How to turn off location services on an iPhone

Sometimes it feels real freaky to open your Maps app and see a list of the latest locations you’ve been at. You don’t want that falling into the wrong hands.

It’s even freakier to think about the myriad apps that are tracking your location pretty much constantly, and doing who-knows-what with that information.

Location services use WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS to figure out your whereabouts. They can really amp up the iPhone experience, especially if you’re an avid Find My app user or use Maps to get around everywhere. But having your location super accessible to every app might not be the best move, privacy-wise.

You should do a semi-regular checkup on which apps you may have absentmindedly enabled location services on, and turn off any you don’t want tracking your every move. Here’s how:

Location services for the iOS system

There are built-in iPhone mechanisms that either rely on location access to function, or are greatly enhanced by location access, like Find My iPhone, Emergency Calls, and Cell Network Search. But if you don’t actively use every built-in service that taps into your location, you can turn them off.

1. Find your Settings, and scroll down to Privacy.

Of course, everything mysterious about the iPhone resides in Settings. Location service settings will be housed under Privacy.

2. Find the System Services

At the very top…

Credit: screenshot: apple

…and at the very bottom.

Credit: screenshot: apple

Tap “Location Services” right at the very top. then scroll down to “System Services” right at the very bottom.

3. Peruse the list, and make your pickings.

The full list of iOS systems that use location services will display, and you can toggle on or off whatever you choose. Your choices should depend on what phone services you use daily. But generally, services that may tap into calling, texting, data browsing, or phone setup (like Setting Time Zone, Emergency Calls & SOS, and Cell Network Search) should probably stay on, while more customized iOS services (like HomeKit, Location-Based Suggestions, and Apple Pay) can be turned off if you don’t use them.

Location services by app

Deciding which apps can access your location follows the same process, minus one step. Instead of going into System Services, stop at the list displayed after you go into Location Services in your Privacy Settings.

Your list of apps with location access.
Credit: screenshot: apple

Tap on any app to change its location access between “Never,” “Always,” “While Using,” and “Ask Next Time,” which are pretty self-explanatory options. Not all apps will have all options, depending on how they operate.

Chipotle doesn’t need to know my location at all times.
Credit: screenshot: apple

When you click on the app, you’ll also see a toggle button for “Precise Location.” Turn this off if you’d rather the app only have access to an approximate location when using its location access.

You can also turn off location services completely simply by toggling off “Location Services” at the very top of the menu of apps. We don’t recommend this, because as we said, there are definitely some iPhone services that tap into location services that we can’t live without.

But if you’re trying to live a really off-the-grid, private lifestyle – at least, as much as you can while still owning an iPhone – going completely location-less is your best bet. So go ahead, hit that toggle, and rest easy knowing that no part of your iPhone is tracking you…even if other people still could.