPhone and iPad. The app is easy to set up and gives you more information about what apps are doing in the background.

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How to Turn Off Fake Eye Contact in FaceTime on iPhone

On an iPhone XS or later running iOS 14 or higher, FaceTime digitally modifies your video feed so your eyes are always looking into the camera—even when they’re not. If you find the idea of digitally altered eyeballs unsettling, this feature is easy to turn off. Here’s how.

First, open “Settings” on your iPhone.

Tap the "Settings" icon on iPhone

In “Settings,” tap “FaceTime.”

In iPhone settings, tap "FaceTime."

In “FaceTime” settings, flip the switch beside “Eye Contact” to turn it off. This disables the fake “natural eye contact” feature.

In FaceTime settings, tap the "Eye Contact" switch to turn it off.

You can now leave the “Settings” app. The next time you use FaceTime, your pupils will be exactly where you’d expect them to be.

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How to Drive With Santa and Enable a Christmas Theme in Waze

If you find yourself navigating with your phone this Holiday season, why not jazz it up with a little Christmas spirit and drive with Santa? The Waze app has a number of Santa-themed options that are available for a limited time.

If you’re unfamiliar with Waze, think of it as Google Maps with community input and rewards. People can report traffic incidents to alert other drivers, and other fun things can be unlocked. The “Drive with Santa” features are just a small taste.

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How to Change Emoji Reactions in Instagram DMs

In Instagram Direct Message, you can double-tap a message to send a heart, and you can press and hold a message to see emoji reactions. Want to customize this? Here’s how to change emoji reactions in Instagram DM. The ability to customize emoji reactions is part of Facebook’s cross-platform messaging feature in Instagram. This update lets you message your Facebook friends from Instagram and brings some Messenger features to Instagram.

If you haven’t updated already, you can do so from Instagram’s Settings menu. From your Instagram profile, tap the hamburger menu button in the top-right corner, and choose the “Settings” option. Here, tap the “Update Messaging” option.

Tap Update Messaging

From the next screen, tap the “Update” button.

Tap Update

Now, the Instagram DM icon at the top-right corner of the app will change to a Messenger icon. Once you have updated, you can customize emoji reactions from any Instagram conversation.

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