There are instances in human life where we wish to not be noticed by others and enjoy some privacy. While enabling location helps friends and family to keep track of your safety and whereabouts, usually it goes against one’s privacy. However, you may ask, how do you turn off the location without alerting other people and/or hurting their sentiments? How do you enjoy your privacy without letting others know about your location details? Are there ways to stop location tracking? Well, there are definitely certain ways that can help this problem of yours.
You can disable various features on your phone which might help you conquer this problem. It kills two birds with one stone: lets you enjoy your privacy while making sure to not let your friends/family/partner know that you’ve turned off location access.
Let us see what these features are and how you could disable them.
Steps To Disable Location
1. Airplane Mode
Airplane Mode is your best friend when it comes to the easiest way to stop location tracking. Turning on aeroplane mode is a quick and easy solution to momentarily stop others from knowing your whereabouts.
Almost all phones and cellular devices have this feature available. However, what should be kept in mind is that using cellular networks, making calls, or sending messages will unfortunately not be possible if you’ve turned on Airplane Mode.
When you go on airplane mode, the network connection is cut off, making it impossible for anyone to track your whereabouts. The cons are only that you’ll have to go for a while without using other features. If you can do that, then you’re good to go.
How To Turn On Airplane Mode
You can either turn it on ‘Settings’ or through accessing the Control Panel by swiping up. A little Airplane icon will be visible. Click on that and you’re good to go.
A. For iPhone Users
You can also try to turn off the Share My Location feature.
- Go to Settings
- Then choose the ‘Privacy’ feature.
- Then you’ll find the option ‘Location Services’.
- Here, you can successfully turn off the location sharing feature to stop sharing your location temporarily.
- Disabling this feature prevents the different applications from using your location, including Maps.
- If you disable Location Services, no one will be informed.
The only con of this feature is that some of the operational functions may lag or not work properly.
B. For Android Users
Open Google Maps. Then you can click on your profile picture. Then, select the option that says ‘Location Sharing’.
After this, all you need to do is select the profile picture of the individual with whom you no longer wish to share your location. Then, press ‘Stop’.
Voila, you’re good to go. However, one thing to keep note of is that this feature may not be accessible in some countries.
2. Want to stop sharing your location with a specific person?
Maybe you want your family to know, but not that one friend who’s a little too pushy when it comes to your privacy? Well, we have a solution for that too and it’s for iOS Users.
- Make your way to the ‘Find My’ feature.
- Then, make sure to pick the ‘People’ tab, choose the specific person you wish to no longer give access to your location.
- After that, press ‘Stop Sharing My Location’. There you go, the person will no longer be able to access or track your location.
- The person won’t even get a notification if you stop sharing your location in Find My.
- However, keep in mind that they also won’t be able to find your name on their list of friends.
- Also, if you suddenly wish to start sharing your location with them again, they will get a notification this time around.
Can I Use Third Party Software?
Sure, you can. You can easily use a GPS Spoofer. This would help you spoof your location. A great way to be at peace without people finding out your location and neglecting your sense of privacy. However, be careful about which software you select for this purpose. One wrong move and your data could be compromised. Nobody wants that, especially not at the cost of precious data. What we suggest is using an application like Fake GPS or iToolab AnyGo. These are your safer bets. While some of the applications can be downloaded from the Play Store, some have to be installed on your computer and then connected to your device. It can help you enable a fake location instead of showing your current location.
How Do I Hide Location From iMessage?
If you’re an iOS user, your primary location will be automatically shared with the recipient when you send an iMessage. Fortunately, the app has a built-in option that lets you conceal your location. Do note that this will, unfortunately, notify the recipient that you have stopped sharing your location with them.
- Firstly, you need to open the iMessage app.
- Then, you must decide whether to stop disclosing the location in any contact conversation.
- After this, you can press the ‘Info’ option that is located next to your contact’s name on the right.
- Then, select the option that says ‘Stop Sharing Location’.
- Additionally, you may choose how long you want to share your location with the chosen contact.
Is There Any Other Alternative?
The only other alternative would be to use another device. This is applicable for iOS Users. If you have a second iPhone, you can let the other iPhone know where you are, but you have to be logged in with the exact same Apple ID.
- You can activate this feature by going to the ‘Settings’.
- Then, you’ll get the option to access your iPhone profile.
- You’ll find the ‘Share My Location’ feature.
- Then, make your way to the ‘Find My’ pp on an alternate device.
- Choose the option ‘Use this iPhone As My Location’ by tapping the ‘Me’ icon.
This will ensure one device shows the location and the other doesn’t. This will help you, but it can prove to be quite costly if you don’t already have another iPhone device. It’d be unwise to spend a lot of money buying another device, especially if you don’t require it yet.
Few Final Words
There may be various reasons as to why staying anonymous feels safer to some. Hence, making use of these steps will help you to turn your location off without others getting a whiff of it.