Does iPhone stop sharing location when phone is off?

One useful feature of iMessage is the ability to share your location with your contacts. But the location sharing feature can also quickly turn into a liability if you were to fall out with that person or if the contact abuses the privilege. Therefore you need to know how to stop sharing your location on iMessage. The other person doesn’t even need to know — at least at first — that you have done it.

Read more: How to enable iMessage on iOS, macOS, and Apple Watch

How to stop sharing location on iMessage without others knowing

To stop sharing location on iMessage, follow these simple instructions.

iPhone and iPad

Go into iMessage and tap the contact’s picture at the top of the screen. You will now see Stop Sharing My Location (this will also be the same place you enabled it in the first place.) Just tap that, and it will revert back to Start Sharing My Location.

The contact will not receive a notification that you have done this.

macOS

On a Mac, go to iMessage, go to the conversation of the contact you wish to block, and click the info button at the top-right of the messaging window. This is an i in a circle.

In the drop-down menu that appears, click Stop Sharing My Location. It will revert back to Start Sharing My Location.

As with iOS, the contact is not notified that they no longer have access to your location.

How to stop sharing location on an iPhone or iPad

The above methods are to turn off sharing your location with individual contacts. But what if you want to turn off location sharing altogether for everyone? Then you will either need to enable Airplane Mode (which is merely a temporary solution) or for a more permanent solution, you will have to delve into iPhone Location Services.

Enabling Airplane Mode

Airplane Mode is a quick easy solution, but the downside is that it shuts down your usage of the phone until it is disabled again. So this would just be something temporary for an hour or two. Read our article on how to enable Airplane Mode.

Disabling Find My iPhone Location Share

The more long-term solution — and the one that enables you to keep using your phone in the meantime — is to turn off location sharing in the iOS settings. This would be accomplished by going to Settings–>Privacy–>Location Services–>Find My. Toggle off Share My Location.

FAQs

Faking your location on the iPhone is not something Apple officially supports. Therefore you would need to download and install a third-party app that claims to be able to do it, or alternatively, jailbreak your device. In both instances, you would be taking a huge risk that could potentially invalidate your iPhone warranty.

Having Location Services disabled can make the job harder but not impossible to track you. It would stop the average civilian from tracking you, but if you are trying to avoid law enforcement or the government (for example), there are other ways they can track your device. This includes cellphone tower information, public wi-fi providers snatching your MAC address, and Stingrays, which simulate cell towers to grab your information. Plus, let’s not forget good old-fashioned malware installed on your phone.

It all depends on where you are. If you are in an area with good GPS coverage (a city or other populated area), then the tracking is extremely accurate. However, if you are in a forest, tunnel, or anywhere where the GPS signal is likely to be blocked, then the tracking location accuracy will go down.

Does iPhone location turn off when phone is off?

Does your phone stop sharing location when its off?