How Do You Know if Someone Turned Off Their Location?

iPhone users can see each other’s location. But that is of course if they allow apps access to the location. On the “Find My App”, one can see the location of others who have given them access too.

But oftentimes, one cannot see the location of their friends or family members, and they wonder why that happens. This has probably happened to you or someone you know. People even fight with their loved ones over it as they assume things. And you have probably wondered how to know if someone turned off their location. So, if you want to know the technicalities of it, this is just the article for you.

How do people turn off their location?

If you are an iPhone user, you can go to your settings and then Location. There you have the choice to either give apps access to your location or deny it. One tap will determine whether multiple apps can access your location or not.

But how can you tell if someone had turned off their location? Well, thankfully Apple makes it easy for you. All you have to do is go to the person’s Apple profile on your phone and if it says, “Location not shared”, they have turned their location off.

Various reasons why you might not be able to see someone’s location.

The most simple reason as to why you cannot see someone’s location is that they turned the location off on their phone. Thus, no apps on their phone can access their location and including “Find My App”. But there might be some other reasons as well.

1. Their phone might be switched off. Often times people run out of battery and their phone dies. Along with their phone, their GPS turns off too. And thus even if they have location enabled on their phone, the GPS can no longer track it. So, it might look like a loved one is hiding their location from you when in reality they just forgot to charge their phone.
2. They do not have a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. GPS cannot keep a track of your charging location if your phone does not have an internet connection. So often when people go to places with a poor internet connection, you might not be able to see their location. It has nothing to do with them turning off their location or hiding it, they just do not have a stable internet connection.
3. They have blocked you from seeing their location. Yes, people can choose who sees their location. If you cannot see someone’s location, a probable reason might be that they don’t want you to. If it’s someone you care about that does not want to share their location with you, the best solution is to talk to them about it.
   

Some frequently asked questions related to how to know someone has turned off their location.

1.  Will I get a notification of someone stops sharing their location with me?

If someone had earlier shared their location with you but then stopped, you will not get a notification. They will just be removed from your list of friends. But if they let you see their location again, you will get a notification.

2.  How can I stop sharing my location with somebody without them finding out?

You can stop sharing your location with someone by disabling location services on your device. However, that would mean that no one sees your location. And that can be troublesome as some apps won’t work properly without access to the location.

Another way of doing it is just blocking one person from seeing your location. They will not get any notification and probably understand you have turned it off unless they check their list of friends.

A third alternative would be to turn off your Wi-Fi or cellular internet connection. Without a proper data telnet connection, your GPS cannot track your location, and thus it won’t show your exact location to people.

A final way to hide your location would be to turn on the airplane mode on your phone. Doing that will turn off access to any network services including the internet. And thus, preventing the GPS from tracking your location.

3.  How to know if someone’s phone is turned off

A very obvious way to tell if someone’s phone is turned off is by calling them. If their phone is switched off, instead of the ringtone, you’ll hear that the phone is switched off. And also, for iPhone users, on the friend list, you won’t be able to see their location.

4.  If someone stops sharing their location with me, can they still see my location?

If someone has stopped sharing their location with you specifically or disabled their location services, you cannot see their location. But they can see your location because you have not done the same on your phone.

In case the situation is different, and their phone has turned off, you still might think they have intentionally stopped sharing their location. Which might not be the case. If their phone is switched off, neither of you can see each other’s location.

Final Thoughts

Coming to the end of the – how do you know if someone turned off their location blog, we hope that you have understood how to know if someone turned off their location. We have also tried to give you an idea about why might not be able to see someone’s location. The reasons can be many, but it’s better to ask them without jumping to conclusions. If you want to turn off your own location, all you have to do is disable location services on your phone. Or do the many other things we have suggested according to your intention. Let us know what you thought of this blog in the comments.