How to Quickly Disable Camera or Mic Access in Android 12

Jun. 23, 2021

Of all the newAndroid 12 features, one convenient privacy-friendly addition has to be the ability to seamlessly disable the camera and microphone. Starting with Android 12, you don’t have toturn off all sensors on your Android phoneto restrict the camera or microphone access. Instead, you can use the dedicated camera and mic toggles in the Quick Settings panel to block access to the sensors. The new toggles are, however, not included in the default set of quick settings options. So in this article, we will learn how to easily disable camera or mic access in Android 12.

Disable Camera or Mic Access in Android 12

Google added the ability to disable the camera or mic access with Android 12 with just a single tap. While you canget many Android 12 features on any Android phone, you will need an Android 12 phone to use this feature. With that out of the way, here are the steps you should follow to get dedicated quick settings tiles for instantly disabling the camera or microphone.

Note:Looking for granular controls to manage permissions? Check out our article on how touse Privacy Dashboard in Android 12to view a timeline of apps that accessed your phone’s permissions in the last 24 hours.

2. Tap to hold anddrag “Camera access” and “Mic access” quick settings tilesto the active tiles area in Android 12.

3. Now,press the Back arrowat the top-left corner of the screen. You can also use the back swipe gesture to exit and save the changes.

4. And there you have it. You will now see the new Camera and Mic access tiles in the Quick settings sheet. You cantap on the tiles to enable or disable the camera and mic access in Android 12, respectively.

Note: As you can see above, both “Camera access” and “Mic access” tiles are marked as “Available” when unblocked in Android 12. They will be marked as “Blocked” on tapping, and you won’t be able to use either until you enable them again.

5. Next, you will see a prompt that asks if you would like to unblock your camera or microphone when you open an app that requires these permissions. Do keep in mind that this will unblock access for all apps. If you prefer blocking again, you will have to manually disable the permissions from the quick settings title.

So, that’s how you bring convenient quick settings tiles to easily enable or disable the camera and mic access on your Android 12 phone. If you already have acompatible Android 12 deviceand miss the old Wi-Fi toggle (over the new Internet toggle), check our linked article tobring back the Wi-Fi toggle in Quick Settings on Android 12. Also, let us know your thoughts on this handy new privacy-centric feature in Android 12 down in the comments section.

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.