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Whats the difference in the colors?

When people say dots do they mean the rings around the persons photo icon or the literal dot specifying the location???

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 16

Posted on Aug 10, 2023 5:16 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 24, 2024 5:04 PM

What does it mean when there is a think white ring as a border around the person’s icon versus when there is just a thin black border?


I have noticed that sometimes it wont flash the green live pulse sometimes when the white border is present, but other times it will.


Also, I have read that the light blue circle, that can very in size, indicates the location being somewhere inside that circle. However, sometimes I have noticed instead of it being a large circle to indicate poor signal or no specific location, sometimes it will still be a small circle but it just bounces around. Do you know what might cause this?


Thanks for your help!

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 24, 2024 5:04 PM in response to SravanKrA

What does it mean when there is a think white ring as a border around the person’s icon versus when there is just a thin black border?


I have noticed that sometimes it wont flash the green live pulse sometimes when the white border is present, but other times it will.


Also, I have read that the light blue circle, that can very in size, indicates the location being somewhere inside that circle. However, sometimes I have noticed instead of it being a large circle to indicate poor signal or no specific location, sometimes it will still be a small circle but it just bounces around. Do you know what might cause this?


Thanks for your help!

Aug 10, 2023 5:28 AM in response to Gotquestions123

Live: Green Pulse indicates Live feed from the device (User may be active or maybe not)

Now: Blue Ring indicates the device was last located here but currently may not be connected to the internet.


  1. Live Status: When a person or device shows a "Live" status, it means that their location is being actively shared in real time. This can be useful, for example, if you're trying to meet up with someone and want to track their movement on the map.
  2. Now Status: The "Now" status indicates that the person or device's location was recently updated. It means that their location information was refreshed at some point, but it may not be in real-time. The exact time of the last location update may vary.


The pic below may help you understand it better of multiple devices


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