Your iPhone now gives you lots of transparency into what your downloads are up to. Here's what to look out for.
The data and sensor breakdown at the top shows how many times your apps access sensitive data and sensors—like your camera, microphone, and location—and when they used that access. It's understandable that your map or weather app has been accessing your location, but if you're surprised to find a music app checking where you are, you might opt to revoke permission. Similarly, a calculator probably shouldn't be accessing your microphone.
“The data I’m seeing so far is all just what website domains apps are communicating with, which is of somewhat limited value for the average consumer who wouldn’t know what domains to be concerned about,” says Thomas Reed, director of Mac and mobile platforms at the security firm Malwarebytes. “I personally will be interested to see if any of my apps are communicating with sketchy domains.”
The next section lists “Website Network Activity,” which does the same thing but for sites loaded through in-app browsers, or mobile browsers like Safari and Chrome. For example, if you visit “wired.com” the report will show you which domains it contacted, like “fastly.net” and “googlesyndication.com.” You also get a breakdown of which apps loaded these sites. You might expect to see "wired.
Zinkus notes that the report includes a “share” function so you can export the data for more analysis if you so choose. He emphasizes that for the average user, the data and sensor breakdown at the top of the report is probably the easiest and most important to keep an eye on.