iPhone 14 Pro Max Does an iPhone listen to you in standby? Strange story

[villein]

As I understand it, if your friend had searched for Adidas on their phone or even better bought Adidas shoes from an account associated with their phone/Apple ID, then apps on your phone will target the ads to you because your phones were close together for a while so you must know each other/like similar things. You're probably getting other targeted ads that you're not as focused on because of the previously mentioned Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. It has nothing to do with what you discussed verbally and everything to do with what data you're both sharing with other companies.

In general, we regularly serve up a lot of data to Apple, Google, Meta, etc without even thinking about it. Everything we buy using a debit/credit card or a member loyalty card is stored and potentially used to target ads to us or others around us. Data is today's currency.

 

[jaytv111]

Maybe another coincidence you can laugh with...
Happened 4 times...

Before this 14, I had an XsMax. Starting with iOS 14.8, I have a bigger battery drain in standby as before, but only when I'm at work. At work means: driving in a van from customer to customer to give service on household appliances.

Normally this Xs hold 2 days before I had to charge. Replaced the battery last year, no solution. Did a DFU restore and re-set my iCloud backup. Problem solved... for one week. At the end of the day, battery almost empty.
Suffered with Covid-19 infection in February last year. So I had to stay a week at home. I did more on this phone and again, two days standby time.
Conclusion: @home longer battery time, even when on 4G instead of wifi.

Some weeks later, working again, the same issue. Again a DFU restore, installed as a new phone and manually installed the apps. Again: for one week, then draining again.

Got bored with this and decided to buy the iPhone 14 pro max. The same: worked well for a week, had to charge every 3 days, now 1,5 day at work and battery empty.
Battery stats don't give "special" things.

Don't come up with things as bad reception when driving etc. It's not possible to having exactly every time after an update or DFU restore a better cellular reception when driving.

You know your phone has to bounce around different towers when you're driving or walking around, right? Bouncing between towers takes processing power too.

You didn't even say if you keep location services on or off, use wifi or Bluetooth on or completely off (note, they don't have to be connected, they can still search for devices and networks if you don't turn them off entirely from settings). And if you use autobrightness it will adjust with higher or lower brightness depending upon lighting conditions and higher brightness equals higher battery drain.

You didn't demonstrate anything here. Just that a phone drains or doesn't drain the battery as fast with different conditions.

 

[Jeven Stobs]

To maybe put an end to this story for now in this thread.
Just imagine, for one second, you were right.
Let just one dev or security researcher find a trace of code that indicates iPhones listen in standby and Apple sells those recordings or data to any advertiser. Remember, there is so far nothing to indicate this from a technical standpoint. Nothing.
But just imagine.
What do you think would happen?
After years of advertising privacy and proclaiming superior security ethics?
Armageddon. Apple would seize to exist.
And you really think Apple would let this happen because they want to sell a van driver sports stuff he doesn’t need?
Not even that, no, sell information regarding said van driver to an advertiser that probably knows much more about you than you realise, that then tries to sell you sport stuff it knows you don’t need?
Cmon.

Personal testimony:

I too have had strange things happen after talking about some stuff with other people at some point and place.
Come to think of it, last time I remember something like this happened, an Alexa was around and I was logged into the same network as it.
Some devices are known to listen to you. And by known I mean it’s confirmed by (leaked) internal information, like is the case with Amazon and Alexa, or it may literally be mentioned in end-user agreements, like is the case with some Sony televisions.
You can, if you care to look into this more, find articles pointing out it literally stated in the end user agreement of some Sony televisions that you shouldn’t discuss personal or private matters in the presence of the device unless you are ok with it maybe listening to that stuff.
I have heard about a mūrder case recently where a woman got killed in her home and her Alexa recorded (either all or part of) it, with said recording making it into the case files.

Anyway, whatever it is, it’s not Apple. Bet.

Case closed.

 

[Jefke Peeters]

@Jeven Stobs let us say coincidence exists... I know all the privacy thing about Apple, and I always had the same thoughts about it like you.
But all their privacy stuff? Not that long ago, at least the belgian tech news reported about (future) personalized adds in the App store... I rest my case...

@jaytv111 I know damn good a phone will consume more energy when switching between antenna towers, when bluetooth and wifi are on and when location is on. Location especially when moving around. When I switch al those things off, it barely uses energy. I know, I know, I know.
Normally everything is on.
I'm just searching for the explanation when my battery lasts for 2+ days everytime with an OS upgrade, or with a fully restore. And after one week, he uses a complete battery a day with the same amount of use.

 

[Steve121178]

I've had this happen many, many times. I could be talking about something completely random and I'll see ads for it later on the same day.

Now, I can understand seeing ads if I had googled it or something like it, but I haven't. I have checked to see which apps have access to the microphone for example and apps like Facebook do not. There's no sign of any orange dot signifying the mic has been activated either. I do believe something is listening, but I don't know what it is and I have no proof to back this theory up.

