Engadget lists iPhone settings many people skip. A few minutes in Settings can stop a thief or a nosy friend from reaching your messages, money apps and location.
Your iPhone already has strong security, but some of the best protections are not fully switched on out of the box. Engadget walked through five settings worth changing. The biggest surprise: by default, anyone can open Control Center or use Siri on your locked phone, no passcode needed.
The Lock Screen is the first thing anyone sees. Without your passcode, a person could still open Control Center and switch on airplane mode, which makes a lost phone harder to find. Notifications can also show message text to anyone who glances at the screen. Apple lets you hide that content until you unlock with Face ID or Touch ID, and the features you turn off return as soon as you unlock the phone.
A phone in someone else's hands is another weak spot. Engadget describes a scam where a stranger asks to borrow your phone for an emergency call, then quickly uses a payment app such as Venmo to take your money. You can lock single apps behind Face ID or Touch ID, so they ask every time, even on an unlocked phone. Since iOS 18, you can also hide an app. Hidden apps send no notifications or calls, so skip that for apps where you need alerts.
Many people also tap Allow on app permission pop-ups without thinking. A tool called Safety Check lets you review who can see your location and which apps reach your sensitive information. Each permission can be removed with one tap.
Tracking and ads are the lower-risk items. Since iOS 14.5, apps must ask before tracking you, and you can deny all those requests at once. That does not stop all data collection, but it reduces it. Apple also runs its own ads in the App Store, Apple News, Stocks and Apple Maps. Apple does not share that data with third parties. Turning off personalized ads only makes those ads less targeted.
The alert box above lists the exact taps for the most important changes. If you only have a few minutes, start with notification previews, Control Center on the Lock Screen, Safety Check and locking your payment and messaging apps.
The text available for this story cuts off before the fifth tip. It begins by saying criminals have figured out a trick, but the details are not included, so they are not covered here. The article also mentions Lockdown Mode, Find My and Safari privacy controls as helpful, without steps in the material provided. Check Apple's own guidance before changing those.
Spend a few minutes in Settings to hide previews, turn off Lock Screen Control Center, run Safety Check and lock your payment apps with Face ID.
The Attala County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi says scam calls are reaching residents, and a call that sounds official may not be.
Read more: Mississippi sheriff warns residents about scam phone callsScammers are posing as Texas sheriff's officers and claiming you missed jury duty. Caller ID can show a real police number even when the call is fake.
Read more: Fake jury duty calls spoof a real Texas sheriff's phone numberFake PayPal emails and texts, some posing as a security report, try to get you to tap a link and type your login. Checking your account directly avoids the trap.
Read more: Got a fake PayPal message? Skip its link and check your account yourself
