New iPhone update shows Instagram app using camera when not taking photos

Instagram is a hugely popular app. Photo / 123RF

Early adopters of Apple's latest iPhone update are beginning to report a disturbing feature when using the Facebook-owned Instagram app - but the tech giant claims it is just a "bug".

Some iOS14 users report seeing a notification that the Instagram app is accessing their camera even when they are not taking photos.

A Twitter user was one of the first to raise the alarm, saying that the control panel had "ratted out" Instagram and claimed "this is going to change things".

Casually browsing Instagram when suddenly the new iOS 14 camera/microphone indicator comes on. Then control panel ratted out the app behind it. This is going to change things. #iOS14 pic.twitter.com/EnTIRsqq3R

— KevDoy (@KevDoy) July 17, 2020

A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, told Business Insider that the issue was caused by a known bug.

"We only access your camera when you tell us to – for example, when you swipe from Feed to Camera. We found and are fixing a bug in iOS 14 Beta that mistakenly indicates that some people are using the camera when they aren't," they said.

"We do not access your camera in those instances, and no content is recorded," they added.

However, a spokesperson for Apple told Business Insider that the notification will appear on the phone "whenever an app is using the mic or camera".

The iOS14 update hit the headline last month, when it was revealed that the new operating system will alert users when an app accesses the iPhone's clipboard.

The update exposed 53 apps for the questionable practice, including popular video-sharing app TikTok.