"Your iPhone does not go to sleep with you" — harrowing experiment reveals just how much data your iPhone shares, even with Russia... Thankfully it's worse on Android

iPhone 15
(Image credit: Future)

iPhones are famously very secure devices, thanks to Apple’s finetuning of both the device itself and its App Store. However, a recent report suggests they could be a little less secure than otherwise thought, even if they are still outperforming Android.

Cybernews’ Ernesta Naprys has spent five days monitoring a fresh iPhone in Germany after installing 100 of the most popular apps. In that time, it made 16,542 DNS queries. These are essentially signs that a device is accessing servers from another place in the world. It made an average of 2711 to 4178 requests a day, with a spike of around 757 to 1865 around each day. However, it still continued to access servers while idle and during the user’s sleep. Naprys reports “Your iPhone does not go to sleep with you – it buzzes with activity, accessing your data and sensors”.

Though most of the queries are fairly standard with Apple accounting for 60% of all requests, Google accounting for 12, and Microsoft making 4% — one ping was made every day to Russia via Alibaba, an online marketplace. Despite having numerous Chinese apps like “Temu, TikTok, Wish, and Aliexpress, no queries were made to servers in China. Even Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, has an overseas domain that was contacted instead.

Naprys reports “Compared to the experiment with Android, the iPhone’s query numbers for unfriendly countries are low.”

How does it compare to Android?

Cybernews’report shows that Android, in just three days, contacted Russian servers 39 times. In less time than its iPhone study, the Android phone reached out 34 more times. Contact was also made at strange hours, often late at night or early in the morning. Servers in China were pinged 15 times, much more than the 0 times Cybernews’ iPhone pinged it.

In this report on Android, Naprys states that many Android apps ask “for too many dangerous permissions”, clarifying that some require you to entirely uninstall or disable the app before those permissions can be revoked. With the iPhone report being based on the German App Store, it is possible that these security problems could become worse as EU customers are allowed access to third-party app marketplaces.

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James Bentley

James is a staff writer and general Jack of all trades at iMore. With news, features, reviews, and guides under his belt, he has always liked Apple for its unique branding and distinctive style. Originally buying a Macbook for music and video production, he has since gone on to join the Apple ecosystem with as many devices as he can fit on his person. 

With a degree in Law and Media and being a little too young to move onto the next step of his law career, James started writing from his bedroom about games, movies, tech, and anything else he could think of. Within months, this turned into a fully-fledged career as a freelance journalist. Before joining iMore, he was a staff writer at Gfinity and saw himself published at sites like TechRadar, NME, and Eurogamer. 

As his extensive portfolio implies, James was predominantly a games journalist before joining iMore and brings with him a unique perspective on Apple itself. When not working, he is trying to catch up with the movies and albums of the year, as well as finally finishing the Yakuza series. If you like Midwest emo music or pretentious indie games that will make you cry, he’ll talk your ear off.

  • FFR
    Still better than android according to the article…iPhone users shouldn’t download 100 shady apps
    Reply
  • Annie_M
    It would be helpful to know which 100 apps were installed on the iPhone!
    Reply
  • naddy69
    “Your iPhone does not go to sleep with you"

    Mine does. I turn it off at night. Every night. You DO realize that it has an on/off button, right?
    Reply
  • Lee_Bo
    naddy69 said:
    “Your iPhone does not go to sleep with you"

    Mine does. I turn it off at night. Every night. You DO realize that it has an on/off button, right?

    You DO realize that may not be an option for some people, right?

    As a diabetic wearing a CGM, if I turn my phone off at night, I lose the alarms that wake me up if my glucose level falls below 50.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Lee_Bo said:
    You DO realize that may not be an option for some people, right?

    As a diabetic wearing a CGM, if I turn my phone off at night, I lose the alarms that wake me up if my glucose level falls below 50.

    Airplane mode is another option.
    Reply
  • Lee_Bo
    FFR said:
    Airplane mode is another option.

    I personally use DND.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Lee_Bo said:
    I personally use DND.

    And I’m sure you don’t have any dodgy Chinese apps installed
    Reply
  • Lee_Bo
    FFR said:
    And I’m sure you don’t have any dodgy Chinese apps installed

    Well since the article doesn’t specify what said apps are, I have no idea.

    But I do have TikTok installed. Some really good recipes there.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Lee_Bo said:
    Well since the article doesn’t specify what said apps are, I have no idea.

    But I do have TikTok installed. Some really good recipes there.

    The article mentioned Ali express as the culprit with some additional Chinese apps they did not mention.

    You should be good with tick tock, recipes and minor life hacks
    Reply
  • Annie_M
    I just read on "X" that Kevin O'Leary supposedly has plans to buy TikTok...
    Reply