How to Use iPhone Location Tracking

Your iPhone uses information from your cell service, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS to pinpoint its location, and since you almost always have your phone with you, so does your location. This information can be useful for many things, like letting others know where you are or finding your phone when it's lost. Other times, it's just more data that services and companies collect about you, creating privacy issues.

ContentsTurn off location access for specific appsIf you have an iPhone 11 or laterShare your location with individualsSend recurring notificationsShare via Messages

The good news is that you can tighten your controls so that apps only access your location when needed.

Tumbling your location settings may differ from phone to phone, depending on the model of iPhone you have and the version of iOS it's running. The following instructions were tested on an iPhone 11 running iOS 15; if you're using a different version of iOS, there shouldn't be much difference.

Disable access to location for specific apps

Location data is useful for some applications (for example, if you want to order food) and necessary for others, such as maps or carpools. However, if an app asks for your location and you don't think it needs the data, you can turn off location services for that app. Here's how.

Open Settings.
Go to "Privacy"> "Location Services".
"Location Services" will likely be enabled. Unless you want to turn off all location services completely (see below), leave it alone
Scroll down to find a list of all apps that enable location services. Each listing will show the name of the app and the type of permission it has:"Never", "When Sharing" or "In Use". "When shared" refers to the "Ask next time or when I share" option. Meanwhile, "While in use" usually means "While using the app", but sometimes it can also refer to "While using the app or widgets".
If you want to change a specific app's access to your location data, click on the apps list.

If you click on "While using the application", this application will have access to your location when it is open or when it is used in the background.

For more ways to limit location access, click "System Services" at the bottom of the "Location Services" screen. Here you can toggle location access for a number of things, including Wi-Fi, time zone, emergency calls, and Apple News and App Store announcements that are relevant to your location.

To the left of some service toggles, you can see a small arrow. A hollow arrow means the item can access your location under certain conditions; a purple arrow means the item has recently used your location, while a gray arrow means it has used your location within the last 24 hours.

To check if your phone is still collecting location data, scroll down to the very bottom of the "System Services" screen and turn on the switch for "Status Bar Icon". This will show an arrow at the top of your screen when an app on your phone is accessing your location.

If you really want to get off the network, you can disable location services to prevent your phone from collecting location data:

Open Settings.
Go to "Privacy"> "Location Services".
Disable the "Location Services" switch.
You will receive a notice that although location services are disabled for all apps, they will temporarily go live if you use "Find My iPhone" and report your phone lost . Select "Disable".

If you have an iPhone 11 or later

If you have a phone built with Apple's U1 chip, such as an iPhone 11 or later, and you have disabled location services for specific apps, you may find that you still sometimes see the arrow. According to Apple, this is because these models use ultra-wideband technology, which Apple says is regulated, so the phones use location services to determine if they are in an area with ultra-wide use. band is restricted.

iPhone requests location data when location preferences are set on an app-by-app basis. Therefore, disabling location services globally for your phone will stop these location requests, as your phone will not be able to collect any location data.

If you're walking alone at night or riding alone in an Uber, you might want a friend or family member to know where you are in real time. If you have iOS 13 or later, you can use the Find My app to share your location with family and friends.

Open "Settings".
Go to "Privacy" and make sure "Location Services" is enabled.
Go back to the main "Settings" menu and tap your name at the top.
Select "Find my".
Turn on "Share my location" to turn it on.
Then navigate to the Find My app. If this is your first time using the app, it will ask you if you want it to access your location. Choose either "Allow while using app", "Allow once", or "Don't allow".
You may get a screen explaining that "Find My" can be used with an AirTag or for AirPods, and there are also apps for watchOS.
On the map screen that appears, select "People" at the bottom of the screen.
Click the button that says "Start sharing location".
In the "To:" field, enter the phone number or name of your friend or family member.
If the person you select has a phone number that is not associated with an iPhone, you will be notified by a pop-up window. (But you can still share your location.)
Press "Send", then select "Share for one hour", "Share until end of day", or "Share forever".

It will then start sharing your location. To turn it off, click your contact's name in the "Find My" app under "People", then tap "Stop Sharing My Location". Confirm by clicking the "Stop sharing location" button that appears.

Send recurring notifications

You can also ask your phone to send recurring notifications. These are useful if you want your friend or relative to know when you get to a place (or don't).

In the "Find My" app, tap the "People" tab at the bottom of the screen.
Select the person you want to send notifications to (this should be someone you already share your location with).
Scroll until you see "Notifications" and the "Add" tab.
A popup at the bottom will give you the option to notify that person. Select it.

You can notify the person when you arrive or leave a specific location, and send the notification once or every time you arrive or leave (for example, if you want to notify someone every day when you get home from work).

You can also share your location via Messages:

Open a conversation in Messages.
Tap the contact's name, then click "Info".
This will give you the option to "Share my location", which will give you the option to "Share for one hour", "Share until the end of the day", or "Share forever". . Click on one of them to start sharing.
If you want to stop sharing, click "Stop sharing my location" where "Share my location" was. A button labeled "Stop sharing my location" will appear. Click on it.

Update September 17, 2021, 10:15 a.m. ET: This article was originally published on December 12, 2019 and has been updated to reflect differences between iOS and available services.