But it can't just be continual coincidence. We do bug our own homes with Smart TV's with built in mics or mics in the controllers, smart speakers, smart phones with voice assistants etc etc. So something on our home networks is snooping on the sly in order to serve us ads for the random things we have been talking about. Whether its something on iPhone I am not so sure but can't rule it out.

 

[MajorFubar]

Maybe another coincidence you can laugh with...
Happened 4 times...

Before this 14, I had an XsMax. Starting with iOS 14.8, I have a bigger battery drain in standby as before, but only when I'm at work. At work means: driving in a van from customer to customer to give service on household appliances.

Normally this Xs hold 2 days before I had to charge. Replaced the battery last year, no solution. Did a DFU restore and re-set my iCloud backup. Problem solved... for one week. At the end of the day, battery almost empty.
Suffered with Covid-19 infection in February last year. So I had to stay a week at home. I did more on this phone and again, two days standby time.
Conclusion: @home longer battery time, even when on 4G instead of wifi.

Some weeks later, working again, the same issue. Again a DFU restore, installed as a new phone and manually installed the apps. Again: for one week, then draining again.

Got bored with this and decided to buy the iPhone 14 pro max. The same: worked well for a week, had to charge every 3 days, now 1,5 day at work and battery empty.
Battery stats don't give "special" things.

Don't come up with things as bad reception when driving etc. It's not possible to having exactly every time after an update or DFU restore a better cellular reception when driving.

There's nothing sinister about the fact that the battery in your phone lasts longer on a stable wifi connection than when travelling through different cell networks and eg it having to increase its gain to compensate for poor reception. The only thing at fault here is your lack of understanding about how phones work.

 

[Jefke Peeters]

There's nothing creepy about the fact that the battery in your phone lasts longer on a stable wifi connection than when travelling through different cell networks and eg it having to increase its gain to compensate for poor reception. The only thing at fault here is your lack of understanding about how phones work.

As said many, many times in this topic.... Why doesn't this happen for a week when an OS is newly installed? 4 times, on two different phones... but with the same iCloud

 

[MajorFubar]

As said many, many times in this topic.... Why doesn't this happen for a week when an OS is newly installed? 4 times, on two different phones...

Can't answer that one because my experience has been polar opposite. Discounting the fact that a brand new phone will have a battery in the best condition it will ever be in, I find that major OS updates to both my phone and my Macbook (when i had one) hammered the battery-life for a few days until everything settled down. I put in down to indexing. Which may or may not be right, but I don't believe there is some sinister reason for it.

Maybe you have apps installed on your phone that drain your battery via background refresh. That said, if the battery in my iPhone lasted as long on a 'good day' as the battery in your iPhone does 'on a bad day', I think I'd throw a party. #iPhoneSE_Life

 

[Jackbequickly]

I suggest that no one here knows for sure what extent the iPhone could be “managed”. There are some very bright people who work 24/7 to push the limits as success is rewarded.

 

[Jeven Stobs]

@Jeven Stobs let us say coincidence exists... I know all the privacy thing about Apple, and I always had the same thoughts about it like you.
But all their privacy stuff? Not that long ago, at least the belgian tech news reported about (future) personalized adds in the App store... I rest my case...

@jaytv111 I know damn good a phone will consume more energy when switching between antenna towers, when bluetooth and wifi are on and when location is on. Location especially when moving around. When I switch al those things off, it barely uses energy. I know, I know, I know.
Normally everything is on.
I'm just searching for the explanation when my battery lasts for 2+ days everytime with an OS upgrade, or with a fully restore. And after one week, he uses a complete battery a day with the same amount of use.

🙄 if there is one thing that has been blown out of proportion recently it is ads in the AppStore. I don’t get the problem.
It’s a marketplace, at least a platform where customers are provided digital goods. Show me a single store where there is not at least one banner or poster of a product different from another ones.
What do these ads have to do with privacy anyway??
What, you’re talking about which route to take to what customer and it shows you an ad for a maps app?
It’s just ads.
You look for one thing and are presented with an ad promoting something similar, outlandish isn’t it.
Ads ≠ targeted advertisements.
What else would they promote? In app purchases in games for kids? A better offline maps app after you’ve tried and deleted 3 previously?
Really, how personal can these ads get in the App Store? They literally only promote apps, and there are only so many a person can and will look for, download and use. What else is there?
Maybe there is something I don’t get about this whole App Store ad thing, but I think it’s a stpd discussion. Sorry.

And to compare Apple devices listening in on you and Apple selling those recordings/information to advertisers to App Store ads is a reach.
To think it’s more plausible that your iPhones listen to you while you’re driving from customer to customer instead of suspecting iOS to be less optimised than people want you to believe, or think Apple is providing, who, Google? Amazon? with information they can then use to, in this case, not make a quick buck of you but raise your suspicion towards Apple is foolish in my eyes.
It would be more plausible at this point that whatever you have at work that might have listened to you is a bad actor from whichever of Apples competitors “thought”, “well, they are talking about phones listening to you, I know (from Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) (or at least suspect) one of them has an iPhone, iPhones and listening to customers is a big no no, maybe I can get this guy to feel unsafe around his iPhone by doing just what the other guy said and provide a targeted ad about what they are talking about so he feels less inclined to stay an Apple customer”. To put it simply.
I’d suspect this is the case any day before I worry about my iPhone or MacBook.

