Find my location on iPhone is a mess

Find my location is very strange and I have a few questions.


a) is it normal for a location to randomly jump next door or to an apartment building across the street? If this was a daily occurrence, it would seem less weird, but this was an isolated incident. Happened randomly one day then never again.


b) is it true that the smaller the blue dot, the more accurate the location? The dot seems to get very small when the person sharing their location with me (call it an employee) is “next door” or “across the street” at an apartment complex


c) why is the blue dot separating from the “friend’s” actual picture? For example, it will show the the blue dot (with a white circle around it) across the street in a random apartment building, but the contact’s actual image/picture will be in the place they’re supposed to be?

iPhone 6, iOS 10

Posted on Aug 22, 2023 2:28 PM

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Posted on Aug 22, 2023 2:39 PM

The blue dot with the white circle is your location, your friend’s location will be where their picture is. Unless you are outdoors with a clear view of the sky your phone cannot receive GPS signals from satellites, so it uses the location of known Wi-Fi networks, and will chose the strongest Wi-Fi signal as your location.

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Aug 22, 2023 2:39 PM in response to Curiouszzz1

The blue dot with the white circle is your location, your friend’s location will be where their picture is. Unless you are outdoors with a clear view of the sky your phone cannot receive GPS signals from satellites, so it uses the location of known Wi-Fi networks, and will chose the strongest Wi-Fi signal as your location.

Find my location on iPhone is a mess

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