iPhone Location Settings: 5 Checks to Take Back Your Location in 3 Minutes

Your iPhone knows where you are almost all the time. That is useful for maps and weather, but many apps ask for your location when they do not need it, and some keep asking in the background. Three minutes in Settings is enough to see who has it and to take it back.

Everything below starts at Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.

1. Look at the list, app by app

Scroll through the list of apps. Next to each one you will see Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share, While Using or Always. Tap any app to change it.

A simple rule: maps, ride and delivery apps can have While Using. Almost nothing needs Always. Games, shopping apps and most social apps can be set to Never or Ask Next Time, and they will still work.

2. Turn off Precise Location where it is not needed

Inside each app's page there is a Precise Location switch. When it is off, the app only learns your rough area, not your street. A weather or news app works just as well with your rough area. Keep it on only for maps and the apps that really need to find you.

3. Check the apps that track you in the background

Any app set to Always can read your location even when you are not using it. iPhone shows you a reminder from time to time, but it is quicker to check now: if you do not remember why an app needs Always, change it to While Using.

The small arrow at the top of the screen tells you when an app is using your location right now.

4. Review Significant Locations

At the bottom of the Location Services page, open System Services > Significant Locations. Your iPhone keeps a list of places you visit often, such as home and work, to help with suggestions. Apple says this list is encrypted and stays on your devices. If you would rather not keep it, tap Clear History and turn the switch off.

5. Stop sharing where your photos were taken

Photos taken with the Camera carry the place where they were taken, unless you have set Camera to Never in the list above. When you share a photo, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn Location off before you send it. That way the person or the site you send it to sees the picture, not your address.

What a VPN changes, and what it does not

These switches control your phone's own location, the one that comes from GPS, Wi-Fi and the mobile network. A VPN does something different. It encrypts your connection and gives websites and apps the address of the VPN server instead of your own, so they cannot guess your area from your internet address. It does not hide your GPS location from an app you have allowed to use it. For that, only the settings above help. Use both.

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