{"id":4720,"date":"2020-04-10T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4720"},"modified":"2020-04-08T11:32:14","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T15:32:14","slug":"how-do-i-turn-off-the-microphone-on-my-android","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/10\/how-do-i-turn-off-the-microphone-on-my-android\/","title":{"rendered":"“How do I turn off the microphone on my Android?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Answer requested by Brandon Dotson)<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s no master “off” switch. But there an often-overlooked, semi-stand-alone applet within Android’s Settings that comes close: Permissions Manager<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the app-by-app Permissions settings you may have already seen and used in Settings\/Apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Android’s Permissions Manager sorts all your apps at once by permission-type<\/em><\/strong>, letting you see, at a glance, every app that has been granted that permission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, you can use Permissions Manager to show you every app that has permission to use your phone’s microphone (or any other permission-controlled feature — camera, phone, contacts, location, sensors, calendar, SMS, and storage).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Here, Permissions Manager is showing me
all the apps on my phone that have Microphone access.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you see an app on the list that shouldn’t have that permission, you can click to open the offending item, and with one more click, rescind permission: That app will no longer be able to (say) use the mic — or access your contacts, or send texts, or employ whatever permission you’ve withdrawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different versions of Android may put Permissions Manager in slightly different places and with slightly different names, but in most recent versions, simply typing the phrase permissions manager<\/em> into the Android Setting’s search box will get you there, or close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have trouble, see Google’s Help page, “Control your app permissions on Android 6.0 and up<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4720<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Answer requested by Brandon Dotson) There’s no master “off” switch. But there an often-overlooked, semi-stand-alone applet within Android’s Settings that comes close: Permissions Manager. This is not the app-by-app Permissions settings you may have already seen and used in Settings\/Apps. Android’s Permissions Manager sorts all your apps at once by permission-type, letting you see, at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware","category-smartphones"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-1e8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1837,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/04\/managing-pre-win10-file-ownership-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":4720,"position":0},"title":"Managing pre-Win10 File ‘Permissions’ Issues","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-02-04","format":false,"excerpt":"Older Windows Secrets\/LangaList columns are in the process of being moved to their new home at AskWoody.com, and may not yet be publicly available. In the interim, I'm reprinting selected columns here to help ensure readers can find and access information I'm referencing in new columns. The column below was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Long Form"","block_context":{"text":"Long Form","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/long-form\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/1837-5.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4060,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/14\/is-it-true-that-my-phone-is-listening-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":4720,"position":1},"title":"“Is it true that my phone is listening to me?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-01-14","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Jason Zimmer) Yup, almost surely, especially if you have any voice-enabled assistant or controls installed and enabled. Those services and features are designed to at least minimally listen all the time so that they can hear and can respond whenever you happen to say \u201cSiri\/Google\/Bixby\/Alexa\/Cortana\/whatever\u201d or whatever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/phone-ear-listening.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/phone-ear-listening.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/phone-ear-listening.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/phone-ear-listening.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2066,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/11\/activate-windows-hidden-master-admin-account\/","url_meta":{"origin":4720,"position":2},"title":"Activate Windows\u2019 hidden, master admin account\ufeff","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-03-11","format":false,"excerpt":"The column below was originally published in the May 14, 2015 , Windows Secrets newsletter. Today, it supplements a new column, scheduled for the March 11, 2019\u00a0AskWoody Plus Newsletter, focused on what to do if an error causes you to lose all admin privileges on your own PC. 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Perhaps they're periodically waking themselves to go online for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/power-usage-by-app_Device-care.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1012,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/13\/interesting-site-freelivetranscript\/","url_meta":{"origin":4720,"position":4},"title":"Interesting site: FreeLiveTranscript","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-13","format":false,"excerpt":"FreeLiveTranscript.com is an open-sourced, browser-based, speech-to-text application that creates \"live transcripts of speech on the web, that can be displayed (and edited) in real-time on a big screen, or watched on anybody's personal device.\" It's not really meant for personal speech-to-text\/dictation --- you can use it for that, but there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interesting Site"","block_context":{"text":"Interesting Site","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/interesting-site\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/freelivetranscript.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/freelivetranscript.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/freelivetranscript.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/freelivetranscript.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4047,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/09\/how-do-you-bulk-delete-bluetooth-connections-you-no-longer-use-on-your-android-phone\/","url_meta":{"origin":4720,"position":5},"title":"“How do you bulk delete Bluetooth connections you no longer use on your Android phone?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-01-09","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Jack Miller) One easy way is to use Android's built-in Reset network settings function: Open Settings; search for \"reset\" and select Reset network settings when it's offered. 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