I've spent years tweaking my iPhone, but after seeing yet another viral "privacy screen" hack making the rounds online, I wondered what I was still missing.
So instead of copying another internet trick, I asked ChatGPT to audit my iPhone's privacy settings. Here's the prompt I used:
"I'm an iPhone user who often works in coffee shops, takes weekend getaways and occasionally hands my phone to family members. What privacy settings should I enable to better protect my personal information? Include settings that are easy to overlook and explain why each one matters."
Some of ChatGPT's recommendations were obvious. Others were buried deep inside iOS — and a few were settings I'd simply never taken the time to enable.
After trying every suggestion myself, these are the ones I'd recommend to almost anyone.
1. Hide sensitive notification previews
This was ChatGPT's first recommendation, and it's probably the easiest privacy win on the list.
Without changing anything, your iPhone can display text messages, banking alerts, two-factor authentication codes and other notifications right on your Lock Screen. Anyone nearby can glance at them without ever unlocking your phone.
Where to find it: Settings > Notifications > Show Previews
The tweak: Change the setting to When Unlocked.
Changing previews to When Unlocked means Face ID has to authenticate you before those details appear.
My take: I can't believe I left this turned off for so long. If you ever leave your phone face-up on a desk or café table, this setting alone is worth changing.
2. Lock individual apps with Face ID
One of Apple's best recent privacy features lets you require Face ID before opening supported apps. And I don't just mean your banking information or credit card apps.
Whether it's Notes, Photos or anything else containing sensitive information, this adds another layer of protection if someone else picks up your phone.
Where to find it: Long-press an app on your Home Screen > Require Face ID
My take: I started locking Notes and Photos immediately. They're probably the two apps I'd least want someone casually browsing.
3. Review which apps know your location
While checking my own phone, I found several shopping and restaurant apps that still had broader location access than they actually needed. Switching them to While Using the App took only a few minutes.
Where to find it: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services
ChatGPT suggested reviewing location permissions instead of leaving everything set to Always.
My take: This is the kind of setting that's easy to forget once you've tapped "Allow" the first time. Now that I've taken a look at what apps had my location, I recommend checking this periodically.
4. Turn on Safety Check
Safety Check is one of Apple's least-known privacy tools. Originally designed for people who need to quickly revoke shared access during unsafe situations, it also gives anyone an easy way to review who can see their location, shared photos and other permissions.
Where to find it: Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check
My take: Even if you never need the emergency features, it's a great way to see what information you're sharing without realizing it.
5. Audit camera and microphone permissions
It turns out I had granted camera and microphone access to apps I hadn't opened in months. Removing permissions only takes a few seconds, and it helps limit which apps can access some of your most sensitive hardware.
Where to find it: Settings > Privacy & Security
My take: This one surprised me the most. I hadn't realized how many apps were still hanging onto these permissions.
6. Hide apps you don't want anyone else opening
If you have apps containing financial information, medical records or personal documents, you can hide them completely. The app disappears from your Home Screen and is moved into a locked Hidden folder inside the App Library.
Where to find it: Long-press an app > Require Face ID > Hide and Require Face ID
My take: This is perfect if you occasionally hand your phone to your kids or someone asks to borrow it for a minute.
7. Turn on App Privacy Report
App Privacy Report shows a rolling log of how often apps access your location, camera, microphone and network connections. You might be surprised how active some apps are, even when you rarely use them.
Where to find it: Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report
My take: Privacy isn't something you configure once and forget. Checking this report every few weeks makes it much easier to spot apps that are asking for more than they really need.
What ChatGPT missed
Overall, ChatGPT's recommendations were solid, but it overlooked two of Apple's most useful security features.
The first is: Turn on Stolen Device Protection
Where to find it: Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Stolen Device Protection
If someone learns your passcode and steals your phone, this feature adds extra safeguards before critical account changes can be made. When you're away from familiar locations like home or work, iOS requires Face ID for sensitive actions and places a security delay on certain account changes. It's one of Apple's best anti-theft features, and I wouldn't leave it turned off.
The second feature is: Disable Control Center on the Lock Screen
Where to find it: Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Allow Access When Locked
Consider turning off Control Center access from the Lock Screen. Doing this makes it harder for someone who steals your phone to immediately change connectivity settings before you've had a chance to locate your device.
If you rarely use Control Center without unlocking your phone first, it's a small convenience to give up for some added peace of mind.
One Apple Intelligence setting that's worth checking
If you use Apple Intelligence, there's one extra privacy consideration that didn't come up in ChatGPT's recommendations.
Apple Intelligence can summarize long emails, messages and notifications to help you catch up more quickly. That's useful, but it also makes hiding Lock Screen previews even more important.
If notification previews are visible, those AI-generated summaries may reveal more information at a glance than the original notification would have.
Apple has taken a privacy-first approach to Apple Intelligence by processing many requests directly on your device and using its Private Cloud Compute system for more demanding tasks. But no amount of on-device processing can protect information that's already visible on your Lock Screen.
That's why changing notification previews to When Unlocked was the very first setting I kept enabled after testing ChatGPT's suggestions.
Final thoughts
The viral privacy screen hack that inspired this experiment didn't make the cut. I don't think I need one after enabling these settings. Sure, if you're worried about shoulder surfers on planes or in coffee shops, a physical privacy screen protector is still your best bet.
But what surprised me most was how many of ChatGPT's suggestions I had missed despite using an iPhone every day. It gave me a useful checklist, but the real value came from taking 15 minutes to review what my phone was actually sharing.
If you haven't looked through your iPhone's privacy settings in a while, it's worth doing. You may discover, like I did, that a few small changes can make your device feel a lot more secure.
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