The star next to a phone number on an iPhone indicates one of two things, depending on its color and location:
A vertical service code (VSC) is a sequence of digits and the signals star ( * ) and pound/hash ( # ) dialed on a telephone keypad or rotary dial to access certain telephone service features. Some vertical service codes require dialing of a telephone number after the code sequence.
You can see if someone is actively checking your location on an iPhone by checking the "People" tab in the Find My app (if you're sharing) and looking for purple arrows next to System Services in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, which indicate recent access, but there's no single log for who checked your exact spot in Find My unless they are using Precision Finding, which notifies you, or you're getting alerts for misplaced AirTags. The primary way to know who has access is to review who you're sharing with in Find My, while system service arrows show if your location was used recently by iOS features.
If your phone is being monitored remotely, you might notice your battery draining quickly, spot unfamiliar apps, or your camera, microphone, or location turning on when you're not using them.
Three-finger gestures on iPhone primarily activate accessibility features like VoiceOver (for screen reading and navigation) and Zoom (magnification), allowing scrolling, zooming, and text manipulation (copy/paste/undo) with specific taps and drags, though some text actions work without VoiceOver enabled for quick editing. Common gestures include three-finger double-tap to toggle VoiceOver speech, triple-tap for the screen curtain, and pinching/spreading with three fingers for copy/paste actions, notes this YouTube video.
Favorite friends appear at the top of the People list and are marked by a star. Go to the Find My app on your iPhone. Tap People at the bottom of the screen, then find the person you want to mark as a favorite.
You can designate new favorites from within the Favorites application by tapping the + symbol at the upper-right corner of the screen. Doing so brings you back to Contacts. From there, choose the appropriate person and number. A star appears next to any contact's number picked as a favorite.
Regularly visiting and maintaining your favorites page can significantly boost productivity. When all pertinent resources are just one click away, you're less likely to become distracted by unrelated content while browsing the internet.
Star Code - *67 for outbound caller id blocking.
Some people use ⭐ to represent literal stars, while others use them to represent talent and star power. In some cases, the ⭐ emoji can be used to emphasize someone's thanks or gratitude.
Yes, dialing *69 (Call Return) tells you the number of the last person who called you and gives you the option to call them back, especially useful for "Private" or "Unknown" calls, though its effectiveness depends on your carrier and if the caller blocked their ID, and it's largely phased out by smartphone caller ID logs.
If someone is on Do Not Disturb, your calls may go straight to voicemail, messages might go unanswered despite showing as delivered, and on iPhones, you may see a “notifications silenced” message if they've enabled Share Focus Status.
The ☆ symbol, a white five-pointed star, generally means excellence, fame, or a special mark of attention, used for highlighting good reviews, indicating VIP status, or adding flair in digital contexts like text and social media. It can also represent spirituality, magic, or a celestial body, and is a common emblem in flags, often symbolizing ideals like liberty or states.
It means you received a call from that number, or if you have multiple numbers associated with that contact, that number was the most recent one used in attempting to call you. Blocking a number just means that you're not being notified of calls from that number. Not that that number can't try and call you.
Favorites allow you easy, one-touch access to contacts you use frequently. Choose a contact's phone number as a favorite for quick access to dial and to send IMs.
No, your iPhone doesn't send a notification when someone simply views your location in the standard Find My app, but you can see which apps are accessing your location in Settings, and a special "Find Nearby" feature does notify you if someone is actively trying to find you in person. You can check your Location Services in Settings > Privacy & Security to see apps with recent location access (indicated by an arrow icon) and manage sharing in the Find My app.
You can double-tap or triple-tap the back of iPhone to perform actions such as taking a screenshot, turning on an accessibility feature, running a shortcut, and more. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap, then choose an action.
*3001#12345#* on an iPhone activates the hidden Field Test Mode, a diagnostic tool for network engineers and power users to see detailed cellular data like signal strength (dBm), cell tower info, and network quality, accessible by dialing the code in the Phone app and pressing call, often after turning off Wi-Fi for accurate cellular readings.
Messages automatically uses the following screen effects for specific text strings: