How to secure your iPad or iPhone app permissions

According to Apple’s privacy posture, what happens on an iPhone is supposed to remain on an iPhone. While it’s true that Apple’s mobile devices collect less data than their Android counterparts, iOS still collects a significant amount of user data. Throw third-party apps into the mix, and you’ll quickly find that your iPhone isn’t as impermeable as Apple’s marketing would have you believe.

Apple tends to limit its own data collection to some degree (though, again, it still collects a significant amount of user data). Third-party apps, however, don’t have the same level of restraint when it comes to data collection.

Thankfully, there’s a way for you to limit first-party (Apple) and third-party apps through iOS’ app permission settings.

In this post, we go through all of iOS’ app permissions settings that help you make your iPhone or iPad more private and secure.

iOS app permissions

When you first install and launch an iOS app, you are typically asked (via pop-ups) if the app can access the various device permissions it needs — or wants — to access. For example, when launching the Waze map app, you’ll get a pop-up requesting access to your location while you’re using the app. You’ll also get requests for access to your contacts, motion, and fitness activity.

While you can manage your apps’ permissions through the pop-ups, there are also dedicated settings pages in iOS that allow you to do this more deliberately. There are specific permissions that an iOS app (any app, whether from Apple or a third-party developer) can request, which you can allow or deny.

They’re all found in Settings > Privacy & Security.

The Privacy & Security displays app permissions in three sections. The first section lists Location Services and Tracking. The former is self-explanatory; we’ll look at it in more detail below. The latter (Tracking) refers to an app’s ability to track you across the internet and on other apps.

The second section lists apps and data types to which other apps can request access.

The third section lists various device functionalities for which apps can request access. That includes features such as the device’s camera, microphone, and Bluetooth, among others.

You should, of course, disable any unneeded permissions for all of your apps. Here’s how you do that.

Setting iOS-level app permissions

Location Services

1. From the Privacy & Security page, select Location Services at the top. The Location Services page is displayed.
2. Select the app for which you want to adjust the Location Services permissions. In this example, I will select Apple Maps.
3. The Location Services permissions for Apple Maps are displayed. Make your selection. Your options are: Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share

• While Using the App
• While Using the App Or Widgets

Turning off location services completely

You also have the option to disable Location Services altogether. Remember that some apps’ functionality may depend on access to your device’s location services (GPS).

1. From the Privacy & Security page, turn the Location Services toggle to the Off position.
2. You then need to scroll to the bottom of the Location Services page to select System Services. The System Services page is displayed.
3. Even after disabling Location Services, they remain active for certain system services, like searching for cellular towers and emergency calls, among other things. To fully disable Location Services on your iOS device, set all the toggles under System Services to Off, except the Status Bar Icon toggle. The Location Services icon will be displayed in your status bar if any app uses location services.

Tracking

With the release of iOS 14 in 2021, Apple introduced a new privacy control that allows users to opt out of apps tracking them across other apps and websites. In Apple’s words, this is what the feature does:

“Allow apps to ask to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites. When this is off, all new app tracking requests are automatically denied.”

You’ll see a pop-up message if enabled when a new app requests permission to track you.

To turn off Tracking:

1. From the Privacy & Security page, select Tracking. The Tracking page is displayed.
2. Set the toggle to the Off position.

Apps and data types

To set permissions for apps’ access to your device’s core apps and data types:

1. From the Privacy & Security page, scroll to the Apps and Data Types section of the page.
2. Select the app for which you want to adjust the permissions. In this example, I’ll select the Photos app.
3. The Photos Permissions page is displayed. It lists the apps that have requested access to your device’s photos.
4. Select the app for which you want to adjust the permissions. Make your selection from the available options:

• None
• Limited Access
• Full Access

NOTE: Different access permissions will provide you with different options.

Device functionality

To set permissions for apps’ access to your device’s functionality apps and data types:

1. From the Privacy & Security page, scroll to the Device Functionality section of the page.
2. Select the functionality for which you want to adjust the permissions. In this example, I’ll select Bluetooth. The Bluetooth Permissions page is displayed.
3. Set the toggle to the Off position for any app you don’t want to grant bluetooth access.

Setting permissions in the app’s settings

What we explained above is how to set app permissions at the OS level. However, each app you install on your iDevice also has a dedicated settings page where you can set permissions. Some of the permissions will be duplicates.

To set permissions in an app’s settings page:

1. From the Settings app’s main page, scroll down all the way to the bottom and select Apps.
2. The Apps page is displayed, and it lists all your installed apps (first and third-party). Scroll to the app for which you want to adjust the permissions. In this example, I’ll select the Brave browser app.
3. The Settings page for the selected app is displayed and you can adjust its granted permissions.

Opting out of sharing analytics data with Apple

Despite its stance on user privacy, Apple nonetheless collects analytical data from your device to help it “improve its products and services.” Thanks to its stance on user privacy, Apple disables the sharing of analytical information by default. You can still check to make sure. Alternatively, you may have previously opted into analytics sharing and now wish to opt out. Here’s how.

