Worried someone is snooping on your iPhone? Here’s how to record evidence
Safety Check for iPhone lets you quickly stop sharing your information or review and update sharing with people and apps. It’s among several safety features introduced with iOS 16, which you can read about here.
You’ll want evidence if you’ve experienced harmful or suspicious activity on your phone and must report it. Screenshots can help, but that might not always be enough. Here’s how to record what’s happening on your screen.
Check your exposure
When it comes to smartphones, your privacy and security are always at risk. You have a device with a constant internet connection that opens you up to spam, scams, malware and more.
There’s also potential for abuse. People with your contact information can contact you anytime and even track your location.
Suppose you notice suspicious activity, such as pop-ups, apps you don’t remember installing, mysterious messages or strange login screens. In that case, you’ll want to capture the footage if you are scammed and need evidence for authorities. This can help catch the crooks and get your money back.
The same goes for threatening or scary messages. Whether it’s a current or former partner, someone you met online, a coworker or anyone making you uncomfortable, recording what they’re saying is a good idea.
If it becomes a situation that needs to be escalated to the police or a courtroom, that evidence can be invaluable.
Another time recording your screen is valuable is if you see a notification that someone is attempting to use your Apple ID to sign in on a new device. Record the screen to catch them in the act!
Is someone snooping on you? The clues aren’t always so clear. Here’s how to tell if someone is reading or getting a copy of your text messages.
You can generally record anything on your screen and save the footage to your phone. NOTE: Some apps don’t allow screen recording. Also, some messaging apps will let people know that you activated screen recording.
Your iPhone has a built-in screen recorder, so you don’t have to rely on third-party apps. Here’s how it works.
How to record your iPhone screen
First, you’ll want to add Screen Recording to your Control Center by going to Settings > Control Center, then tapping the green Add button next to Screen Recording.
Now you can swipe down and record whenever you want:
- Open Control Center by swiping down from the top-right of your screen.
- Tap the gray Record button (it looks like a circle within a circle) and exit the Control center by swiping up.
- There’s a three-second countdown before your screen recording starts.
- To stop recording, open Control Center and tap the red Record button or the red status bar at the top of your screen, then tap the Stop button.
- Your screen recording is saved in the Photos app, where you can share or edit it as you would with any video or photo.
If you only need screenshots, you can play your screen recording and snap screenshots as you always do by simultaneously pressing and releasing the side button and volume up button.
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Tags: Apple, Apple iPhone, apps, contact information, Control Center, evidence, internet, malware, messaging apps, photos app, privacy, safety, Safety Check, scams, screen recording, screenshots, security, settings, snooping, spy