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Apple’s latest iPhone software update enabled a “creepy sound setting” and users are urging others to disable it.
The default setting, called “Discoverable by Others,” is leading iPhone users to think their name and location are being shared without their consent.
However, that is not the case, The Wall Street Journal reported.
As part of the iOS 17.2 release on December 11, 2023, Apple launched the Journal app. which advertises as a personal diary software “Designed to help users remember and write about a moment, such as new places they visited, photos they took, songs they played, workouts they completed, and more.”
Along with the new app, there’s a new journal suggestions API, or application programming interface, that recommends topics to write about based on what your phone knows about you.
Although the Journal app asks users to turn this feature on or off at their discretion when they first open the app—suggestions that Apple insists are never shared with the company—users have found that even when they select “no” , the feature is activated anyway, The Journal previously reported.
By going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Journal Suggestions, the “Discoverable by Others” feature in “Journal Suggestions” will be enabled by default, even if users have never turned on suggestions.
Users who discovered this faulty feature took to social media to speculate why the setting would be turned on by default through the Settings app, even when they select otherwise in the Journal app.
Many believe that Apple is sharing full names and locations with other users or corporations, and are warning other users to “protect themselves” and “stay safe” by turning off the feature.
However, Apple’s Privacy and Journal Tips home page on its Legal website insists that “if you choose to share your suggestions with the Journal app, you have control over your entries.”
For users whose iPhones are locked with a passcode, “all Journal entries are end-to-end encrypted when stored in iCloud, so not even Apple can read them,” the website adds.
Another pointed out a Yahoo! news report That said, the “Discoverable by Others” feature “collects the number of devices you are near, as well as any contacts saved within Bluetooth range.
However, it does not save any details of contacts or people close to your phone, nor does it reveal your information to anyone else.”
Like AirDrop, iPhone users can share their Journal with nearby users who also have their Bluetooth enabled, although not without prior approval.
For added security, users can also disable Journal’s ability to use the number of nearby devices and contacts to develop writing prompts with the Settings > Privacy & Security > Journal Suggestions path. Then, tap “Prefer Suggestions with Others.”
According to Yahoo, turning off this feature and the “Discoverable by Others” feature will make journal suggestions less precise and specific in providing directions.
Apple representatives did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.