1. From the main Settings page, select Privacy & Security.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select Apple Analytics & Improvements. The Analytics & Improvements page is displayed.
3. Five data types are listed. Set all of the toggles to the Off position.
4. If you enable Share iPhone Analytics, new data types appear, so you can granularly select what you share and what you keep private.
5. If you don’t want Apple to receive analytical data or share it with third parties automatically, simply switch all toggles to the off position.

Limiting ad targeting in iOS app permissions

While it would be nice to have the ability to opt out of ads altogether, that’s not something you can do on your iPhone or iPad. You can turn off personalized ads. Personalized ads are presented to you based on your online behavior, which requires more personal data than non-personalized ads.

Turning off personalized ads won’t make you see fewer ads; instead, the ads won’t be displayed based on insights gleaned from your browsing habits. In Apple’s own words:

“Turning off personalized ads will limit Apple’s ability to deliver relevant ads to you but will not reduce the number of ads you receive.”

To turn off personalized ads on your iOS device:

1. From the main Settings page, select Privacy & Security.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select Apple Advertising. The Apple Advertising page is displayed.
3. Set the Personalized Ads toggle to the Off position.

NOTE: You can view the collected ad targeting information by clicking View Ad Targeting Information.

How to adjust privacy and security settings in Safari

Web browsers take the crown in the category of “apps with the most potential to compromise your privacy.” If you don’t tighten your browser’s privacy and security settings, you’re likely leaking all sorts of data.

We’ll now guide you through several settings you can configure to make mobile Safari more private and secure.

Search engine

One of the most basic things you can do to improve Safari’s privacy is to change the default search engine from Google to DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo is a search engine that doesn’t track your requests to build user profiles.

1. From the main Settings page, scroll all the way to the bottom and select Apps.
2. Scroll down to the “S” section of the app list (they’re sorted alphabetically) and select Safari.
3. From the Safari Settings page, select Search Engine and choose DuckDuckGo. You can also disable Search Engine Suggestions, Safari Suggestions, and Show Recent Searches if you like.

Disabling AutoFill

Safari has a convenience feature that can autofill your contact and payment information for you on relevant web pages. If you want to make Safari as private as possible, you’ll want to disable these settings to avoid your personal information being automatically populated in web forms without your intervention.

By default, only the contact information should be enabled. However, if you previously enabled it for payment information, you’ll also want to disable that.

1. From the main Settings page, scroll all the way to the bottom and select Apps.
2. Scroll down to the “S” section of the app list (they’re sorted alphabetically) and select Safari.
3. From the Safari Settings page, select AutoFill. The AutoFill page is displayed.
4. Set the Use Contact Info and Credit Card toggles to the Off position.

Privacy & security settings

Lower down on the Safari Settings page are the app’s explicit Privacy & Security settings, which include features such as preventing cross-site tracking, hiding your IP address from trackers, and displaying security warnings.

1. From the main Settings page, scroll all the way to the bottom and select Apps.
2. Scroll down to the “S” section of the app list (they’re sorted alphabetically) and select Safari.
3. Scroll down to the Privacy & Security section of the Settings page.
4. Set the Prevent Cross-Site Tracking toggle to the On position and set the Hide IP Address to From Trackers. While disabled in the above screenshot, you can also enable Fraudulent Website Warning and Not Secure Connection Warning. When enabled, Safari will display an alert if you try to access a suspected fraudulent site or attempt to connect to a site or service over HTTP rather than HTTPS. While these features imply limited data collection, I wouldn’t consider them a serious privacy concern. But if you’re a purist (and you know what you’re doing online), you can disable them for maximum privacy.

Safari settings for websites

Safari has dedicated settings for websites that request access to certain functionality, like the camera and microphone, and certain information, like your location. You can determine how Safari handles these requests from websites by choosing between the following:

• Ask
• Deny
• Allow

These are pretty self-explanatory. For maximum privacy, you’ll want to set these to Deny.

1. From the main Settings page, scroll all the way to the bottom and select Apps.
2. Scroll down to the “S” section of the app list (they’re sorted alphabetically) and select Safari. Scroll down to the Settings For Websites section.
3. Select Camera, Microphone, and Location and choose Deny.

Safari’s advanced privacy and security settings

Safari has some important privacy and security settings (cookies and tracking protection) hidden away in the Advanced page of its Settings.

1. From the main Settings page, scroll all the way to the bottom and select Apps.
2. Scroll down to the “S” section of the app list (they’re sorted alphabetically) and select Safari.
3. Scroll all the way to the bottom and select Advanced. Safari’s Advanced Settings page is displayed.
4. Set Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection to All Browsing. You can also set the Block All Cookies toggle to the On position to maximize your privacy. But remember that this will preclude you from logging into any sites and services. Set the Privacy Preserving Ad Measurement toggle to the Off position (there’s no such thing as privacy-preserving data collection or unicorns).

Wrapping up on iOS app permissions

So, that was a pretty deep dive into iOS’ privacy and security settings. There are quite a few of them, and they’re scattered across the OS. Hopefully, this guide will make sorting them out and setting them up easier and enable more people to actually dig in and customize their iDevice’s privacy and security settings.

If you follow the advice in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to enjoying a more private and secure online experience.

As always, stay safe (and private).

Other iOS articles:

• iOS malware statistics
• The best VPNs for iPhone and iOS
• How to check for viruses on iOS
• How to change location on iPhone
• Android vs iPhone security