I’m unable to see someone’s location on my iPhone after they shared it with me. I made sure the sharing was set up correctly, but their location doesn’t appear. I’m unsure what could be causing this issue and would appreciate any advice or troubleshooting tips to resolve it.
This could be a million things, honestly. Let’s break it down step by step because tech loves to be dramatic.
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They stopped sharing: People can turn off location sharing whenever they feel like it. Maybe they changed their mind about you seeing where they are 24/7. Happens.
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Bad signal: If their phone is in a bad reception area, the location won’t update. You’re not seeing their live location if their iPhone is sitting in a literal dead zone.
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They have Location Services off: Check if they accidentally (or ‘accidentally’) disabled Location Services. iPhones are particular about this.
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Software issues: Are both phones updated? If someone’s rocking iOS 12 while you’re on the latest version, things can glitch out.
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Battery-saving mode: They could have Low Power Mode turned on, which might limit GPS activity for apps like Find My.
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Incorrect sharing settings: Make sure they shared with the exact Apple ID you’re signed in with. People hit autopilot and share it to the wrong contact all. the. time.
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Plane mode, maybe??: If they’re in airplane mode, you’d obviously get nada. Either they’re on a flight, or uh… not wanting anyone to track them.
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Their phone might be off: Location stops sharing if the phone is off or dead (obvi).
Check these and see what fits. If all else fails, maybe just ask them directly. Or, y’know, assume they’re secretly an international spy.
Honestly, it might not even be any of the things @sterrenkijker mentioned—though they covered some solid ground. Here’s a wildcard idea: privacy settings conflict. Sometimes, even if someone shares their location, their device’s Privacy & Security settings could stop it from reaching you. For instance, if they’ve toggled some option like “Precise Location” off or restricted certain apps, even Find My can get weird. Think of it as their phone saying, ‘you get to see where they are…but vibes only.’
Or—and I’m just throwing this out there—there may be an iCloud issue. If they’ve got one account signed in on their iPhone and a totally different one linked to Find My (who does this? apparently people), the sharing might look like it’s working on their end, but nope, nothing’s actually happening. Classic ‘looks functional, is broken’ situation.
And here’s an odd suggestion: restart BOTH iPhones. I swear tech fixes love drama, and turning things off and on can seal the deal when it makes no sense why it worked. If none of this pans out, maybe question how badly you need to track 'em—because at this point, it sounds like the universe said nope.
Alright, here’s a quirky addition to what the others covered—your friend’s location disappearing might also hinge on one overlooked factor: Find My server reliability. Yeah, servers aren’t perfect. Apple may not advertise it, but the Find My feature sometimes suffers downtime. Rare, but it happens. When Apple’s servers aren’t communicating properly with your devices, it’s like trying to have a convo through a broken walkie-talkie: nothing gets transmitted. Keep an eye on Apple’s System Status page for updates on this.
Another sneaky culprit is Settings conflicts tied to third-party apps. Say your friend uses a VPN or has a weird profile installed on their device from their workplace or school. These can mess with internet access or even block location data transmission. It’s like trying to find their location through a kaleidoscope—distorted at best, invisible at worst.
And here’s a counterpoint to @sterrenkijker: battery-saving mode only partially limits GPS services. It doesn’t block location sharing outright, so unless their phone’s on life support, you should still see something. A more likely reason? Background App Refresh being disabled for Find My. If off, the app won’t update in real-time. Pretty easy fix–just hop into Settings > General > Background App Refresh and flip it back on. Boom.
Let’s talk airplane mode—slightly disagreeing here. If your friend’s been offline for a while, Find My often shows their last known location even if they’re currently in airplane mode, unless you get that ‘Location not available’ message. So, airplane mode ≠ complete invisibility 100% of the time.
Also, hidden hacks like time zone settings could play a role. If their phone’s time and date are off—or set to manual incorrectly—it can disrupt syncing for shared services. Basically, if their clock’s wonky, getting their location might be, too.
Bonus tip: Request location TEMPORARILY instead of always-on sharing. Why? It creates a fresh handshake of data between both devices and resets permissions. Sometimes all you need is to restart the “sharing logic.”
Pros of this? Resolves tech drama without micromanaging every setting. Cons? If there’s legit privacy hesitation on their side, this method avoids long-term access (arguably a fair reason for resistance).
P.S. If you’re convinced the universe is conspiring against you, maybe spice things up by using ‘Life360’ as a backup app. Pros are it’s dedicated to location tracking; cons are it’s subscription-reliant and weirdly invasive, though no more so than full-on Find My. What do y’all think?