I mean, if iPhones listen to ya and sell your stuff, why then is Siri often (for me 9/10 times) crap? Why can I see where I used Hey Siri often, for example at work, in the battery report section in settings because it actually takes “a lot” of (processing) power to listen to me, but when I have my phone at a friends place and we talk about whatever it doesn’t dip the slightest?
Is this a cover up? Does Apple think if Siri sucks they won’t suspect us actually having incorporated much more sophisticated technologies into iOS that regularly listen and provide to advertisers but without a single set of bytes in any of our software that gives this away?

Also, again, you can’t compare listening in to App Store ads. We have had articles about “targeted” advertisements in the App Store for a while, we have reports of scam apps buying up ad space to scam even more. It’s been talked about, even by Apple in one form or another. At least it has been recognised by both sides. It’s not a rumor, it’s reality. And it’s incorporated badly.

I’m sorry but none of this adds up and I really hope you stop wasting your time with this nonsense.
If you want to actually get to the root of things, there are plenty of good articles and videos detailing how advertisers get to know you, including by listening in on you. But rest assured, in 2023, Apple isn’t one of them.

 

[jaytv111]

As said many, many times in this topic.... Why doesn't this happen for a week when an OS is newly installed? 4 times, on two different phones... but with the same iCloud

So what do you think is happening? And how can we test your theory? Does the iPhone spy on you after a week or something? Doesn't spy on you at home?

You should check what apps you have installed, and what permissions you've given those apps. Also post screenshots of your battery usage graph. So far we get a whole lot of this and that and nothing concrete to examine so how can anyone believe you?

 

[Isamilis]

The fact is, I never ever searched something in the past about sports and sports stuff, why should I?

During the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, I searched a lot on the internet about Philips Hue bulbs. Never did before, but starting from that time, I get ads about those smart bulbs. Scary, but I can fully understand this.

in this time period between 12h - 20h yesterday, I don't have had touched my iPhone anymore, just for reading an own created Pages document for making a good Bearnaise sauce.

Before yesterday many and many ads for MagSafe covers on the Facebook page. Logical, because I surfed a lot on the www for a good MagSafe cover.

Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon or not, but this is just too accidental.

I also don’t believe this…. Until my daughter demo this in front of me. She said some apps (including Facebook, instagram and some other chat app) “listen” us. I don’t know how they do it. But the phone does “listens” our conversation.

 

[Graham Caracas]

They know when you are sleeping,
They know when you're awake,
They know what you want blah blah blah
Yeah the tinfoil hats are out tonight.

 

[Jefke Peeters]

One strange fact is partially solved: the phone consumes more energy because of the AppleWatch. Disconnected this thing, and again 3 days battery life.
This thing is the one with "hé Siri" enabled. All the other settings match iPhone.

Maybe we must close this topic, because more as "this isn't absolutely possible with Apple" isn't readable here.

 

[MajorFubar]

And once again...issue solved by OP providing us with some critical nugget of information, two pages in.
I've lost count of how many threads this happens with.
Actually sometimes it can be three pages or more.

 

[madeirabhoy]

the thing about coincidences is, people think they happen often, but relatively they happen very rarely. you meet someone on holiday who knows someone you went to school with and you go omg, without thinking you meet hundreds of people every year who dont know someone you know.

and its like this. its happened to me before, an add pops up and i think 'woo, thats weird, i was talking about that the other day' without thinking how many things ive spoken about and an add hasnt popped up, and how many times an add has popped up where its clearly not because of me talking on the phone (totally random or connected to my purchases or google searches).

and as people have pointed out, the degree of separation between the issues, apple onto Meta, there's no way. if it was a google phone and google adds, whatsapp conversations and facebook....

 

[aespana]

The last week i was talking with a friend who has a flight to Chile in Avianca he was talking about how bad the service was.

Then, after a little while boom, Avianca ads on my Instagram.

Yes, i think that this situation is not always just coincidence

 

[Jefke Peeters]

Apple and privacy isn't that good as in Steve Jobs' times. Watch this... , let the media know they will set it on hold..

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I had a similar experience the other day. A colleague and I were talking about football and he was talking about Norwich City FC. Literally minutes later I open my iPhone and Facebook and there’s are ad for Norwich City football shirts. Never googled them and live over a hundred miles away! If it’s random, it’s a scary coincidence.

 

[MajorFubar]

I had a similar experience the other day. A colleague and I were talking about football and he was talking about Norwich City FC. Literally minutes later I open my iPhone and Facebook and there’s are ad for Norwich City football shirts. Never googled them and live over a hundred miles away! If it’s random, it’s a scary coincidence.

I'm a Liverpool fan. If I found Norwich City FC adverts in my FB feed I'd be reporting them for breaking Facebook's 'obscene images' rule.