JohnNY123
Level 1 (5 points)

Q: iOS 8 broke Location Services?

This question is about Location Services on the iPhone 5 after updating to iOS 8.  This same problem occurred on two iPhone 5 units and I can't find a way to fix them.

 

I backed them up and updated both to iOS 8 yesterday.  The backup and update process went smoothly except for the fact that after the update, Location Services no longer works on either phone.  If I go into Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services, it's labeled as being off and if I go to the next screen to turn the toggle on, the switch is grayed out and I can't turn it on.

 

I tried some internet cures to fix it, and nothing worked (yet).  I've rebooted the phone with the home button/lock button combination, powered it down and then back up, reset Network Settings, reset Location & Privacy settings, etc.....and nothing has worked. 

 

The one thing I have not tried yet is completely resetting the phone with Settings -> Reset -> Erase all Content and Settings....and then setting up the phone as new, and then trying to do a restore from my backup from yesterday.  Seems like a lot of trouble.  I have also not tried to do a straight backup restore.

 

Obviously, Location Services is probably one of the most critical system services so the phones are pretty much useless for many things without it.  Does anyone have a solution to this problem?

Posted on Sep 19, 2014 4:19 AM

by JohnNY123,Solvedanswer
JohnNY123 JohnNY123
Level 1 (5 points)
A:

Hi Kathy.....I thought the same thing, but that wasn't it.

 

But....I did find a possible solution!

 

After you do the following to resolve the problem caused by the iOS 8 update:  General -> Settings -> Reset -> Reset All Settings....

 

...and then you go to Location Services to turn it back on, as I mentioned above you'll see no apps listed there.  What you have to then do to fix this problem is go back into the apps that you're interested to re-enable with Location Services and they will ask you again (just like when they were first installed) if you'll give them permission to use Location Services.  If you do give them permission, then the app will then appear in the Location Services menu in Settings and you'll be able to control each app's granular settings from there.

 

So the bottom line is:  After resolving the major issue of Location Services not working after the iOS 8 update in this way, you have to re-enable Location Services on a per app basis.

 

I think this fixed my iOS 8 update problem with Location Services, but I'll watch it over the next few days as I use it.  If there are problems, I'll come back here and re-post.

 

Interestingly.....my wife's iPhone 5 that I updated at the same time as my iPhone 5 and which had the exact same problem CURED ITSELF after about a day.  When I checked her phone this morning, Location Services was plagued with the same problems that I had on my phone.   When she came home later today and I checked it again, Locations Services was working as it should without me doing anything.  So maybe it's best for people to wait a day or so to see if it cures itself before they try what I've described here.  I have no idea how or why it cured itself, but I don't care.  It works and hopefully will stay working.

Posted on Sep 19, 2014 11:21 AM

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JohnNY123

Q: iOS 8 broke Location Services?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by JohnNY123,

    JohnNY123 JohnNY123 Sep 19, 2014 8:20 AM in response to JohnNY123
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 19, 2014 8:20 AM in response to JohnNY123

    Wow.  For the first time ever, I have been totally screwed by an Apple iOS update.  I've been lucky for the past few years and never had any problems running iOS updates both small and large.  But this time turned out to be a total disaster that will result in me starting over by resetting my phone to 'new' and rebuilding it from scratch by re-configuring everything and re-downloading all of my apps.  It's a shame to waste so much time....

     

    I spent about 90 minutes chatting with an Apple Care representative and we walked through a lot of the typical steps, none of which worked.  We then tried General -> Settings -> Reset -> Reset All Settings and that seemed to get Location Services working again and all looked good.

     

    But then after I ended the chat with him I was looking around to make sure that everything was working right, and I noticed that under Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services....there are no apps listed!  This is where you're supposed to go to adjust the Locations Services settings on a per app basis, but there's nothing listed here for my phone despite having many apps installed that use Location Services.

     

    There seems to be no cure to this particular problem and something is now clearly and seriously corrupted on my phone (which was otherwise running perfectly before this), so I've got nothing left to try except wiping the entire phone and starting new to configure iOS 8 from scratch.

     

    I typically wait several weeks before doing iOS updates to watch the discussion forums for problems just like this and then wait until resolutions are available before I run the update, but I broke my rule this time and jumped the gun on this when iOS 8 is so new.   And now it looks like I'll pay the price and have to rebuild two phones from scratch and use many hours of time on it.

     

    I will re-post after the rebuild from new process is over to let you know if that definitively worked.

