How to change when an app may use your location on an iPhone

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens and Apple's iOS 27 guide.

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-change-when-an-app-may-use-your-location-on-an-iphone/ · Checked October 2026 · iPhone 17e · iOS 27.0.1

6 of 6 steps with real screenshots · 6 official sources below

Device

iPhone

Shown on

iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17e)

App

Settings

Path

Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services

Real screenshots

6 of 6 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

6 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Open Settings and tap Privacy & Security

   Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security.

   On our iPhone 17e it is below Emergency SOS, in the same group as Face ID & Passcode, and above Game Center.

   Watch these steps Done

2. 

   Tap Location Services

   It is the first row of the page, above Tracking.

   Below the name it shows a short summary: on our iPhone 17e it read 2 while using.

   Done

3. 

   Tap the app

   The apps that have asked for your location are listed, each with its current setting at the right.

   On our iPhone 17e the list showed App Clips, App Store, Camera, Maps, Siri, Wallet and System Services; App Store and Camera were set to While Using, Maps to Never, and Siri and Wallet to When Shared.

   Apple says a purple arrow means an item used your location recently, and a grey one within the last 24 hours.

   Done

4. 

   Choose when it may use your location

   On our iPhone 17e the Maps page, under Allow Location Access, offered Never, Ask Next Time or When I Share, While Using the App, and While Using the App or Widgets, with Never ticked.

   Below the choices is the app's own explanation, starting App explanation. On Maps there was no Always and no Precise Location row.

   Done

5. 

   If a choice will not change: check Screen Time

   Open Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions and scroll to the bottom.

   On our iPhone 17e, Privacy Restrictions had a single row, Allow Changes to Settings. Tap it.

   Done

6. 

   Check the Location Services row

   On our iPhone 17e, Location Services was set to Allow, like the other rows on this page.

   Apple's parental controls article describes the same Allow or Don't Allow choice under Privacy Restrictions. Don't Allow here would explain choices that cannot be changed.

   Done

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens and Apple's iOS 27 guide.

Watch these steps

If you do not see this option

• The app is not in the list. Apple says the first time an app wants location data, you receive a request with an explanation. The list shows the apps that requested access, so open the app and use its location feature first. Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone · Source: Control access to information in apps on iPhone · Source: Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Add details in Reminders on iPhone · Source: Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) · Source: Use parental controls on your child's iPhone or iPad
• Location Services is switched off. The switch for the whole phone is the first row on the Location Services page. On our iPhone 17e it was on. Apple warns that if you turn off Location Services, many important iPhone features stop working. Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone · Source: Control access to information in apps on iPhone · Source: Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Add details in Reminders on iPhone · Source: Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) · Source: Use parental controls on your child's iPhone or iPad

If this does not work

• The choices cannot be changed. Screen Time may be locking Location Services. Step 5 shows where to check, as described in Apple's parental controls article. Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone · Source: Control access to information in apps on iPhone · Source: Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Add details in Reminders on iPhone · Source: Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) · Source: Use parental controls on your child's iPhone or iPad
• A feature still cannot find you. Some features need your exact position. Apple's example: location reminders need While Using the App with Precise Location on. Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone · Source: Control access to information in apps on iPhone · Source: Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Add details in Reminders on iPhone · Source: Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) · Source: Use parental controls on your child's iPhone or iPad

About this guide

The first time an app wants location data, the iPhone asks you. Whatever you answered then, you can change the app's access later.

The screenshots are our own, taken on an iPhone 17e running iOS 27.0.1, in dark mode.

Good to know

Where an app offers it, Precise Location decides between your specific location and an approximate one. Apple says approximate may be sufficient for an app that does not need your exact location.

Apple says that with Ask Next Time you are asked again the next time the app tries to use your location. On our iPhone 17e the choice is called Ask Next Time or When I Share.

An app that may always use your location in the background can send alerts with a map of where it used it. To hide the map, open Location Services, tap Location Alerts and switch off Show Map in Location Alerts.

To switch location off for the whole phone: how to turn Location Services on or off on iPhone.

In short: Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, tap the app, choose.