Some iPhone users suspect Instagram activates camera in background, company claims it's a bug
Casually browsing Instagram when suddenly the new iOS 14 camera/microphone indicator comes on. Then control panel ratted out the app behind it. This is going to change things. #iOS14 pic.twitter.com/EnTIRsqq3R
— KevDoy (@KevDoy) July 17, 2020
In short, Instagram says that the camera is only accessed on the user’s command and insists that the recently reported behavior is a bug that is being fixed in the iOS 14 beta. The bug is causing the app to mistakenly show that the camera is being used when it isn’t.
We only access your camera when you tell us to — for example, when you swipe from Feed to Camera. We found and are fixing a bug in iOS 14 Beta that mistakenly indicates that some people are using the camera when they aren’t. We do not access your camera in those instances, and no content is recorded.
While Instagram is working on a fix, you might want to revoke its camera access to be on the safe side.
iOS 14 beta exposing apps since its roll out
While sometimes there are genuine reasons why an app requires clipboard access, it’s not always needed. Like Instagram, Reddit and LinkedIn both said they weren’t snooping around and a bug is what caused the behavior.