If you’ve got an iPhone, it’s worth knowing how to share your location. It can be a big help in lots of situations, from letting your family know you’ve arrived home safely, to giving your mate a heads-up that you’re nearby. Lots of apps need to know your location too - how could Pokémon Go and Waze navigation cope if they didn’t know exactly where you were?
In this article, we'll tell you everything you need to know about sharing your location on iPhone. Don’t go anywhere until you’ve read all about it…
How to enable location sharing
To let others know where you are, the first thing you’ll need to do is enable location sharing on your iPhone. Here’s what you need to do:
Turn on location services
Tap the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone Home screen. It’s the grey gear icon.
Scroll down and tap ‘Privacy’.
Tap ‘Location Services’ at the top of the screen and toggle the switch to turn it on.
Manage location permissions
While you’re still in ‘Location Services’ you can control the location settings for individual apps. Here’s how to manage your location permissions:
Scroll through the list of apps to find the one you want to adjust location settings for.
Choose from the options: "Never," "Ask Next Time," "While Using the App," or "Always," depending on your preference.
Good stuff. You’ve now enabled location sharing and are managing permissions for apps on your iPhone.
Share location with contacts
You can use lots of different apps to share your location with contacts on your iPhone - even ‘non-Apple’ apps like WhatsApp and Google Mail.
The exact method varies by each app, so let us take you through exactly what you need to do on two of the most popular built-in iPhone apps – Messages and Maps.
Share your iPhone location with Messages
You know all about using the Messages app to send text messages, photos, and videos to your contacts, right? Well, you can also use it to share your location with them. Simply…
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Open the conversation with the contact you want to share your location with.
3. Tap the ‘Details’ button in the upper right corner.
4. Select ‘Share My Location’.
5. Choose how long you want to share your location for.
6. Confirm by tapping ‘Send’.
Your contact will now receive a notification and be able to view your location in the Messages conversation.
Share your iPhone location with Maps
If you’re navigating with the help of your iPhone Maps app, you can share your location with contacts without leaving it. Here’s how:
1. Open the Maps app.
2. Tap the ‘Search’ bar and enter your contact's name (or select them from your recent contacts if that’s easier).
3. Tap on your contact’s name and choose ‘Share My Location’ from the onscreen options.
5. Choose how long you want to share your location for.
6. Select ‘Share’ to send an invitation to the contact.
Your location will now be shared with your contact, for the amount of time you specified.
Stop location sharing on iPhone
You might want to turn off location sharing on your iPhone for privacy reasons, or to save precious battery life if you’re running low. When it’s turned off, apps and services will no longer have access to your real-time location. Here’s how to put a stop to it:
1. Tap the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone Home screen. It’s the grey gear icon.
2. Scroll down and tap on ‘Privacy’.
3. Select ‘Location Services’.
4. Toggle the switch to ‘off’ to disable location services. You can also scroll down to find specific apps using location services and toggle them off individually.
If you follow the steps above, your iPhone won't share your location with apps, services or contacts until you decide to enable ‘Location Services’ again.
Share a location securely on iPhone
Family Sharing and Share ETA are a couple more handy iPhone features for sharing your location securely with family and friends. Here’s what you need to know:
How to use Family Sharing on iPhone
Family Sharing feature on iPhone lets you securely share your location with chosen family members.
1. Tap the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone Home screen. It’s the grey gear icon.
2. Tap on your Apple ID at the top of the screen.
3. Select ‘Family Sharing’.
4. Choose ‘Share My Location’ and enable it.
5. Invite family members to join ‘Family Sharing’ and accept their invitations. When they join, their location will be visible in the ‘Find My’ app.
How to use Share ETA on iPhone
The Share ETA feature on iPhone lets you share your estimated time of arrival with contacts while you’re in the Maps app. It's a great way to keep someone updated on your progress.
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Open the Maps app.
2. Tap ‘Directions’ and start navigation.
3. While you’re in navigation mode, tap the route card at the bottom of the screen.
4. Select ‘Share ETA’.
5. Choose a contact to share your ETA with.
6. Choose how long you want to share your location for.
7. Tap ‘Share’.
Your contact will receive a notification with your ETA on it, allowing them to easily track your progress.
FAQs
How do you track a family member’s iPhone?
The best way of tracking a family member on your iPhone is to use the Family Share feature. This lets them accept an invitation from yourself to share their location. The exact steps for doing this are detailed above.
Alternatively, you can ask them to enable location sharing through the Find My app and add you as a trusted contact.
Note: Always respect other people’s privacy and ask them for permission before tracking their iPhone.
How do I know if someone can see my location on iPhone?
It’s easy to see if a person or company has the ability to track you.
1. Tap the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone Home screen. It’s the grey gear icon.
2. Tap ‘Privacy’.
3. Select ‘Location Services’.
You can then review which apps have access to your location. And if someone is sharing your location through apps like Find My, you’ll see that info listed. You can also check your location sharing settings in individual apps.
Need any more help?
Thinking about upgrading your iPhone? We’ve got some great iPhones at Currys, including the iPhone 15 family. Check out this article on the best iPhone: which one should you buy?
Fancy learning more about your iPhone? Check out our handy articles on how to find a lost iPhone, how to change the ringtone on your iPhone, and even how to tell what iPhone you have!
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