The feature can be manually enabled by users who have installed the iOS 15.2 update.
App Privacy Report was one of the most powerful privacy features revealed by Apple when it announced the iOS 15 update in June during the company's WWDC 2021 event. The feature allows users to keep an eye on apps accessing their data on their iPhone, such as their camera, microphone, contacts or their location. When Apple released iOS 15 in September, it did not include a way for users to check the privacy report — this was finally included in the iOS 15.2 update that landed on December 13. Users can now easily monitor which apps are constantly accessing their information and deny permissions to those apps, while also keeping track of which URLs apps are connecting to all day.
If you have an iPhone 6s or newer smartphone and have updated to iOS 15.2, you will now be able to quickly check and stop apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tinder, that could be polling your location or accessing your camera roll. It is worth noting that the feature is disabled by default, so users will have to manually switch it on before it can provide any information.
Here's how you can quickly enable and use your App Privacy Report on iOS 15.2:
- Tap on the Settings icon and go to Privacy.
- Scroll down and tap App Privacy Report
- To enable the feature, tap on Turn On App Privacy Report.
- Check back after a few minutes to see the list of apps included in the report.
The App Privacy Report feature on iOS 15 gives users an easy way to check permission usage, network activity, website network activity, and also the most frequently contacted domains on the smartphone. After turning this information on, here's how you can understand the information: