Get more privacy on iPhone. Decide for yourself which apps are allowed to use the phone’s location in what way.
Collecting data
Most apps on an iPhone collect data about the user. An important source for this is the location of the phone. As a result, the app knows where the user is, often comes or goes. Some apps require this information. For example, a navigation app needs to know its current location to determine its route. But for other apps, such as news apps, the location is not necessary. Set yourself which app is allowed to know your location. In addition, from iOS 14 it is possible to only share an approximate location with an app. For example, the app does not know exactly where someone is. And for the operation of most apps that require a location, this information is sufficient. Think of an app with local news or the weather.
Customize Location Services
Here’s how to adjust location sharing on an iPhone (from iOS 13):
- Tap on Institutions.
- Tap on Privacy.
- Tap on Location Services. If the slider behind ‘Location Services’ is green, you can set per app whether it is allowed to use the location.
- Tap the name of the app.
- Tap the desired option: Never, Ask next time (or when I share), When using app or All the time (this option is not available in all apps). Under the options, the app explains how to use the location.
- Prefer to only share the approximate location with the app? Then make sure that the slider behind ‘Exact location’ is gray. You do this by tapping the green slider.
- Tap on Previous and set up additional apps if necessary.
- Close Settings.