How to See Someone’s Location on an iPhone or iPad

Category: Change Location

June 25, 2023 5 mins read

It’s not unusual to want to be able to track the location of an iPhone or iPad. Being able to know the location of friend’s, family, or co-workers throughout the day can help you run errands or co-ordinate tasks.

Below are several methods that will help you share your location and how to see someone’s location using your iOS device.

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Method 1: Using Find My on iOS and iPadOS

Find My Friends was a social location sharing feature that lets you share your location with people you choose. Apple introduced this method in 2011 and it has been a popular feature amongst people who want to know how to see someone’s location.

It’s great for a group of friends travelling together or meeting up at a location they might not be familiar with. It’s also a good way to keep tabs on family members.

As of iOS 13, the Find My Friends app was discontinued, and the feature was rolled into the all-purpose Find My app.

Step 1. Ensure location sharing is activated on your iPhone, then open the Find My App.

Step 2. In Find My, tap on the “People” tab at the bottom and then click on “Start Sharing Location”.

Step 3. Search for the person you want to share a location with. One selected it will ask how long you want to share your location with them.

Step 4. Once you have selected the person you want to share your location with. You can then ask them to share their location by click on their name and then selected “Ask to Follow Location”. One accepted you will be able to see their location.

If someone share’s their location with you first via Find My you will receive a notification under the “People” tab.

Method 2: Using iMessage App

Apple’s first-party messaging app, iMessage, has a lot more features than some people know. One of the best features is that it allows you to share your location and receive the location data of others right in the messaging window.

How to see someone’s location in iMessage? Well, they need to send you their location first. There is no way to request a location directly in iMessage. If you want to request the location of another person refer to Method 1: Using Find My on iOS and iPad OS.

Sharing your location from iMessage is easy and required if you want to see someone else’s location.

Step 1. Find the person you want to share your location with and click the name icon at the top of the messaging window.

Step 2. Below their name you will see two options for sharing your location. “Send My Location” will send your immediate location to the recipient. “Share My Location” will allow the recipient to see your live location for a selected period.

When you are sharing your location with someone you can then ask them to share their location back.

There are times when someone may be using the Apple’s location services to track your location and you would rather they not know where you really are.

If they are using Apple’s Find My app, it’s easy to disable their ability to track you.

Step 1. Go to the Find My app and click on “People” to get a list of those who can see your location.

Step 2. Click on the person who you want to stop sharing your location with and select “Stop Sharing Location”.

That’s easy. However, when you turn off someone’s ability to see your location they may notice. If it’s someone who expects to be able to see your location at all times, this can cause problems.

The best solution is to use an application that will still allow someone to see your location but not your real location. This will allow you the freedom to do what you want without being tracked and more importantly the person keeping tabs on you won’t find out.

Third-party applications like iMyFone AnyTo specialize in features that allow you to mask your real location.

You can:

1. Simulate GPS movement. This makes the person tracking your location think you are travelling a route that you are not.

2. Change your location. Using a map, you can select the location you want someone to believe you’re at.

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Key Features:

• One-click access to GPS location customization.
• Fake location on Find My Friends, hide your location without anyone knowing.
• Adds support for GPS files, so you can get going on your preferred routes.
• Track someone's location and spying on them.

Step 1: Connect iPhone to the PC/Mac

Launch iMyFone AnyTo on your Windows PC/Mac (you can click the Try It Free button above to download it free). Click the Get Start button.

Step 2: Select Teleport Mode

Choose the third icon on the upper-right corner - Teleport Mode. Then you can input an address or zoom and drag the map to choose a fake location.

Step 3: Location Changed on Map

Now just click the Move button to change your location on the map to this new location!

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1 How to See Location History on Google Maps

Google has made it easy to review your location history on your Android device. Using the Google Maps Timeline, you can edit, delete and review your entire location history while you have been using an Android phone. It’s a great feature if you’re trying to remember some of the locations you visited on holiday.

To review your Google location history:

Step 1. On your Android device, open Google Maps.

Step 2. Click the menu button. Those are the three little horizontal lines on the top left corner of your device.

Step 3. Select “Timeline”. Click the calendar icon and then tap “Show Calendar”.

Step 4. Choose a date. You can see your location history for that date.

2 How to See Location History on iPhone

Apple has also made it easy to find your location history. You need to ensure that Location Services are enabled on your device before you can use it. One that is enabled you simply need to follow the instructions below to find your location history data:

Step 1. Tap on Settings.

Step 2. Tap “Privacy” and “Location Services”.

Step 3. Scroll down until you find “System Services”. Tap it.

Step 4. Scroll down and tap on “Significant Locations”.

From here you can review your iPhone location history.

1 Why I can’t See My Friend’s Location on Find My?

The reason you can’t see your friend’s location using the Find My app is most likely due to them not sharing their location data with you. They must authorize you to be able to see your location.

2 Why is someone’s location not updating on iPhone?

It’s possible they have entered in area with no cellular service, turned on Airplane mode, or their device has run out of battery. They also can temporarily hide their location.

3 Can you see when someone checks your location?

You can review the list of people able to see your location from the People’s tab in the Find My app. You are not made aware of each individual time a person looks at your location data.

Location services on iOS and Android devices are a great tool if you want an to see someone’s location on iPhone and iPad.. Making sure you are using these services appropriately is important. It’s especially important to know how to turn off location features so that people aren’t able to track you all of the time.

iMyFone AnyTo

Change GPS Location on iOS/Android

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Available for:

168,282 people have downloaded it.

• Fake iOS/Android GPS location to anywhere in the world instantly.
• 100% Work with location-based apps such as AR games, social platforms, etc.
• Joystick to simulate GPS movement freely when playing games.
• Import / Export GPX file to save your favorite routes.
• Compatible with All iOS & Android versions.

Spencer Hill

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