If you want to disable GPS on your iPhone, here is how to turn it off completely so that no apps can use it.
The GPS on your iPhone can really help. It lets you get turn-by-turn directions and share your location with others in a variety of apps, including iMessage. It’s a feature that can be super handy, especially when you need it most.
However, in a day and age where many apps track our location (sometimes a little too obsessively), many users may want to turn off the GPS features on their iPhones altogether. It also saves your iPhone’s battery so it doesn’t die later.
Yet one mistake many iPhone users make is that they enable Airplane Mode thinking, which will turn off GPS completely along with WiFi and LTE connectivity. Although Airplane Mode turns off WiFi and LTE, it doesn’t actually turn off GPS, so any app can still use your location as GPS is still on and working even if you have Airplane Mode enabled. Sure, finding your location can be difficult if you don’t have an internet connection, but any offline map app can make full use of your iPhone’s GPS.
In any case, Airplane Mode only disables any signals your iPhone sends that might block radio signals on the plane. GPS is a passive radio where your iPhone only receives a signal and does not broadcast any signal like WiFi and LTE do.
Without further ado, here’s how to turn off iPhone GPS completely so apps can’t use it even when Airplane Mode is enabled.
How to Disable iPhone GPS Completely
Conveniently enough, the iOS Control Center has quick access toggles that let you easily toggle WiFi, Bluetooth, and Airplane Mode on and off, but no quick toggles for GPS. This isn’t too surprising, since Apple requires users to keep GPS turned on as it’s a big part of the experience in many apps, but if you want to turn it off, you’ll have to do a little more work than access Control Center.
To turn off GPS completely on your iPhone, follow these simple steps:
First, open the app and go to .
At the top of this page, tap the toggle switch to the right of it to turn it off (it turns from green to gray). This will completely turn off your iPhone’s GPS.
This means that no apps, including Apple Maps, can use your location. However, if you want to keep GPS turned on and only allow certain apps to use the GPS functionality, you can control this from the Location Services page in Settings.
Below the toggle, you will see a list of apps with which you can individually set GPS permissions. Tapping one will give you options. Many apps let you choose between , and .
This means that the app is in no way allowed to use your iPhone’s GPS. It means that the app can only use GPS when it is turned on and actively used. It means that the app can use your location whether you are actively using the app or not, but cannot use GPS when you exit the app completely by uninstalling it from the app switcher.
Some apps may have all three options available, while other apps may have only or as options, or even and only.
This can be a great way to restrict certain apps from using your location while keeping GPS and other apps open to use it.
