Cybersecurity Experts Weigh In On Concerns About iPhone Airplay Settings
Cybersecurity Experts Weigh In On Concerns About iPhone Airplay Settings
Publish Date: 2026-05-31 07:00:00
Source Domain: www.huffpost.com
People across the internet have been sounding the alarm about potential security risks connected to an iPhone setting that you may not have noticed. And experts in cybersecurity think it’s worth taking a look.
Earlier this year, several social media users on TikTok and Instagram took to the internet to warn others about the Airplay settings on their iPhones. One viral TikTok post warned iPhone users to make sure their Airplay settings were not set to “Automatic.”
This setting can be accessed on an iPhone by going to: Settings General Airplay & Continuity Automatically Airplay. Under “Automatically Airplay,” Apple offers iPhone users the option to choose between “Never,” “Ask” or “Automatic.”
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Cybersecurity experts weigh in on viral social media posts warning about overlooked Airplay settings in iPhones.
The viral post claimed that having “Automatic” selected makes users more vulnerable to hackers who have the ability get all of the information on their phone “in a matter of seconds” — as long as the hacker’s phone is right next to the user’s phone.
Many people replied to the TikTok post expressing concerns about the setting, with some noting that their Airplay setting was unknowingly set to “Automatic.”
Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.
Kevin Tackett, CEO of security consulting company Secure Ideas, told HuffPost that as it relates to concerns about the “Automatically Airplay” setting, it’s important to note that “any ‘additional’ connectivity is a risk.”
“So yes having this on when you don’t need it is a bigger issue than not having it on,” he said.
But Tackett said that statements that a hacker could simply steal all of an iPhone user’s information because they had Airplay turned on is “an exaggeration.”
“There have been flaws that allowed for additional access, such as the Airborne flaw from last year, that would give access through further…