The Apple Safari browser on iPhone and iPad offers the option to customize the camera and microphone access permissions to the sites. You can completely block access to these sensitive services for all sites. However, you can also enable the permission request to ask whether the camera and microphone access should be granted.
There have been multiple reports and new outbreaks of privacy invasion by apps and significant internet giants. One way to protect privacy and avoid data theft is by blocking all the permissions within the phone that you think are irrelevant to any website.
The Safari browser offers a feature to enable or disable basic features and permissions like sound, camera, microphone, storage, etc. Hence, it’s entirely in our control whether to allow or block the permissions for specific settings.
Since I am always skeptical about privacy, I like taking precautions beforehand. I have blocked camera access and audio permissions in advance to avoid any privacy theft. Hence, these features help users to maintain their privacy without hampering their uses.
Though some website genuinely needs access, like Google Voice Search, need microphone access. But as I mentioned, it is up to you whether you want to use this extra feature from the Safari browser.
Block Camera Permission
You can easily block permissions for camera access requested from the website on the Safari browser for iOS or iPadOS. Here are the steps to block:
- Open the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad.
- Scroll down and choose Safari from Settings.
- From Safari Settings, tap on the Camera option.
- Choose the option Deny to block all the websites requesting the camera permission.
This will completely block the safari camera’s access to any website and will not allow even the permission to ask whether to allow or block the same. This will have minimal impact on the website usage based on your use.
Block Microphone Permission
You can similarly block permission for microphone access requested from the website on the Safari browser for iOS or iPadOS.
Here are the steps to block microphone access:
- Open the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad.
- Scroll down and choose Safari from the Settings page.
- From Safari Settings, tap on the Microphone option.
- Choose the option Deny to block all the websites requesting microphone permission.
It will completely block the microphone access to any website and not even allow safari permissions to allow or not. This will block the voice command search feature within the Safari browser when using Google Voice search.
Bottom Line
Based on the requirement, you can allow or block Safari camera and microphone access on the iPhone or iPad. By default, the permission is set to block. However, you can toggle the button to allow the camera and microphone. You can also set permission to every time.
Whenever you feel that you might require camera and microphone permissions to access specific sites, you can easily access the camera and Microphone.
Similarly, you can block or allow the camera and microphone permissions on the Safari Mac. This will manage the Safari permissions for all the websites on the Safari computer.
Let us know what your current setting for the microphone and camera access is. Have you enabled the permissions or kept them blocked?
Lastly, if you've any thoughts or feedback, then feel free to drop in below comment box. You can also report the outdated information.
