Determining when geolocation is turned off in the Locator app on iPhone

How can I find out when geolocation is turned off in the Locator app on my iPhone? In other words, I can go to the Locator app in the settings, then click on "Geolocation," click on "Never allow access to geolocation," and the Locator app will show that I'm staying in the same location and that my geolocation is updating, as if I'm actually in that location. However, there is no "Location unavailable" message, and it shows "Updated now," as if it's the person's actual location, but it's not. How can I calculate this?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: The locator

iPhone 15, iOS 26

Posted on Nov 1, 2025 12:56 PM

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2 replies

Nov 1, 2025 1:05 PM in response to _fansooa_15

If I am understanding correctly, when the location is turned off on your locator app (probably Find My), you are seeing an updated just now message. This is actually completely normal. So after long enough it will say “Last Known Location” and something along the lines of days. Right after disabling location access, if you really think about it, your iPhone still has the location of the iPhone before you disabled the location. So give it a few hours and it should stop updating and saying it has updated. You can’t calculate this, however, you can use the time from the last location ping the device/person gives, to estimate how far it is. Hope this helps!

Nov 1, 2025 1:13 PM in response to _fansooa_15

Just to make sure we are using the same terminology. I assume you are referring to the Find My app and in settings you went to Settings > [name on top] > Find My where you see the option to Share My Location. This is the setting that will allow sharing your location to other people, your location is still going to show when you access Find My as long as Find My is turned on at the top of that Settings page.


If you are attempting to view someone else's location that has previously allowed you to see, you will see Location Unavailable if they do not currently have a network connection and you will see the last known location.


I am not familiar with the exact usage of the term "Geolocation" or "Never allow access to geolocation", so it may be helpful to describe where you are seeing that or provide a screenshot as long as the actual location or personal information is included.


There are other Settings options under Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services where it can be turned off or to allow permissions to a specific app.

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Determining when geolocation is turned off in the Locator app on iPhone

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