Your iPhone always knows where you are — sometimes, that’s a problem. Whether you’re sick of price discrimination or simply want privacy from family and friends, we’ll show you various ways to change your iPhone location or turn off location sharing altogether. To start, get a VPN to effortlessly alter your virtual location at the touch of a button.
We’ll begin by explaining a few ways you can stop sharing your iPhone location. If you want to change your location settings instead, jump down directly to our sections on changing your Apple ID location, using a VPN, or getting a GPS spoofing app.
Airplane mode disables your phone’s wireless communications, including cellular service, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. And while it doesn’t turn off GPS, it prevents your phone from sharing its location, because cellular or Wi-Fi data is needed for that.
Here’s how to turn on Airplane Mode:
Open your phone’s Control Center by swiping down from the top right of your phone.
Tap the airplane icon to turn it on.
Using Airplane mode is a great way to discreetly turn off location sharing, because it doesn’t send notifications to your friends. The only way they’ll know you’ve stopped sharing your location is by looking at timestamps in Find My, iMessage, or similar apps.
Turning off Location Services on your phone stops all apps from tracking your location — including Maps, weather apps, and other apps that use your location to deliver tailored services.
Here’s how to turn off Location Services on your iPhone:
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
Toggle Location Services on or off.
Changing iPhone location settings can prevent your phone from being tracked through its built-in GPS. But bear in mind features like Find My iPhone won’t work, making it harder to recover a lost or stolen device.
If you don’t like the idea that your smartphone is tracking you or sharing location data with your contacts, disabling Location Services may be a good first step. But long term, you’re probably better off striking a balance between privacy and functionality by turning Location Services off for specific apps.
It’s also important to note that modifying Location Services doesn’t impact the content you see online, as Safari and other apps rely on your IP address, not GPS. To bypass geo-blocking or hide your location for online privacy, you'll need to change your iPhone location with a VPN.
Turning off Location Services on your iPhone won’t notify anyone, making it a relatively discreet way to stop location sharing. But if you previously shared your location via Find My or another app, those people will start seeing an old timestamp or a "no location found" status, which can make it obvious that you stopped sharing your location.
And, if you start sharing your location again, those same people may receive a push notification, which could alert them to the fact that you previously disabled location sharing.
No, you cannot switch your Find My location from iPhone to Mac. Find My uses your device's current location, so it tracks the location of your iPhone, iPad, or Mac individually based on where they are at any given time.
However, you can access Find My from your Mac to share the location of your iPhone or iPad. Simply open Find My on your Mac, click People > Me, and then click the “information” button followed by Share My Location.
To turn off your iPhone’s Location Services for a specific app, customize individual app permissions in the iOS Location Services menu. This will prevent selected apps from accessing your phone’s GPS location data without turning off Location Services completely.
Limiting location permissions to essential apps, like maps or ridesharing services, not only enhances your privacy but can also help prevent overheating and extend your device's battery life.
Here’s how to turn off Location Services on an app-by-app basis:
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and scroll down to the list of apps.
Tap the app you want to disable, and then select Never to prevent it from accessing your iPhone’s location at any time.
Changing your Apple ID location will allow you to download region-specific apps that are unavailable for legal, licensing, or logistical reasons in the country or region your Apple ID is registered in. But to do so, you’ll need a valid payment method tied to the new location, and you won’t be able to transfer your account balance or active subscriptions.
Here’s how to change your Apple ID location on your iPhone:
Open Settings, tap your name, then select Media & Purchases > View Account and sign in if prompted.
Tap Country/Region > Change Country or Region and choose your new country.
Review and agree to the Terms & Conditions.
Enter a valid payment method and billing address for the new region, then tap Next to confirm.
It’s also important to note that this method only impacts the apps you can download, not the content available within them. For example, switching your Apple ID region might let you download a region-specific streaming app, but the app's available shows and movies will still depend on your real location — unless you change your iPhone’s location with a VPN.
The most flexible and convenient way to change your location on your iPhone is to use a VPN. As well as the many privacy and security benefits of a VPN, using a VPN for iOS allows you to alter your virtual location by changing your phone’s IP address to that of the VPN server you’re connected to.
Setting up a mobile VPN can help you spoof IP-enabled location services so you can bypass geo-blocks and watch your favorite shows while traveling.
Here’s how to change your iPhone location with a VPN:
Get a VPN like AVG Secure VPN, which provides high-speed access to a wide range of top server locations with no bandwidth restrictions.
Open the VPN app, toggle on the connection, and select your desired virtual location.
Start browsing in Safari, or access your favorite shows and other internet services from your virtual IP address location.
Even when you’re not using it for location-spoofing, gaming, or connecting safely to public Wi-Fi, it’s generally a good idea to leave your VPN on all the time, especially if you’re using a safe VPN from a trusted service provider with good reviews like AVG.
But remember, using a VPN only changes your IP address, not your iPhone’s GPS data. Apps that rely on GPS, like Find My or Google Maps, will still detect your actual location unless you’ve turned Location Services off or are using a spoofing app.
Your VPN may not be working on your iPhone due to network restrictions, incorrect settings or configurations, or conflicts with other apps. Try restarting your device, switching servers, or reinstalling the VPN. Also, check if your internet connection is stable and not blocking VPN traffic.
You can check whether your VPN is working properly by looking up your public IP address using an IP finder page. If a virtual IP address is being displayed, it means your real IP address is hidden and the VPN is working.
Most services that require precise location data use your phone’s GPS to determine where you are, so a VPN won’t work if you want to change your location on Find My, Google Maps, or ridesharing or dating apps.
If your VPN seems to be working fine, but your iPhone’s location isn’t changing, it’s likely that the app you’re using doesn’t rely on an IP-based location.
Most services that require precise location data use your phone’s GPS to determine where you are, so a VPN won’t work if you want to change your location on Find My, Google Maps, or ridesharing or dating apps.
If you want to actively change your iPhone’s GPS location rather than just hide it, you can use spoofing apps like iTools or iAnyGo to manipulate your device’s Location Services data and make your phone appear to be somewhere it’s not. This will display a fake location on Find My and allow you to explore different areas on apps like Tinder or Pokémon Go.
Keep in mind that spoofing your GPS data may breach the terms and conditions of certain apps, so be sure to review their policies beforehand. And, as with any third-party app, only download GPS-spoofing apps from the App Store, and check user reviews thoroughly to avoid inadvertently installing Trojans that could compromise your iPhone’s security.
Jailbreaking an iPhone to spoof its location may seem tempting. But because it removes Apple’s built-in restrictions, jailbreaking comes with serious risks, and we don’t recommend it. Although it can allow you to alter location data more effectively by removing internal system guardrails, jailbreaking voids your warranty and removes Apple’s security protections, exposing your device to malware and hacking.
Instead of jailbreaking, safer alternatives like reputable VPNs and location-spoofing apps offer similar results without compromising security. These methods allow temporary location changes for privacy while keeping your device secure, functional, and eligible for Apple support.
Jailbreaking isn’t illegal, but it voids your device warranty, may violate some terms of service, and can increase your exposure to malware, data breaches, and identity theft. Additionally, many common reasons for jailbreaking, such as using pirated apps, may be illegal and can lead to serious consequences.
If you want to combine flexible IP location switching with ironclad online privacy, look no further.
With a range of servers spread across five continents, dedicated streaming and P2P servers, and unlimited bandwidth, AVG Secure VPN for iOS is your global gateway to lightning-fast, geo-optimized connections, wherever you are.
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