Why Does My Location Keep Turning OFF and ON by Itself?

Location services make it possible to share your current or live location with friends, family, and colleagues for many different reasons. For example, it could be for security, to share the location of a particular place, or to know where to find someone.

Whatever your reasons might be, the location services are there to make it easier and faster for you. But what happens when your location keeps turning off and on by itself? What do you do, and how do you fix it? Keep reading to find the answers.

Why Does My Location Keep Turning OFF and ON by Itself On iPhones and Androids?

If your phone location keeps turning off and on by itself, it might result from an app that requires location services. When you open an app that requires location services, it automatically turns on your location – after you must’ve given your permission – and as soon as you close the app, it turns your location back off.

So, if you notice your location keeps turning off, you might want to check the apps you use and which ones require location services.

Find My Device

If you have ‘find my device’ turned on, it might be why your location keeps turning off and on. ‘Find my device’ periodically turns your location on and records it in case you lose your phone. This feature can help you retrace your steps or even tell you exactly where the phone might be. If this is the case, you need not worry – nobody is spying on you.

Battery Saving Mode

Another reason your location keeps turning off is that your phone might be in battery-saving mode. When your phone is in battery-saving mode, it automatically turns off or disables services that run down the battery faster to preserve the battery life and give you time to charge it before it dies.

How to Fix An iPhone and Android Location That Keeps Turning OFF

To fix your phone location that keeps turning off, you can turn off location services for certain apps that you don’t use or might not necessarily need location services. Doing this would stop your phone from turning on and off your location when you open and close the app.

To stop sharing location on any specific app on Android;

1. Swipe down from the top of your screen to access the Quick Settings tray
2. Find and press and hold on the location icon to view location settings
3. Click on App permission or App location permissions
4. Select the app in which you want to disable location access and choose Don’t allow

To stop sharing location on any specific app on iPhone;

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down and select Privacy > Location Services
3. Scroll down to find the app on the list and click on it
4. Under Allow Location Access, select Never

Read also: Why Is My Location Wrong on My Android Phone?

Battery Saving Mode

Another way to fix your location turning off is to plug it in or take it off battery-saving mode. When it is in battery-saving mode, it turns off some services to preserve the battery life as long as possible. Plugging the phone in would turn off battery saving mode and turn those services back on. You can also manually turn the location back on.

Time Zone

You can also fix your location turning off and on by adjusting the set time zone on your phone – if possible, set it to automatic.

To automatically set the time zone on your iPhone;

1. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time
2. Toggle on Set automatically
3. If Set automatically is not turned on, you can adjust your time zone by tapping the current time zone set

To automatically set your time zone on Android;

1. Open the Clock app
2. Tap the More icon (the three vertical dots) and select Settings
3. Then, select Change date & time > Set time zone automatically >> Use location to set time zone

Why Does Share My Location Keep Turning OFF?

If ‘share my location’ keeps turning off, your phone’s location services might be disabled.

To turn on location services;

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down and select Privacy > Location Services
3. Toggle on Location Services

You can also update your OS to fix this issue. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. Here you will see the available software update for your device if any. Simply download and install it to update your phone.

Read also: How to Ping a Phone to Find Its Location

Why Does My iPhone Stop Sharing My Location?

If your iPhone stops sharing your location, you must’ve chosen the option for it to share for some time – either an hour or until the end of the day.

When you want to start sharing your location with someone through iMessage or the Contacts app, you are offered the option of sharing for an hour until the end of the day or indefinitely.

If you choose either of the first two options, then after the time elapses, your phone will stop sharing your location. If you don’t want your phone to stop sharing your location, you should select Share Indefinitely instead.

Should Your Phone Location Be Always On? Why and Why Not?

There is no real need always to leave your location on; the decision is 100% yours. Some people leave it off until it’s needed by an app or when they need to share their location, and some leave it on at all times.

While it might drain your battery faster, leaving your location on at all times could prove useful – but it is not necessary.

Pros

1. Real-time weather and temperature predictions
2. Track lost phone or missing person
3. Security
4. Easily locate family or friends and meet up with them
5. Use of fast food, delivery, or transport services
6. Geo-tagging videos and photos

Cons

1. It kills phone battery faster
2. Consumes data
3. It makes one easily trackable by companies, advertisers, hackers, and malicious apps
4. Social media apps can see and share your location

If you’re going to leave your location ON at all times, we recommend taking some safety steps to secure your privacy and protect yourself.

First, check the apps that have access to your location and ensure they are trusted apps that actually need to access your location.

You should also check the social media apps that have access to your location, ensuring you edit the settings so they’re not sharing your location with the public.

It is not recommended to stop social media apps from accessing your location, as this is how they can show you relevant content and connect you to those around you. However, you can edit the settings to ensure your location is not seen.

And if you cannot edit the settings, you should be able to choose for it to be shared only by those you follow so you can have a little control over who sees your location.

Lastly, you should avoid downloading unknown apps, clicking on suspicious links, or connecting to public/untrusted Wi-Fi networks. If your phone is hacked while your location is always turned on, you risk being tracked by a hacker or stalker.

Read also: Can Someone Track My Phone If My Location Is Off?

How to Find and Lock Location Services on iPhone To Prevent Your Child from Turning It ON

You can find the location services on your iPhone from the Settings app. Simply go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services.

To lock or restrict your location services settings;

1. Go to Settings >> Screen Time >> Use Screen Time Passcode
2. Set a passcode
3. You will be prompted to type in your apple ID and password
4. Afterward, tap Content & Privacy Restrictions on the Screen Time page, toggle it on, and tap Location Services >> Don’t Allow Changes – remember to enter the newly set passcode when prompted
5. Once this is done, the location services settings will only be changed from the Content & Privacy Restrictions after entering the passcode

NOTE: Restricting your location services settings will stop you from making changes to the settings and restrict newly added apps from accessing your location. To grant them access or make changes to the location settings, you will need to go to Settings >> Screen Time >> Content & Privacy Restrictions >> Location Services >> Allow Changes, make your changes or allow the specific app to access your location, and then tap Don’t Allow Changes again.

How to Enable Google Location History on an iPhone And iPad

To enable google location history on iPhone;

1. Open the Google or Google Maps app
2. Tap on your profile at the top right corner
3. Select Manage your Google Account > Data and privacy
4. Scroll down to find the History settings section
5. Tap Location History, scroll down, and tap Turn on
6. Tap Turn on again to confirm and OK to finish
7. Note that for this feature to work, you have to have Location Services turned on. To do this, go to Settings >> Privacy >> Location Services and toggle it on

Conclusion

If you’re trying to share your location with someone who is supposed to come to pick you up, and you notice that your location keeps turning off and on by itself, what do you do? Read this article!

Here, you will find the reasons why your location keeps turning off and on, how to fix it, how to keep it on or off, and how to protect yourself when your location is left ON.

Read also: Does Life360 Tell You When Someone Checks Your Location?