iPhone owners are just realizing purple arrow means your location was ‘monitored’ recently – find out who’s watching

IPHONE users just learned what the arrow indicator on their devices means.

If you’ve ever wondered what that strange arrow at the top of your iPhone means, you’re not alone.

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It is actually a very common symbol, but its meaning may not be obvious.

There are several arrow indicators that can appear at the top of your iPhone’s screen.

For example, you may see a gray, black, or blue arrow – and when you search in the Settings app, a purple arrow may appear.

They all have something in common: your location data.

If you see one of these arrows, it means an app or website is trying to use, is using, or has used your location.

Below we explain what exactly each indicator means.

DIFFERENT COLORS MEANING

You may see a blue arrow when the app you are using requests your location.

A gray or black arrow means an app or website uses location services.

Location services allow an app or website to use your location with your consent that you have given in the past.

You may also see purple arrows – but these will not appear in your status bar.

Instead, they appear in your location services, which you can access through Settings > Privacy.

Here you can see the apps that have or have asked for permission to use your location.

You can change the permissions for any of the apps in this list at any time.

If you see a hollowed-out purple arrow next to an item on this list, it means an app or service is allowed to use your location “under certain conditions,” Apple says.

If the purple arrow is solid, it means the item recently used your location.

A completely gray arrow means the item used your location within the last 24 hours.

You may want to check this list periodically to make sure apps aren’t misusing your location.

If you think a location request doesn’t make sense, you can reject it at any time.