If I Stop Sharing My Location Will They Know? (Know Here!)

If I stop sharing my location will they know? Well, technically yes, but not immediately.

The “location sharing” is a great GPS-based feature, supported by many apps and software available for mobile operating systems Android and iOS.

Well, in this quick guide, we’ll cover everything from how the sharing works to whether your contacts will be notified when stopped.

When you stop sharing your location on both Android and iOS, your contacts will not receive direct notifications. However, if they try to view your live location later and see that it’s no longer being shared.

Let’s explore the facts you must know!

How Does Sharing Your Location Work?

Generally, location sharing works by using the GPS on your mobile phone to pinpoint your exact location and share the data.

Location sharing not only works with the contacts on the phone but also with apps, which use that data to provide you with a better user experience.

However, sometimes we would love to preserve our privacy and luckily, the location sharing has many functionalities.

They will allow you to be very selective on what information you would like to share, to whom, and of course when…

What Are Permissions?

The permissions are the forks of the location-sharing feature. They are like a gate that you can close anytime, and block any content or app that you wouldn’t like to share location with.

Well, this can sometimes provide you with peace of mind but might restrict you from certain features.

For example, you cannot use navigation apps, without sharing your live location.

Maybe you can only path your way by looking at the map, but this is not effective in showing you where you are.

Info: As concisely as possible, the permissions allow you to alter the location-sharing feature!

If I Stop Sharing My Location Will They Know?

Not immediately.

Said as concisely as possible, if they don’t care, they wouldn’t know. This is because nobody will receive a notification when you make changes in sharing your location.

So, the only occasion in which they would know is when they are denied viewing your live location.

Did You Know?

The GPS (location services) are not the only factor that might suggest your live location with third-party services apps and contacts.

For example, mobile phones connect through cellular and WiFi, which shows your public IP and makes it available.

This means that concerned authorities can pinpoint your location without GPS being enabled on your device.

So if you would like to stop sharing any location, you need to stop using GPS, WiFi, and mobile data (4G, 5G) on your device at once.

Note: On iPhones, even this wouldn’t be enough so continue reading!

How to Stop Sharing Location on iPhone?

Wondering if I stop sharing my location with someone will they know iPhone?

On iPhone, the privacy settings and location permissions allow more personalization when compared to other operating systems.

Thanks to the millions of dollars and efforts spent on the development of a fully secure system, with Apple devices you’ve got full control of your data!

How to Stop Sharing Locations with Everyone?

First, open the Settings of your Apple device.
Scroll all the way down to the “Privacy” tab.
Next, tap on the “Location Settings” option.
Then, tap on the “Share My Location” feature.
Use the toggle to turn off “Share My Location”.

Info: This will ultimately stop the sharing of your location, but you’re compromising your opportunity to find your lost device (nobody will be notified).

How to Stop Sharing Location with a Contact?

First, open the Find My iOS application.
Scroll down to enter the “People” tab.
Select the contact to stop sharing for.
Tap on “Stop Sharing My Location”.

Info: After these steps, the selected contact will no longer have access to your location and they will not receive notification when you do.

How to Stop Sharing Locations with Applications?

In order to prevent apps from using your location, you can simply toggle off the location services or use the permissions to adjust apps individually.

You can of course reverse the changes later to regain access to location-dependent apps or simply when you want to share your location.

#1 Disable Location Services:

First, open the Settings of your Apple device.
Go to “Privacy”, and then “Location Services”.
Tap on the toggle to stop the location services.

#2 Tweak App Permissions:

First, open Settings on your iOS device.
Secondly, scroll down to find the apps.
Select an app that you would like to tweak.
Then tap on the “Location” tile at the top.
Select one of the options:

Never – the application will never use the location services.
Ask Next Time or When I Share – the app will ask you every time.
While using the app – the location will only work when the app is working.
Always – the app will have full access to your location anytime.

Info: This will stop sharing your location with applications on your Apple device, but will also compromise GPS apps, since location is their primary requirement.

How to Stop Sharing Location on Android?

On Android devices, location sharing works a bit differently, with a lot of Google involved, but the system also provides a lot of customization for peace of mind.

If you stop sharing your location does it notify the person? Absolutely not.

The only way they can find out that you’re no longer sharing a location is when they try to check your location. They won’t be notified in any variety so here’s how to stop it…

How to Stop Sharing Location with Everyone?

First, open Settings on your Android.
Then, go to “Connections” or “Privacy”.
Info: It’s different on different Androids.
Then tap on “Location” and switch it off.

Info: These steps will ultimately disable the location services on the entire device, hence no app or no contact will have access to your location until further notice.

How to Stop Sharing Location with a Contact?

Open the Google Maps app on your Android.
Then tap on your Profile Picture at the top.
Next, choose the “Location Sharing” feature.
Select the Profile Photo of a certain contact.
Then tap on the “Stop” button to stop sharing.

Info: These steps will only stop the sharing with a specific contact and you can also repeat the steps for all contacts you would like to stop sharing location with.

How to Stop Sharing Location with Applications?

Swipe down from the top to bring the Control Center.
Then, tap on hold the “Location” icon in the menu.
Alternatively, go to Settings > Privacy > Location.
Next, select the “App Location Permissions” option.
Find and select an app to tweak the permissions for.
Then select one of the three options:

✅ All the time – the location will work all of the time, even when the app is closed.

✅ Only while using the app – the location works only while the app is working.

✅ Ask every time – the app will ask you to enable location every time necessary.

✅ Deny – the app will not be able to use your location anytime.

Note: Nobody will be notified when you stop the location sharing!

Why Do Mobile Apps Need Your Location?

If you’re wondering why mobile apps require your location and prompt you to “Allow” location every time, well, the answer is not that concerning.

Some apps require your location to function normally, while other apps require your location to polish the performance for better accuracy.

Here’s why mobile apps require your location:

For navigation and mapping purposes (GPS).
For alerts, events, and notifications (social apps).
Weather updates for your specific area.
For fitness route tracking or reminders.
For personal safety, marketing, and services.

Should I Allow “Location Services”?

Yes, because it’s safe.

The sharing is hardly regulated, based on the jurisdiction and country but the bottom line is that you should be worried.

However, as long as users are able to stop sharing their location whenever they want, there is no ground for concerns.

You’re not being followed!

Quick Recap:

If I stop sharing my location will they know – no they won’t until they find out that they can no longer see your location. So, disabling the location sharing with a specific contact will not notify them in any variety nor send them an alert, message, call, or anything else.

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Finn Wheatley

Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.