Skip to main content

How to turn off precise location on your iPhone (and why you should)

One of the best things about smartphones is also the worst thing about them. You're able to accurately geo-locate yourself, allowing for apps and services like Uber and Uber Eats and even conventional navigation with Apple or Google Maps over older paper maps. Unfortunately, that means you're also open to having apps peek at your location for no reason other than they can. And, if you have an iPhone, this means having some apps (such as Instagram) being able to see your precise location.

Oftentimes, this is harmless. However, a troubling amount of companies have data leaks or data breaches, or they just store data when they shouldn't be doing so (Meta just paid an eyewatering amount of money to settle one such case), and sometimes there's no point to giving up your home address to a corporation on the internet if there's no good reason for it.

Related Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • iPhone

  • iOS 14 or newer

Precise location setting on an iPhone.
Joe Maring/Digital Trends

How to turn off precise location on your iPhone

While it's easy enough to turn off location on your phone wholesale, some apps won't work without location services enabled for them. Apple provides a way to get around this.

With the Precise Location toggle added in iOS 14, you're able to still supply apps with a location, just not your exact one. You'll definitely be in the right town, but the company's not going to let them know you're at 13 Down The Lane Street. Here's how to get started with that.

Step 1: Open the Settings app.

Step 2: Head to the Location services sub-menu either by searching for "location services" on the main Settings page or by navigating to it through Privacy > Location services.

Step 3: Search for the app you want to disable from accessing your precise location — for example, Instagram.

Step 4: Once you've tapped into the app, you'll see a toggle at the bottom of the page indicating Precise location. Slide the toggle off.

With this setting off, Instagram (or TikTok or whatever app you choose) will still have your vague location, but it's got no way to narrow it down. Apple has quite a few tools to protect privacy that have been built into iPhones over the years, and this is just one of the more immediately useful ones.

Using it is a matter of judgment, though. If you're using Instagram and hoping to see pictures of the locale, that would work out for you. If you're using Uber and you'd like to call a ride, turning off the precise location may cause some issues.

As with most features on your phone, precise location on your iPhone isn't inherently malicious. In fact, it's very useful to have in some scenarios. But if you're wary about certain applications knowing your exact whereabouts, turning off precise location on your iPhone can be done in seconds — and add some much-wanted peace of mind.

Editors' Recommendations

You can now try the OnePlus 11 for free for 100 days — here’s how
Someone holding the OnePlus 11.

Buying a new smartphone is always a gamble in terms of customer satisfaction — mainly because they cost so much and can be so different from the device that the buyer is currently using.

To combat this, OnePlus is giving customers the chance to try the OnePlus 11 entirely risk-free. Starting today, the company is running the "100 Days No Regret" program, which allows OnePlus 11 buyers to use the new flagship for up to 100 days and still be eligible to return it for a full refund.

Read more
You aren’t ready for this Galaxy S23 vs. iPhone 14 Pro camera test
Deep purple iPhone 14 Pro and Cream Galaxy S23 crossed over

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 is here, and it's quickly become one of the best phones you can buy in 2023. For $800, you’re getting a small but mighty phone with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, long-lasting battery life, and a powerful triple lens camera system with a 50-megapixel main shooter.

But how does one of the best Android phones stack up against Apple’s smallest flagship, the iPhone 14 Pro? It has just as many cameras as the Galaxy S23, a powerful 48MP main camera, and costs $200 more than Samsung's handset.

Read more
Nothing Phone 2: news, release date and price rumors, and more
Nothing Phone 1 with Glyph lights active.

The Nothing Phone 1 made its debut in July 2022, and it had a reasonable amount of hype behind it due to the involvement of Carl Pei, a co-founder of OnePlus. It was a quirky phone due to the unique light show on the back that makes it stand out from the competition, but on the software front, it’s very similar to other Android phones out there. It received mixed reviews, though the consensus leaned more on the positive side.

This year, we’re expecting the Nothing Phone 2, as confirmed by Pei in January during MWC 2023. Here’s everything we know so far about the Nothing Phone 2!
Nothing Phone 2: design

Read more