How to Stop Apps from Tracking Your Location on iPhone and Android
A step-by-step guide to auditing location permissions, disabling hidden system-level tracking features, and opting out of advertiser location tracking on both iPhone and Android. No technical knowledge required.
Audit and restrict location permissions for each app
Most phones accumulate location permissions silently over time. This is where you review every app that has access and cut it back to what is actually needed.
- Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services to see every app with location access and its current setting
- Change any app set to Always down to While Using the App unless it genuinely needs background access. Navigation apps like Google Maps or Waze are the main exception
- Set apps with no real location need to Never: social media apps, shopping apps, games, and most utilities have no legitimate reason to know where you are
- For each app set to While Using, tap on it and turn off Precise Location if exact coordinates are not needed. Approximate location is sufficient for weather, local search, and most other use cases
- Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and most retail apps should be set to Never or While Using with Precise Location off
- Go to Settings, then Location, then App permissions (the exact path varies slightly by manufacturer and Android version)
- Apps are grouped under Allowed all the time, Allowed only while in use, Ask every time, and Not allowed
- Move any non-navigation app from Allowed all the time to Only while using the app
- Set apps with no location need to Deny
- On Android 12 and later, tap on each app and toggle Use precise location off independently from the main permission level
- Re-check this list after major app updates, as some updates quietly re-request location access
Turn off hidden system-level location features
Both iPhone and Android have system features that track your movements outside of any individual app permission. These are separate from the list you reviewed in the previous step and are off by default only on some devices.
- Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services, scroll to the bottom, and tap System Services
- Turn off Significant Locations: this feature silently records everywhere you go regularly and stores a history of your home, workplace, and routine destinations
- To see what Significant Locations has already collected, tap it, authenticate with Face ID or your passcode, and review the list. Tap Clear History to remove existing records
- Also turn off Location-Based Apple Ads, iPhone Analytics, and Routing & Traffic (unless you rely on Apple Maps for navigation)
- Go to Settings, tap your name at the top, then Find My, then Share My Location, and turn it off if you are not actively using it with family or friends
- Go to Settings, then Location, then Location Services or Advanced (the label varies by device and manufacturer)
- Turn off Wi-Fi scanning: this allows apps and Google to estimate your location using nearby Wi-Fi networks even when Wi-Fi is completely switched off
- Turn off Bluetooth scanning: works the same way, using nearby Bluetooth signals to infer your position in the background
- These two settings allow passive location inference without triggering any app permission prompt, which is why they are easy to miss
- Google Location History is a separate setting tied to your Google account. Turn it off at myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols to stop Google Maps from recording your movements
Opt out of advertiser and cross-app location tracking
Beyond direct location permissions, apps use a device-level advertising identifier to link your activity across different apps and services. Removing or restricting this identifier cuts off a major channel of location-based ad targeting.
- Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Tracking
- Turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track. Apps will no longer be permitted to show the prompt asking to follow your activity across other apps and websites
- If you previously approved tracking for any apps, they will appear in this list. Revoke each one individually by toggling it off
- This blocks apps from reading your Advertising Identifier (IDFA), the main tool used to link your behavior across different apps for ad targeting
- Denying tracking does not affect the core features of any app. It only prevents cross-app behavioral profiling
- Go to Settings, then Privacy, then Ads (the exact path varies by Android version and manufacturer)
- On Android 12 and later: select Delete advertising ID to remove the identifier entirely. Apps will receive a string of zeros instead of a real tracking ID
- On older Android versions: select Opt out of Ads Personalization to stop your ID from being used for targeted advertising
- Also go to myadcenter.google.com and turn off My Ad Center to stop Google from using your location history and app activity to target ads across Google products and partner sites
- Deleting or resetting your advertising ID does not break any app functionality
Block browser location access and keep permissions from drifting
Websites request your location through your browser separately from app permissions. And app updates frequently reset the restrictions you set. Both gaps are easy to close.
- Turning off location in app permissions does not automatically block websites from requesting it through your browser. This is a separate permission layer
- On iPhone (Safari): go to Settings, then Apps, then Safari, then Location, and set it to Deny or Ask
- On iPhone (Chrome): go to Settings, then Apps, then Chrome, then Location, and set it to Ask
- On Android (Chrome): open Chrome, go to Settings, then Site settings, then Location, and set to Block
- In Chrome on either platform, go to Site settings, then Location, and scroll down to see which individual websites you have previously allowed. Revoke any you do not recognize or no longer use
- App updates can silently reset location permissions or prompt for new ones. A permission you set several months ago may no longer be in place
- After installing a significant app update, re-check Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services on iPhone or Settings > Location > App permissions on Android for any changes
- When installing a new app, deny location access during setup for any app that does not obviously need it. It is significantly easier to deny upfront than to find and revoke it later
- A 5-minute review of your location permissions list every few months is enough to catch any apps that have quietly gained new access
Turning off all location access entirely is rarely practical. Navigation apps, weather apps, and emergency services all benefit from knowing where you are. What these steps do is stop apps from accessing your location in the background when you are not using them, prevent your daily movements from being logged and sold to advertisers, and remove the hidden system features that track your routine without any app permission prompt appearing. Completing Sections 1 and 2 removes the most significant passive tracking for most people. Sections 3 and 4 close the gaps that most guides do not mention: the advertising identifier that links your behavior across apps, and the browser location layer that operates independently of everything else.