If you’re the kind of person that worries about whether they’re being tracked by a faceless corporation, then you’re probably spending most of your nights holding your iPhone and rocking back and forth in a corner at this point. It’s probably safe to say that with all the sensors built into the iPhone and iPad, both devices are capable of tracking us down.
That location data is used in a variety of ways, with targeted ads being one reason that Apple would like you to allow location data to be collected. Other third-party apps also use GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation in order to get a fix on where you are, whether that be to allow uploads to happen in the background like Dropbox, or to offer location-based information like Google Maps, for example. All that said though, if any of this location tracking makes you feel uncomfortable, you can always disable it in iOS 8.
Doing so will require a trip or two into the Settings app, but if you want rid of your location data then it’s going to be worth your while.
Let’s get started.
Head on into Settings, and then Privacy, then Location Services. Here you’ll find a toggle for Location Services. Turning that off will basically disable everything app-based that can track your location. If you’d prefer to simply block some apps from doing so, then you can control them more granularly by flicking their respective switches off and on. Nice and easy, we’re sure you’ll agree.
But wait, there’s more!
That’s your apps sorted, but what about those pesky ads? Back into Settings and Privacy, and then scroll right down to the bottom. Tap Advertising. Next, you’ll want to turn Limit Ad Tracking on and then tap the Reset Advertising Identifier.
And you’re done.
Of course, all this means that it’s likely that you’ll have just crippled a whole host of your apps by stopping them from seeing your location. If you’re of the mind to do something like this though, we’re willing to bet that’s a small price to pay for taking your iPhone as far off the grid as it’s going to get.
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