Apple is fairly strict about the apps it allows on the App Store. If you’ve jailbroken your iPhone or have downloaded apps from anywhere other than the App Store, you’re more likely to wind up with shady apps on your phone. If you share your iPhone with someone else (or are using Family Sharing features), apps you don’t recognize may have been installed by someone you actually trust. Before you panic, check with other members of your family to see if anyone installed the unfamiliar apps.
Apple is fairly strict about the apps it allows on the App Store. If you’ve jailbroken your iPhone or have downloaded apps from anywhere other than the App Store, you’re more likely to wind up with shady apps on your phone. If you share your iPhone with someone else (or are using Family Sharing features), apps you don’t recognize may have been installed by someone you actually trust. Before you panic, check with other members of your family to see if anyone installed the unfamiliar apps.
If you’re browsing the web and see a pop-up that says “Your iPhone has been compromised!” or “We have detected that your browser is infected with a trojan virus,” this doesn’t mean you were really hacked. In most cases, these pop-ups appear when you click on a website that’s malicious (or has been hacked). Never click a link or provide any sort of payment in response to one of these pop-up messages. You should never have to pay to remove any sort of virus from an iPhone.
Open your Settings, tap General, and then tap Profiles & Device Management. [1] X Research source If you see any profiles you don’t recognize, a hacker may have tricked you into installing it. If you don’t see this section in your Settings at all, don’t panic. It just means you don’t have any configuration profiles installed.
If you sign into another Apple device (like your family Mac, your partner’s iPad, or your child’s iPhone) with the same Apple ID you use on this iPhone, you may see the calls and texts they’ve sent while signed in with your ID. Ask your family members whether they’ve made the calls or sent the messages before assuming your iPhone is hacked. In this case, it’s a good idea to contact your provider and ask for help to recover your account.
Open your Settings app and tap Cellular or Mobile (depending on your region). Scroll down to the “CELLULAR DATA” or “MOBILE DATA” section to see which apps are using a lot of data. If you see something you don’t recognize, be wary.
Sometimes your iPhone can get excessively warm when you’re playing games or using other CPU-intensive apps—it doesn’t always mean you were hacked.
To disconnect quickly, swipe down from the top-right corner of the Home screen (if your iPhone doesn’t have a Home button) or swipe up from the bottom (if it does have a Home button), and then tap the airplane icon to go into Airplane Mode. If your phone stays connected to Wi-Fi in airplane mode, tap the Wi-Fi icon (the curved lines) to disconnect.
Safari: Open Settings, tap Safari, and then scroll down and tap Clear History and Web Data. Tap Clear History and Data to confirm. Chrome: Open Chrome, tap the three dots at the bottom-right, select History, and then tap Clear Browsing Data. Select All Time as the time range and tap Clear Browsing Data at the bottom.
When you restore from a backup, you’re also resetting your iPhone. This erases everything on your iPhone! But as long as you’ved back up or sync your data to iCloud or your computer, you can restore from your backup after resetting.
To turn on automatic iOS updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates and toggle both switches to the On (green) position. To turn on automatic app updates, go to Settings > App Store > and toggle App Updates to the On (green) position.
To turn on two-factor authentication, open Settings, tap your name at the top, tap Password & Security, and then tap Turn on Two-Factor Authentication (if it’s not already on).
If an app you’ve installed asks to access your microphone, camera, Bluetooth, photos, or anything else you don’t feel comfortable sharing, deny that app permission when prompted. In some cases, the permission is needed for the app to function, but you can allow it only when the app is being used to minimize risks. If an app or website ever prompts you to install a profile, don’t do it—profiles can give hackers access to your phone.
