How To Check If Your IPhone Is Being Tapped

Hackers are getting savvier by the minute, which makes keeping your devices and the personal information they contain safe all the more challenging. Stalkerware can be installed on a device within minutes and run in the background with you being none the wiser. Once installed, stalkerware can monitor everything you do on your phone, even where you are at any given time. It’s like the modern-day version of the wiretap you see in movies and on TV.

Thankfully, Apple has a good reputation for safety and security, so it’s tough to break into the device remotely. But if someone were to get a hold of your device, even for a minute, they could install a malicious app. There are ways to double-check and make sure that your iPhone isn’t being tapped.

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Run a Safety Check

If you have one of the latest iPhones and you’re running iOS 17, or at least iOS 16 and an Apple ID with two-factor authentication, performing a Safety Check on the device is the most comprehensive method you can use. In fact, Safety Check is one of the features every new iPhone owner should be using. As the name implies, this feature performs a quick check of a number of settings, some of which are included on this list individually, but through a guided method.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll down and select Privacy & Security.
3. Select Safety Check.
4. Here, you can Manage Sharing & Access with different people and apps and verify what you’re currently sharing with whom and what apps. Select this option.

5. Use Face ID or enter your passcode, and then tap Continue.
6. Wait for the list to load to see what information you’re sharing with which people. This might take up to a minute. You can select Skip to move to the next step, review one by one, or Select All & Stop Sharing.
7. Once you get to the Step 1 complete screen, select Continue to move on to Step 2.
8. Step 2 is App Access. Select the apps you no longer want to permit access to your information. You can select the “i” information icon beside each if you want to see specifically what is being shared with that app. You can choose to stop sharing or delete the app altogether. You can also choose to Select All & Stop Accessa good security move if you suspect the device has been compromised by an app and you’re not sure which.

9. Once Step 2 is complete, select Continue.
10. In Step 3, you can review the devices that are connected to your Apple ID. Read the explanation and tap Continue.
11. Run down the list and remove any devices you don’t recognize or that you no longer want to share information with. Select each one and then either select Remove Selected Devices or tap Skip.

12. From here, you can Update Apple ID Password if desired, or select Update Later in Settings.
13. You’re then prompted to verify the emergency contract you have set up. This is the person notified if you use Emergency SOS. You can change the existing name (if there is one), update details like their phone number, or even add another emergency contact.
14. Once done, select Continue.
15. From here, you can Update Passcode to ensure that someone who might have gotten wind of your four-digit passcode can no longer get into your device. If you don’t want to do this right now, select Update Later in Settings.
16. The next option is iCloud Private Relay. You can turn this on to protect your location and browsing history. If you don’t want to do this right now, select Skip.
17. You’ll see the message Safety Check Complete with all changes you made saved. Select Done.
18. You can go back to the Safety Check page and also perform an Emergency Reset on the phone if you feel this is necessary.

Check the Device Management profile

You can check the list of device management profiles to make sure there isn’t one there that you didn’t add yourself:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll down and select General.
3. Go to VPN and Device Management.
4. If you see a profile here that you did not add, this could be stalkerware. You can try to remove it, but if a passcode is required, which is likely, you might have to back up your iPhone, reset it to the factory settings, and reload everything again to clear this out. In the case of my phone in this screenshot, there is a VPN that I do in fact subscribe to, but nothing else looks amiss.

Search through your apps

If you have a ton of apps on your device, someone might be brazen enough to add an app and then keep it hidden from view, hoping you’ll never find it.

1. Swipe left on your Home screen all the way to the end until you get to the App Library.
2. Tap the Search Bar. An alphabetical list of all the installed apps appears, even hidden ones.
3. Scroll through this list to make sure there’s nothing unrecognizable. If you come across an app you aren’t sure about (maybe an old one you downloaded and forgot about), run a Google search to check what it is. If it’s something you don’t use anymore, now is a good time to uninstall this app from your iPhone.