  • by kmberger,

    kmberger kmberger Sep 19, 2014 11:13 AM in response to JohnNY123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 19, 2014 11:13 AM in response to JohnNY123

    Hi,

     

    I found I had the same problem with a grayed out location services switch. After a day of searching I found that I had turned on Restrictions and that was preventing me from resetting my location services. I turned off Restrictions and I was able to turn location services back on.

     

    I am sorry you went through the ugly rebuild process. I hope that the others that have replied that they are also having the problem find my solution helpful, and  I hope that might also be your issue. should your rebuild not help.

     

    Kathy B

  • by JohnNY123,Solvedanswer

    JohnNY123 JohnNY123 Sep 19, 2014 11:21 AM in response to kmberger
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 19, 2014 11:21 AM in response to kmberger

    Hi Kathy.....I thought the same thing, but that wasn't it.

     

    But....I did find a possible solution!

     

    After you do the following to resolve the problem caused by the iOS 8 update:  General -> Settings -> Reset -> Reset All Settings....

     

    ...and then you go to Location Services to turn it back on, as I mentioned above you'll see no apps listed there.  What you have to then do to fix this problem is go back into the apps that you're interested to re-enable with Location Services and they will ask you again (just like when they were first installed) if you'll give them permission to use Location Services.  If you do give them permission, then the app will then appear in the Location Services menu in Settings and you'll be able to control each app's granular settings from there.

     

    So the bottom line is:  After resolving the major issue of Location Services not working after the iOS 8 update in this way, you have to re-enable Location Services on a per app basis.

     

    I think this fixed my iOS 8 update problem with Location Services, but I'll watch it over the next few days as I use it.  If there are problems, I'll come back here and re-post.

     

    Interestingly.....my wife's iPhone 5 that I updated at the same time as my iPhone 5 and which had the exact same problem CURED ITSELF after about a day.  When I checked her phone this morning, Location Services was plagued with the same problems that I had on my phone.   When she came home later today and I checked it again, Locations Services was working as it should without me doing anything.  So maybe it's best for people to wait a day or so to see if it cures itself before they try what I've described here.  I have no idea how or why it cured itself, but I don't care.  It works and hopefully will stay working.

  • by christodd2002,

    christodd2002 christodd2002 Sep 21, 2014 7:32 PM in response to JohnNY123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 21, 2014 7:32 PM in response to JohnNY123

    I was having the same problem, and your solution seems to have worked for me. Thanks for the post!

  • by JaykUS354,

    JaykUS354 JaykUS354 Sep 23, 2014 6:29 AM in response to JohnNY123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 23, 2014 6:29 AM in response to JohnNY123

    I was having similar problems with Location Services. Grayed out button wouldn't let me turn it on. You have to go to Settings>General>Restrictions and disable restrictions. Once that is done, now you can go turn on location settings and there you can choose which apps to allow it to use. Hope this helps anyone else with this issue so they don't have to reset their whole phone like some people seem to be doing.

  • by JohnNY123,

    JohnNY123 JohnNY123 Sep 23, 2014 6:33 AM in response to JaykUS354
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 23, 2014 6:33 AM in response to JaykUS354

    Hi JaykUS354.....No, this was not the problem.  I had Restrictions off and I still could not do anything with Location Services until I followed the steps that I outlined above.

  • by JaykUS354,

    JaykUS354 JaykUS354 Sep 24, 2014 8:07 PM in response to JohnNY123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 8:07 PM in response to JohnNY123

    Maybe for you it wasn't, but my post wasn't for you, JohnNY123...

    I'm thinking about all the other people out there who actually know how to use their phone and don't blame their user errors on Apple.

    Don't reset your phone people. It's just dumb.

  • by JohnNY123,

    JohnNY123 JohnNY123 Sep 25, 2014 4:03 AM in response to JaykUS354
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 4:03 AM in response to JaykUS354

    Yeah...Right JaykUS354....It was a user error.  That's why I was on the phone with Apple for two hours and the guy had no idea why it was happening and told me "There's clearly a problem here". 

     

    Don't be a jerk.  Read my post before you criticize me as an inexperienced user because you have no idea who I am or what my level of experience is with anything.

  • by DerfDaSmurf,

    DerfDaSmurf DerfDaSmurf Jun 11, 2015 12:13 PM in response to kmberger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 11, 2015 12:13 PM in response to kmberger

    OMG!!!  Thank you Kathy!!!  I did EVERYTHING before I did this one.  little.  thing...  Rebuilt, reset, backed, restored, on and on and on.   I was considering the GPS broken and ready to make an appointment for repairs.  I can't believe one little tick mark deep inside a setting that says "cannot not make changes" inside a setting of Restrictions (that I had TURNED OFF!!) had me pulling my hair out.