How to Turn Off Automatic Location Services on iOS and Android (and Why)

Learn how to disable automatic location services on your devices and understand the security and privacy benefits.

If you're like us, you probably have a ton of apps on your phone that use location services, like Google Maps, Apple Maps, social media, Uber, Amtrak, Amazon Alexa, and more. The list goes on. Most of us probably never think about how these apps are constantly tracking our location. This continuous tracking brings up major security and privacy issues. In this guide, we'll explore the pros and cons of keeping automatic location services on, provide a step-by-step on how to turn them off and discuss the alternative options available on both iOS and Android.

First, you might be wondering, what exactly is automatic location service and why is it important.

Automatic location service is a feature on mobile devices that uses GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks to figure out where your device is. This feature lets apps and websites provide location-based functions, like navigation, weather updates, location tagging in social media, or finding the nearest coffee shop. It’s crucial to provide you with relevant information based on where you are. While Location Services are important for enhancing user experiences and providing essential functions, they also come with significant security and privacy concerns. Here are some of the risks associated with having your automatic location on:

Security Concerns:

Exploitation of Location Data: If your device is compromised, malicious actors can exploit your location data. This can lead to targeted attacks, physical stalking, or unauthorized surveillance.
Data Breaches: Location data stored or transmitted by apps can be intercepted during data breaches, revealing your movements and habits to cybercriminals.

Privacy Risks:

Tracking: Continuous use of location services can allow apps and services to track your movements, building detailed profiles of your daily activities, preferences, and routines.
Unauthorized Access: Apps with excessive permissions can access your location data without your explicit consent, potentially sharing it with third parties or advertisers.

We may not know exactly how our information and location could be misused or what third parties intend to do with it, but it's crucial to be proactive about our digital safety. Protecting ourselves from the drawbacks of technological advances means managing these services carefully.

Remember when you first set up your iOS or Android device, it asks if you’d like to turn on location services? A lot of us hit enable and rarely revisit the settings. But not you, you have the time and the know-how. Here’s how to do it:

iOS: How to Turn Off Location Services

Open Settings: Tap the Settings app on your home screen.
Go to Privacy: Scroll down and tap on "Privacy."
Select Location Services: Tap on "Location Services" at the top.
Toggle Off: To turn off Location Services entirely, toggle the switch at the top.
Adjust App Permissions: Alternatively, you can disable location services for specific apps by scrolling through the list and adjusting each app's permission individually.

Android: How to Turn Off Location Services

Open Settings: Access the Settings app from your home screen or app drawer.
Go to Location: Scroll down and tap on "Location."
Toggle Off: Toggle the switch at the top to turn off location services.
Adjust App Permissions: Similar to iOS, you can disable location services for specific apps by selecting "App-level permissions" or "App location permissions" and adjusting each app's access individually.

Why to Turn Them Off:

Protect Privacy: Disabling location services helps prevent apps and services from tracking your movements and accessing your location data without your consent.
Enhance Security: By turning off location services, you reduce the risk of your location data being exploited in case of device compromise or data breaches.
Limit Unauthorized Access: Managing app permissions ensures that only trusted apps have access to your location data, protecting your privacy and security.

FYI, be careful about doing this, though, because most services you use every day will be affected. Disabling location services may help you maintain the highest level of smart device privacy and security, and preserve your device's battery life, but it will diminish your overall experience. For example, photos won't attach a location when you take them, map apps won't be able to provide directions, and Uber or Lyft won't be able to pinpoint your location.

Alternatives to turning your automatic location services completely off:

Instead of turning off location services completely, you can tweak the settings for individual apps to suit your comfort level. For IOS, head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. And for Android, open Settings> location> App-level Permissions. Here, pick an app from the list and adjust its location permissions. For both IOS and Android, you've got four options:

Never: The app will never access your location.

Ask Next Time or When I Share: Each time you open the app, you'll decide if you want to allow location access just once, while using the app, or not at all.

While Using the App: The app can only use your location while it's open and active on your screen, including through widgets.

Always: The app can access your location at any time, even if it's not open. Note that not all apps will have this option.

Monitoring App Location Access

If you're curious about which apps have been tapping into your location data the most, in IOS, in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services look for the arrow icon next to the app name. A purple arrow means the app has recently used your location, while a gray arrow indicates it has accessed your location in the past 24 hours. This can help you decide if you need to dial back its permissions.

While Android doesn't use arrow icons, it offers similar functionality to monitor app location access. You can see which apps have accessed your location in Settings > Location > App-level permissions to adjust permissions accordingly.

Managing Precise Location Settings

And if you're ok with apps using location data but feel uneasy about them knowing exactly where you are, turn off Precise Location and the app will only know your approximate location, which should be sufficient for most apps and services.

For the precise location in IOS, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, pick an app from the list, and toggle the precise location off.

On Android, go to Settings > Location > App-level permissions, select an app, and toggle between "Use precise location" and "Use approximate location" to manage this setting

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Stay savvy and keep your data safe!

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