Use Find My app

A simple way someone can track your location is to use your Find My app. You can make sure that someone isn’t stalking you from that.

Confirm Family Sharing

Another way someone can tap into your phone and get access to your information is to set up Family Sharing without your knowledge.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select your name and the accompanying image at the top.
3. Select Family Sharing.
4. If it’s not set up, you will be prompted with the setup page. If it is and there’s a list of people (maybe your own family members you do legitimately have a Family Sharing account with), make sure there’s no one there who shouldn’t be.

Look at Apple devices on your account list

You can also make sure that there are no Apple devices connected to your account that aren’t yours (or members of your family). This step is also included within the Safety Check.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select your name and image at the top.
3. Scroll down and review the list of registered devices.
4. You might see some of your own old devices you never removed. If anything looks out of place, select it and choose Remove from Account.

Double-check app privacy

It’s possible an app could be tracking details like your live location or even accessing things like your phone’s camera or microphone, and you don’t even realize it. You can verify that this isn’t the case by running through your App Privacy Report. This step is also included within the Safety Check.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll down and select Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll to the bottom and select App Privacy Report.
4. If this is not enabled, select Turn On App Privacy Report.
5. You’ll see a screen appear with an overview of the apps on your phone and what permission each has, as well as their network activity. Scan this for anything unexpected and adjust the settings or delete the app outright if anything is out of sorts.

Enable Lockdown Mode

If you have particularly sensitive information on your phone, if you’re entering an area you think could be risky, or if you suspect your phone is being tapped and you want to urgently address this, you can use Apple’s Lockdown Mode. This feature is available with the newest iPhones that are running iOS 16 or later.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll all the way down and select Lockdown Mode.
4. Select Turn on Lockdown Mode.
5. You’ll see a pop-up advising what happens in Lockdown Mode. Scroll down and select Turn On Lockdown Mode once again.
6. A pop-up appears again, prompting you to Turn On & Restart.
7. Once activated, this mode will block most message attachments, certain websites, incoming FaceTime calls, and invitations for Apple devices, and it will remove location information when you share photos. The phone also won’t connect to any accessory or computer unless it’s unlocked, and it won’t automatically join Wi-Fi networks that aren’t secure. You also won’t be able to install configuration profiles.

Legitimate types of stalkerware

It’s important to note that not all stalkerware is illegitimate. There are some reasons why it might legitimately be on your phone. If you have a company-owned phone, for example, it might have been loaded with software to monitor your use. This might be to make sure you aren’t using the work phone outside of office hours or in places where you shouldn’t be. The company will likely disclose this before handing the phone over to you.

Some parents might purposely install such software on their kids’ phones so that they can monitor what the kids do and where they are. This may be deemed essential for safety and security reasons, and to make sure that kids don’t access content they shouldn’t.

You might also install it on your own device. Such software can help you track the phone if it ever gets lost or stolen.

Potential signs to watch for

It’s worth taking note of some potential signs that stalkerware is installed on your phone. The battery might drain much faster than usual with no known battery issues nor any other reasons to which you can attribute this. You might also notice on your monthly bill that your phone is using much more data than usual, even though you haven’t changed your habits. If anything seems amiss, run through these checks to at least rule them out.

The last resort

As a last resort, you may decide to perform a full factory reset of the device, which will remove any stalkerware that might be installed. Make sure to back up your iPhone first, although it’s a good idea to remove apps you no longer need and clean out the phone from things like duplicate photos and downloaded content before running a backup. When you reload everything onto the phone, you’ll get a much cleaner experience this way.

How to prevent your iPhone from being tapped

The best defense for keeping nefarious stalkerware away from your phone in the first place is to never hand it to anyone. All it takes is a single minute, and you might not even realize it’s happening. Instead of asking a random person in a restaurant to take your group photo, for example, use a flexible tripod or a device like an Apple Watch as a remote shutter. If someone you don’t know or trust asks to se e something on your phone, show them the screen while you hold onto the device. The more caution you take, the better protected you’ll be.

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