Is iPhone listening to my conversations???

The scary suspicions have finally been confirmed - by Apple tech support staff - YES, it listens to conversations over the phone AND conversations in-person even when iPhone is NOT being used!!

The initial suspicion surfaced when we were traveling in Utah back in May. We drove through a new housing development area in St. George, UT. Jokingly said it'd be nice to live here - it's new, less congested, and very quiet... When we got to the hotel, my Facebook was populated with housing prices in St. George and the benefits of moving there - truly creepy!!!

Twenty five days later, on Monday, 6/17/24, over dinner, we had a conversation about Tesla's charging stations across the country, and the feasibility of taking Tesla on a long road trip. First thing on Tuesday, I got attachment 1 in my Twitter account. And then first thing on Wednesday, I got attachment 2 in my Twitter account. These were the tweets I'd never received in the past!!

So, I called Apple today describing the creepy experiences. I asked: "Do you think my iPhone is secretly listening to my conversations?" The answer... "YES!"

I asked: "How can I turn it OFF?" My simple question resulted in long struggles of trying everything - including random, illogical attempts trying to turn it OFF. When nothing worked, a Sr. Advisor was brought in. She was super nice, but unable to answer my question. Her answer... "Well, we don't know how to turn it OFF completely. But we can go through the options in Settings to help you eliminate potential places where the "Listening" may occur..."      

I carefully wrote down all the steps attempting to turn OFF the potential "spying" capabilities - in hope to help you avoid being spied on... I have no confidence that these steps would work, but happy to share what I was told.

Go to iPhone Settings:

1. Accessibility / Siri / Always Listen for "Siri" = OFF

2. Siri and Search / Allow Siri When Locked = OFF

3. Privacy and Security / Apple Advertising / Personalized Ads = OFF

4. Privacy and Security / Location Services / turn it OFF for some of the apps as you see fit

5. Safari / Prevent Cross Tracking = ON

6. Safari / Microphone = Deny

7. Settings / X (Twitter) / Allow Tracking = OFF

8. Settings / X (Twitter) / Siri and Search / Learn from this App = OFF 

 

Utah Rocks

Southern Utah is such an unique place with otherworldly landscapes and few visitors. It's a pure luxury to have the whole place to yourself so you can truly hear the soft winds and the falling water...  

On this trip, I once again consciously chose to enjoy the beauty without heavy camera gears. I'm making great progress!! My end goal is to (one day) be able to travel without taking any photos -- not even with my iPhone. 

Do I really need to go that far??? -:))

Southern Utah

May 2024

iPhone Photos

They're here!

The 7 adorable swan babies have arrived to the world with Peace and Love!!

Naperville, IL

June 5, 2024

 

How???

Here is how the sausages were made...

Hope you can find me in attachment 3 -:))

Southern Utah

May 2024

 

Utah Trails

Not sure why I didn't make the effort to document the trails I covered last year in Colorado and the Canadian Rockies. But I'm devoting this entire entry to the trails we covered in Utah.

Utah is not unfamiliar to me -- I've been there countless times over the past 12 years. However, this is the first time I've seriously hiked in the area and truly experienced the breathtaking rock formations up close and personal. Haven't had a chance to process the photos... Let's just do the hiking trails today!

 

Attachment 1 is a clip of most of the hiking trails. A few of them didn't make the cut because of the size limits for the video.

Attachment 2 is the hiking trail under the harsh sunlight around noon with 88F. Only one word ran through my head over and over during the hike -- Endurance.

Escalante and Capitol Reef, Utah

May 2024

 

Supper Bloom of 2024

I'm not pretending to be a of desert wildflower lover. However, since it was supposed to be a camping trip, the whole thing became more enticing!

The plan was to leave on Saturday, drive to Anza Borrego, camp in the desert overnight, then go see the wildflowers on Sunday -- how perfect!! More importantly, this was supposed to be my FIRST camping trip in life -- sleeping in the desert under the stars -- how exciting!!!

Friday afternoon, we received weather alerts about strong winds in the desert, gusting 30mph... Saturday morning, checked the weather again, still with strong wind advisory!! We had to cancel the camping trip at the last minute -- even after everything was perfectly packed (Picture 1 = camping foods).

Sunday morning, we decided to drive to Anza Borrego -- we must see the wildflowers!! It rained on and off the whole way, winds were strong, flowers were blowing violently... But still, we captured a few pictures of the super bloom of 2024.

Anza Borrego State Park, CA

March 24, 2024 

 

Our Lunch

Our Lunch on the massive salt flat in Bolivia.

Salar de Uyuni, amid the Andes in southwest Bolivia, is the world’s largest salt flat. It’s the legacy of a prehistoric lake that went dry, leaving behind a desert-like, nearly 11,000-sq.-km. landscape of bright-white salt, rock formations and cacti-studded islands. Its otherworldly expanse can be observed from central Incahuasi Island.

We hiked all the way up to the top of the Incahuasi Island.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

February 3, 2024