Location, on and off

1Look

The little arrow

That arrow means something on your phone is asking where you are right now. Most people have never checked what.

2The idea

Some apps need it. Most just want it.

Maps needs your location; that is the whole point of maps. A weather app needs a rough one. A photo app, a game and a shopping app do not need it, and some of them stamp it onto everything you make. The camera writes the place into every photo it takes, if you let it.

A shared location is not a secret between you and the app. It rides along with the photo, the post and the friend list. The test is simple: needs means it breaks without it. Wants means it would like it.

3The idea

Three words, and where to find them

Every phone uses the same three settings, app by app:
Never. The app does not get to know. This is the default for anything that does not break without it.
While Using. Only when the app is open on screen. Maps. Weather. Ride apps.
Always. Even when the app is closed. Almost nothing deserves this.

It lives under Settings, then Privacy, then Location. Go down the list one app at a time and ask each one why. If you cannot answer for the app, the answer is Never. Look for a switch called Precise as well; most apps that need a location only need a rough one.

4The idea

Watch it work once

Jonah opens Location and finds eleven apps on the list. Maps: While Using, fine. Weather: While Using, fine, and he turns Precise off because weather does not need his street. His photo app: Always. Every picture in his library has the place written into it. Never. A game with a leaderboard of nearby players: Always. Never.

Four minutes. Two apps changed. Nothing on his phone works any worse, and two companies and everyone they share with have stopped following him about. He had never once opened that page before.

5Build it

Walk the settings

Every phone puts this somewhere different. The words are the same on all of them: Never, While Using, Always.

6Decide

Which of these actually needs your location to work?

7The idea

The map your friends can see

Some apps have a map that shows your friends where you are, live, all day. It is fun for about a week. The question is not whether your friends can see it. It is who is on the friends list, because everyone on it can watch you walk home.

If you keep it on, the list has to be people you have met. If the list has anyone on it you could not pick out of a crowd, turn the map off for everyone. Most of these apps call the off setting something like ghost mode, and it is one tap.

8Find them

Which of these can a shared location give away?

Tap the ones that count.

9Say it

The question to ask any app

Ask it of every new app before you tap Allow. If you cannot answer it for the app, the answer is Never.

10Do it

Before you leave this page