To turn off GPS on an iPhone, go to Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services and turn off Location Services. The iPhone doesn’t have a separate GPS switch. Location Services is the setting that controls GPS, along with the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular signals the phone uses to find where you are.
The steps below come from Apple’s Control the location information you share guide.
How to turn off Location Services (GPS) for everything
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Location Services.
- Turn off Location Services, then tap Turn Off to confirm.
Apple warns that many important iPhone features stop working when Location Services is off. Maps can’t give directions, weather can’t show your local forecast, and Find My can’t locate your phone if you lose it. For most people, turning it off for certain apps is a better choice.
How to turn off location for one app
- Go to Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services.
- Tap the app.
- Choose Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share, While Using the App, or Always.
On the same screen, you can turn off Precise Location. The app then gets only your approximate area instead of your exact spot.
How to turn off location-based alerts and other system services
iOS itself uses your location for things like location-based alerts, location-based suggestions, and location-based ads. You can turn these off one at a time and keep Location Services on for your apps.
- Go to Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap System Services.
- Turn off the services you don’t want, such as Location-Based Alerts or Location-Based Suggestions.
Location-based alerts are reminders that go off when you arrive at or leave a place. If you turn them off, those reminders won’t trigger.
How to tell when an app is using your location
An arrow icon appears in the status bar while an app is using Location Services. Seeing it often from an app you don’t trust is a sign you should change that app’s setting to Never.
Related: how to turn off SOS on iPhone.
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read hundreds of millions of times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.