How to Use Location Services on iPhone? [7 Techniques]

Are you looking for ways to work with the location services available on iPhone? You’ve landed at the right place! Read on to know about how to use location services on iPhone.

“Live” means when our phone is in the “live” mode, it is tracking and broadcasting to our device the current location of either our own or another person’s iPhone. Instead of having to wait for the page to reload every few minutes, we’ll get the updates in real-time.

Live location services are extremely useful and are applicable in several ways. More often than not, we need to use the location services on our iPhones. For example, when we take an Uber ride, we need to use the maps to configure our live location and the directions to our destination.

I have deciphered the techniques of using the live location services on iPhone. Continue to read and know more.

Earlier, I wrote about How to Forward Messages on iPhone and How to Use Favorites on iPhone as well.

Note: I am an iPhone 13 user, so I’ve displayed the screenshots of the same. Nevertheless, these steps can be applied to iPhone 14 as well.

Following up are the topics I’ve talked about:

How do location services track us
How to turn on location service on iPhone
How to turn off location service on iPhone
How to set up location services in iPhone settings
How to give permission to apps for live location
What is the Find My iPhone feature
Can we share our specific location

Table of Contents

How Do Location Services Track Us

In order to establish the general location of our device, Location Services leverages crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspots, cellular towers, GPS and Bluetooth (where they are accessible).

Moreover, this entire process will only take place when we enable the location services on our iPhones. Also, we need to give separate permissions to other apps (that use location services). Apps can’t have the access to locate or track us without our permission.

How to Turn On Location Service on iPhone

iPhone has a system for location services which we can turn on from the settings. Let’s have a look! This feature provides the approximate position of our iPhone.

Launch Settings > Privacy & Security.

Now, tap on Location Services.
On the next page, turn on Location Services.

Thus, the location feature gets enabled in iPhone.

How to Turn Off Location Services on iPhone

Similarly, when we don’t want the location services to track our iPhones, we can disable the location services.

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.

Next, press the Location Services.
On the last page, turn off the Location Services tab.

Therefore, our iPhones won’t be tracked after switching off the location services.

Also read: How to Set Up Face ID on iPhone? [2 Direct Methods]

How to Set Up Location Services in iPhone Settings

After switching on the location services in iPhone settings, there are more options and choices available to elevate the location service functionalities. Follow the steps below to know more.

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.

Again, click on Location Services on the next page.
Now, turn on the Location Services tab to see the settings available on iPhone.

Once we turn it on, few more settings appear below on the screen.
Location Alerts – Under this, enable Show Map in Location Alerts. So, when we get any alerts related to location, it will show the same on the map.

Next, go back to the previous page.
Here, open Tracking.
Allow Apps to Request to Track – Enabling this will give freedom to the apps in iPhone to ask for permission to track the device.
Therefore, on the same page, we can see the apps that have permission to track our iPhones.

Again, go back to the previous menu.
On this page, the iPhone apps have access to separate categories and are listed under those very categories.

Hence, the different settings for location services on iPhone can be set up this way.

How to Give Permission to Apps for Live Location

Additionally, we can also give access to apps for location services from the settings. As shown in the steps above, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Location Services.

Scroll down to see the list of apps that have access as per the allowance by the iPhone user.

Let’s see the choices as per the apps.
For the Maps app the options are:
- Never – If we select this, then it means we’ll never permit this app to access the location.
- Ask Next Time or When I Share – Choosing this will let the Maps app ask for location access every time it needs it.
- While Using the App – Location access is permitted only when the app is being used.
- While Using the App or Widgets – Again, the location of our iPhone can only be accessed when the app is in use or the widgets.

In the previous page, System Services has the list of in-built functions that have location access enabled in iPhone. We can also disable or enable any function from this list.

Therefore, this is another way to disable or enable location services for the apps on iPhone.

Check out: 6 Efficient Ways to Set and Reset Keyboard on iPhone

What is the Find My iPhone Feature

Find My iPhone is a feature in iPhone using which we can quickly and concurrently track all of our Apple devices. Also, we can track the iPhones of our family and friends, provided they permit us. I’ve mentioned the steps below on how to activate the Find My iPhone settings.

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.

Again, open Location Services > Location Services.

Under that, tap on Share My Location.
On the next page, click on Find My iPhone.

Further, on the new window, enable the Find My iPhone tab.

Moving on, I’ll elaborate about the settings included on the same page in find my iPhone feature.
Find My Network – If activated, the iPhone user can find their iPhones even if it is in offline mode, battery saver mode, or switched off.
Send Last Location – When the battery in our iPhone is gravely low, then enabling this tab will automatically send the location of our iPhone to Apple.

Moreover, the find my iPhone feature also assists the police in locating stolen gadgets.

Click to read: How to Block and Unblock Contacts on iPhone? [4 Effective Methods]

Can We Share Our Specific Location

Yes! It is possible to allow the apps to obtain the precise location of our iPhones. Let’s see how that’s possible.

Launch Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
A new window will crop up.
Open any app settings under this. For example, I have talked about the Maps app.

On the next page, the option Precise Location is visible.
Enable this option.

Ultimately, this will allow the apps and their functions to track our iPhone and its activities.

Ending

Using location services, Apple can track their users’ devices like iPhones, iPad, etc. Location Services come in really handy when we lose our iPhone or have misplaced it somewhere.

Even the law enforcement departments can find the precise location of a stolen device or even a person someone who is missing. They can locate the missing person with the use of location services in iPhones.

I’ve elaborated on the location settings on my iPhone. Moreover, giving permission, access, and sharing the exact location of our iPhones with the installed apps in our iPhones can enhance the functioning of those particular apps.

Hope this article helps you solve any issue that you may be facing. Read the guidelines properly to implement them on your iPhones.