Instagram: Why and How to Revoke Precise Location Permissions on iOS

The exact location on your smartphone can be very useful for some applications. For others it is useless. How to deactivate it if necessary?

Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and many other social networks are tracking you, but that doesn’t mean bad people can find out where you are. Recently, a viral post went viral on Instagram and Twitter warning that users can now get your exact location via Instagram following a recent iOS update. The report claims that criminals use this information to break into cars and homes, but these are just rumors and this is not how accurate tracking works.

When you download a new app, you often grant it many permissions on your iPhone, including access to the microphone, contacts, photos, camera, and location. For example, an app might request your location to get directions or deliver food. However, apps may also use location to collect data about where you are going and resell this data to third parties for advertising purposes.

Starting with iOS 14 in 2020, Apple has changed the way users manage their location information. Instead of letting apps see your exact location, you can turn off precise location so that apps only get a rough idea.

Either way, you may be very concerned that the service knows your exact location. If you want to stop tracking your exact location, here’s how to turn it off in any app on your iPhone.

How to turn off exact location on your iPhone

To get started, make sure you have the latest version of iOS and go to Settings. Scroll to find the app you want to prevent sharing your precise location, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok. Click on the app and go to “Location”.

If you’ve given the app this permission before, you’ll see a checkmark next to “Ask me next time or when I share”or “When I use the app.”Below you will see the “Precise Location”feature. To no longer share data with this app, turn off Precise Location.

Once disabled, the selected app will only have access to the approximate location. Precise location uses GPS to track you. Approximate location, it uses Wi-Fi and cellular data to locate you on a map within a 2 or 3 km radius.

While most apps don’t require your precise location, be aware that if you disable this feature for apps that require your precise location, such as Uber, Google Maps, or Doordash, you may experience issues with those apps.