Change your location in Settings, not in Maps or individual apps

Your iPhone's location setting is a master control that affects which apps can see where you are. To change it, open Settings, tap Privacy, then Location Services. From there you can turn location off entirely, or control which apps have permission to use it. The setting does not move your actual location — it controls what your phone reports to apps and services.

If you want to stop sharing your location with a specific app (like Maps or a social media platform), you do not need to change a system setting. Instead, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, scroll to the app name, and tap it. You will see options: Never, Ask Next Time, While Using, or Always. Choose the level of access that app should have.

If you want to stop all location sharing at once, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and toggle the switch at the top to off. This disables location for all apps until you turn it back on.

Key Takeaways

  • Location Services is in Settings under Privacy, and turning it off stops all apps from seeing your location.
  • You can let some apps use your location and block others by going to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, tapping each app, and choosing Never, Ask Next Time, While Using, or Always.
  • Maps and other navigation apps work best with location on, but you can turn it off for social media or other apps you do not want tracking you.
  • Turning off location saves battery life because your phone stops constantly checking GPS and nearby cell towers.

Turn off location for one app without affecting others

Open Settings, then Privacy, then Location Services. Scroll down the list until you find the app you want to change. Tap the app name and you will see four choices.

Never means the app cannot see your location at all. Ask Next Time means your phone will ask you each time the app wants to use location. While Using means the app can see your location only when you have it open. Always means the app can see your location even when you are not using it — this is the most permissive setting and the one that uses the most battery.

Most people set social media apps and messaging apps to Never or While Using, and keep navigation apps like Maps on While Using or Always. You can change these settings at any time.

Stop sharing your location with specific people

If you use Find My Friends, Messages, or another app to share your location with family or friends, that is a separate setting from Location Services. To stop sharing with one person, open the app you used to share (usually Find My or Messages), find the person's name, and look for an option to stop sharing or remove them.

In Find My, tap the People tab at the bottom, find the person, tap their name, and scroll down to Stop Sharing My Location. In Messages, open a conversation, tap the person's name at the top, scroll down, and tap Stop Sharing My Location. These changes take effect immediately.

Turn off location history and timeline tracking

Some apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps keep a history of places you have visited. This is different from real-time location sharing. To turn off Google Maps timeline, open Google Maps, tap your profile picture, go to Settings > Maps history, and toggle off Web & App Activity. You can also delete past history from this screen.

Apple Maps does not keep a searchable history the same way, but it does remember recent searches. To clear these, open Maps, tap the search bar, swipe left on any recent search, and tap the trash icon. To prevent Maps from saving searches at all, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and set Maps to Never or While Using.

Check which apps have location permission right now

Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. You will see a list of every app that has ever asked for location permission. Next to each app name, you will see a small icon: a purple arrow means the app used location recently, a gray arrow means it has permission but has not used it lately, and no arrow means it has no permission.

Scroll through this list regularly to catch apps you do not recognize or apps you forgot you gave permission to. Tap any app name to change its setting. Many people are surprised to find that weather apps, dating apps, and shopping apps have location permission they do not remember granting.

Understand the difference between location and location history

Real-time location is what your phone reports right now — where you are at this moment. Location history is a record of everywhere you have been over time. Turning off Location Services stops real-time sharing. Deleting location history removes the record, but does not stop future tracking unless you also change app permissions.

If you turn off Location Services entirely, no app can see where you are, and no history is recorded. If you leave Location Services on but set individual apps to Never, those apps cannot see your location but other apps still can. If you want to keep location on for navigation but stop history tracking, go into each app's settings separately — there is no single master switch for history.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does turning off location services stop my phone from being tracked?

Turning off Location Services stops apps from using GPS and cell tower data to find you. However, your phone can still be located by your phone number or Apple ID if you have Find My turned on. To fully disable location tracking, you would also need to turn off Find My in Settings > [Your Name] > Find My.

Will turning off location drain my battery faster or slower?

Turning off location will make your battery last longer because GPS and cell tower lookups use significant power. If you leave location on but set apps to Never or While Using instead of Always, you will also see battery improvement.

Can I fake my location on iPhone?

iOS does not have a built-in setting to fake your location. Some third-party apps claim to do this, but they often do not work reliably and may violate app store rules. The most practical approach is to turn off location for apps you do not want tracking you.

What happens to location data after I deny an app permission?

Once you deny an app location permission, it cannot collect new location data. However, data it collected before you denied permission may still be stored on the app's servers. Uninstalling the app does not delete data the company already has.

Why does my iPhone keep asking for location permission?

If you set an app to Ask Next Time, your phone will prompt you each time it wants to use location. To stop the prompts, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, tap the app, and choose Never, While Using, or Always instead of Ask Next Time.