It’s likely that you activated location services when you initially logged into a new iPhone, and your device has been following you ever since. That may be perfectly OK for the most part, but what if you would want greater control over your location data? Fortunately, it’s simple to disable for individual applications or the whole phone. Here’s how.

Want to know more about your new iPhone? Take a look at our eight best suggestions.

For what reason would you disable location services?

Actually, a few reasons. Having greater privacy is the more apparent one. There are several services that are always aware of your precise position if you have let every app you have ever installed to monitor it. Thinking more carefully about the information you offer and determining if certain applications or services need it might be a smart idea. It’s time to remove that access if not.

Battery life is another compelling argument. Your phone’s resources may be used by sharing your position constantly. If you’re looking at a 3% battery life and knowing you have an hour to get home, any little increase may be helpful.

turn off the iPhone’s location services
One of the best reasons to control your location data is privacy.
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Is turning off location services safe?

You may limit services and usefulness, but turning off location services won’t harm your phone in any way. position data is necessary for apps like Strava and Google Maps to monitor your position and display your current location. Uber will also be unable to locate you when it comes to picking you up. You won’t be able to see where any of your photographs were taken on the map since your camera won’t store location information to your images.

Additionally, it will turn off Apple’s Find My services, so if you want the security of having a friend or partner know where you are while you’re out and about, be sure to keep it on.

However, if your iPhone has power and is linked to a wireless connection, you may use the Lost mode to remotely activate location services if you lose it when location services are turned off and attempt to locate it using iCloud.

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Your phone’s master switch, which will disable all location services.
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How location services may be disabled.

Locate Location Services at the top of Settings > Privacy on your iPhone. Give it a tap.

There is a master switch at the top that will turn off location services on your whole phone. Everything will stop working, much as when you turn off your house’s main power breaker. This is the option to utilize if you want to save battery life or are really concerned about not being tracked.

However, a list of all the applications that may utilize location data will appear farther down. You may choose whether or not to provide it access to your location by tapping on each one.

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Although it takes more effort, you can control how your phone’s applications utilize your location information.
Hoyle Andrew/CNET
When you tap on the name of an app, four alternatives will appear:

Never: It won’t have any way of tracking your whereabouts.

seek Next Time: This lets you provide permission for your data to be used once, but it will need to seek your permission before using it again.

While Using the App: Your location information will only be used by the app while it is open on your screen. The app won’t be able to monitor your location in the background while it’s closed.

Always: Your location information may be used by an app when it is operating and when it is not.

disable location services on the iPhone 4
Do you want your location to be constantly tracked by an app, or not? You have an option.
Hoyle Andrew/CNET

Which iPhone applications need to be able to find me?

Whether you want your applications to monitor you constantly, sometimes, or never is up to you. A chosen approach works best for me. Because Google Home links to my smart home devices, I allow it to constantly monitor my location: My heating settings change and my security cameras switch on automatically when I leave the home. However, I only allow applications to monitor my location when I’m using them for almost everything else, such as Booking.com, Instagram, Uber, and even the camera on my phone.

Don’t worry if you remove access to an app and later realize you need it; all you have to do is go back into your settings and adjust the permissions. Just follow these steps.