macOS 13.3: a new blue geolocation indicator in the menu bar

A new privacy indicator has been introduced in macOS 13.3. Now, when an application uses your geolocation, such as Maps, Weather or even Safari with certain sites, a small blue dot appears in the menu bar, to the right of the button used to open the control center. This indicator is displayed for a handful of seconds before disappearing even if the application that caused it to burst is still using geolocation.

If you open the control center, you’ll see which app is using your location. The operation is therefore the same as on the iPhone for years, where an icon appears at the top of the screen to inform you that your geolocation is being used.

An option in System Settings > Privacy and Security > System Services – Details allows you to display the blue dot even when macOS services are using your position – in other words, it appears more often. Conversely, there is no option to hide it completely.

This small blue point joins the orange point present since Monterey which indicates for its part the use of the microphone.

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