Apple made it easy for others to record your iPhone calls, without you even knowing it

The next time you take a call on your i Phone, the other person could be recording every word you say, and you may not even realize it. Ever since i OS 18.1, Apple has offered a call recording feature on its smartphones. The feature has legitimate uses, and because of its embedded audio notifications, Apple would presumably argue that it meets both the “single party” and “all party” consent requirements in various states. But the problem with Apple’s implementation is that the company has done a poorer job than it could have in letting users know precisely when their calls are being recorded—and has given them even less control over putting a stop to it. Apple makes it easy for other people to record your phone calls In iOS 18.1, which debuted a year and a half ago, Apple added a new iPhone call recording feature. As the description suggests, the feature enables someone to record a phone call directly from the Phone app, rather than using a third-party solution or relying on other methods, such as putting the call on speakerphone and then recording it with a recording app on another device. When Apple first announced the feature in beta, in the summer of 2024, I thought it was an odd move for a company that prides itself on privacy. But I also expected that Apple would have strong notification and privacy protections built in, and let either party put a stop to a call recording whenever they wanted. I also assumed that Apple would allow all iPhone users to entirely opt out of letting their calls be recorded. But when iOS 18.1 shipped in the fall of 2024 with the Phone app’s call recording feature enabled, it did not offer the person being recorded any control over the recording, nor did it provide a reasonable notification that the recording was in progress. This has not changed to this day, even with the recent release of iOS 26.4. When an individual starts a recording, both participants receive an audible alert (as they do when the reco