Most of us have dozens of apps on our phones, and a surprising number of them know our exact location at any given moment.
While granting GPS access makes complete sense for a navigation tool, a local weather forecast, or a takeaway delivery tracker, plenty of casual games, retail apps, and social networks help themselves to your coordinates without any obvious reason.
Handing over continuous tracking data drains your battery and hands away private personal habits to third-party advertisers. Fortunately, modern smartphone software makes reining this in completely painless, allowing you to review and strip back access across both iPhone and Android in under a minute. Here’s how to check which apps are following your movements, and how to put a stop to unnecessary tracking for good.
Should you actually be worried about this?
Spotting an app with location access isn’t automatically a red flag. Plenty of the time, you’ll have granted that permission yourself while using a feature that needed to know where you were. But location data is still personal information, and if an app is collecting it regularly, it can end up building a fairly detailed picture of your life, including where you live, where you work, and the places you visit day to day.
There’s no real reason to hand that kind of detail to apps that don’t need it. Pay closer attention to anything with access all the time, and restricting the permission if you’re not sure why an app needs your location in the first place.
How to check location permissions on Android
Open Settings and select Location. Menu names can change slightly depending on your phone and Android version, but you should see two useful sections here. Recent access shows which apps have used your location lately, while App location permissions groups your apps by how much access they currently have.
Inside App location permissions, keep an eye on the Allowed all the time category specifically, since these are the apps that can track you even when you’re not actively using them. Tap into any app to adjust its access, either by choosing a more limited setting or switching off Use precise location if the app doesn’t need to know your exact spot.
How to check location permissions on a Samsung phone
On a Samsung Galaxy device, the path is slightly different. Head to Settings, then Location, then App permissions. You’ll see your apps sorted into Allowed all the time, Allowed only while in use, and Not allowed. Tapping an app lets you adjust when it can access your location, or turn off Use precise location if an approximate area is all it really needs to function properly.
How to check location permissions on an iPhone
On iOS, go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services. This gives you a full list of every app that’s asked to use your location, along with the level of access you’ve currently given each one.
Scroll through and look out for anything marked Always, since this means the app can track your location even when it’s closed or running in the background. Tap into an app to change its setting. Depending on the app, your options might include Never, Ask Next Time, While Using the App, or Always. Choosing While Using the App limits access to moments when the app is actually visible on your screen. You can also turn Precise Location on or off, which determines whether an app gets your exact position or just a rough area.
Not every app asking for location is being unreasonable
You should always question why an app wants your location, but context matters too. Maps, taxi apps and food delivery services have an obvious reason to need it, since the whole feature depends on knowing where you are.
For other apps, limiting access to only while you’re using them is often enough, and it can help your battery too, since apps that check your location constantly in the background tend to drain power faster. If you’re not sure whether an app actually needs the access it’s asking for, try restricting it and see whether the features you actually use still work. You can always change the setting back later if something stops functioning properly.
Other app permissions worth reviewing while you’re at it
Location isn’t the only permission that deserves a second look. Camera access makes sense for video calling or social apps, but think twice if it’s being requested by something that has no obvious reason to need it. The same goes for your microphone, which should really only be needed by calling, voice recording or video apps.
Photo access should also be checked, since many apps now let you choose between granting access to your entire photo library or just specific images, so limit this where you can. Contacts access is often requested by messaging or social apps to help you find people you know, but if you don’t use that particular feature, there’s little reason to keep it switched on. While you’re going through your permissions, glance through your full list of installed apps for anything you don’t recognise. It’s not automatically suspicious, but give it a quick check to see what it actually is.
A few minutes spent reviewing these settings can make a real difference to how much of your daily life your phone is quietly sharing, without affecting how well your apps actually work.
