If you own an iPhone, you may have stumbled across “Location Sharing” several times while unintentionally scrolling through the “Settings” window. The truth is location sharing is an extremely vital feature of your iPhone.
When you enable location sharing iPhone, you have the ability to share your real-time location with your friends and family to let them know your current whereabouts. In addition to this, location sharing also lets you find your iPhone if it’s lost or misplaced, thanks to Apple’s ‘Find My iPhone” feature.
Since there are too many ways to use “location-sharing”, it may get a bit confusing to use it the right way. That’s why we have decided to share tactics you should know to have full control over iPhone location sharing settings.
Part 1: 3 tactics to view shared location on iPhone
First, let’s discuss how to view a shared location on iPhone when someone shares it with you. There are three ways to view your family member’s/friend’s location.
1.1 View shared location on iPhone with the message app
No doubt “iMessage” is a great app to stay in touch with your closed ones. But, the app lets you do way more than sending texts and cute cat videos. You can also view someone’s location or share your own using the iMessage app.
In fact, this is the most convenient way to view someone’s location. Follow these steps to see a shared location on iPhone through iMessage.
Step 1 - Open the iMessage app on your device.
Step 2 - Tap on the person’s recent iMessage, whose location you want to see.
Step 3 - Tap on the little info button “i” at the top right corner.
If the person has turned on location sharing on their device and shared their location with you, you’d be able to see their current location on your screen.
You can also use the iMessage app to share your location with a friend or family member. With the iMessage app, you can either share your location temporarily (for a couple of hours) or forever.
Step 1 - Open the iMessage app and tap on the person’s name with whom you want to share your location.
Step 2 - Toggle the “Share My Location” switch.
Step 3 - You’ll be asked to set the duration for which you want to share the location. You can share your location for one hour, for the entire day, or indefinitely.
Step 4 - Choose the right option and the person would be able to see your current location in real-time.
1.2 View shared location on iPhone with Find My app
“Find My” is an iOS app, released by Apple, that lets you find your lost devices as well as view a shared location on iPhone of contacts who have shared their location with you.
If you’re running iOS 13 on your device, “Find My” will be a pre-installed application that you can use to track the current location of a family member.
Note: In the case of previous iOS versions, you can install the “Find My Friends” app from the App Store.
Step 1 - Open the “Find My” app on your smartphone and click on the “People” tab at the bottom of the window.
Step 2 - You’ll be displayed with a list of family members who have shared their location with you. Tap on any person and you’ll be able to track their current location.
1.3 View shared location on iPhone with WhatsApp
You can also use the Whatsapp Messenger in your iPhone to view a shared location, considering the person has shared their location through WhatsApp.
Step 1 - Open the WhatsApp Messenger on your iPhone.
Step 2 - Now, click the contact’s icon who has shared their location with you.
Step 3 - Click on the “View Live Location” button.
Step 4 - You’ll be prompted to a map with the live location of the person. You can follow the directions to navigate yourself to their current location or share your own live location to meet halfway.
Part 2: How to turn on location sharing on iPhone
Now that we’ve discussed how to view a shared location on iPhone, let’s discuss how to turn-on location sharing on your iPhone. You can’t share your location with your friends and family unless the “location-sharing” feature is on.
Follow these steps to enable location sharing iPhone.
Step 1 - Open the “Settings” Window and scroll down to the “Privacy” tab.
Step 2 - At the top, you’ll find the “Location Services” button.
Step 3 - Toggle the switch to turn on “location services”.
Step 4 - Go back to the “Settings” window and click on your Apple ID at the top.
Step 5 - Click on the “Find My” button.
Step 6 - Toggle the switch to turn-on location sharing on your device. Select the contacts with whom you want to share your location.
Part 3: 3 tactics to stop location sharing on iPhone
While location sharing is an impressive feature, it has some disadvantages too. For instance, if you have shared your location with someone, they can always find where you are at the moment. In this case, you can either fake your location or completely turn-off location sharing so that no one can see your real-time location.
Here’s how to turn off sharing location on iPhone.
3.1 Use a GPS spoofer to fake iPhone location
Even though iPhone’s security is too hard to beat, you can still fake your location and restrict people from knowing your whereabouts. Of course, you’ll need a dedicated software to do the job. “dr.fone virtual location” is a tool that lets you change your GPS location without any hassle.
Here’s how you can use the app to fake your current location.
Step 1 - Launch the Software
Install “dr.frone virtual location” on your PC. Once the installation is completed, launch the software and click on the “Virtual Location” tab.
Step 2 - Connect Your iPhone
Before moving with the further process, make sure to connect your iPhone to your PC. Once connected, click on the “Get Started” button.
Step 3 - Re-Center to Accurate Location
A new window will open with a map displaying your current location. If the location is inaccurate, click on the “center-on” button. This will make your location accurate.
Step 4 - Start the “Teleport Mode”
Now comes the interesting part. With the software, you can virtually teleport your iPhone’s location anywhere in the world. To do so, click on the corresponding button (3rd button) in the top right corner.
Enter the location, where you want to teleport to, in the top-left text-field and click on GO.
Step 5 - Confirm the Location
Click on the “Move Here” button to confirm the location.
Your location is now teleported to the selected location. Even if you click the center-on button, your device’s current location will be shown as the location you’ve chosen.
3.2 Turn on airplane mode of iPhone
If you want to prevent others from seeing your current location, you can also turn-on the airplane mode on your device.
Step 1 - Open the control center on your iPhone.
Step 2 - Tap the “Airplane” icon. This will temporarily shut down your iPhone’s location-sharing service until you turn-off the Airplane mode.
3.3 Turn off iPhone location sharing from settings
You can also turn off your device’s location sharing directly from the “Settings” window.
Step 1 - Open the “Settings” window and click on Your Apple ID.
Step 2 - Click the “Find My” button and toggle the “Share My Location” switch to turn off location sharing of your iPhone.
Final Words
At this point, we think you’ve completely understood how to enable location sharing on the iPhone. So, use it and stay connected to your closed ones. And, since you can also turn off the location sharing whenever you want, you also have the power to enjoy complete privacy.
