The only way to get the location status icon removed is to disable it in. Settings. Im convinced apple has been on a downward spiral since the death of Jobs. My next phone wont be apple im afraid as it seems they are doing more for “the developers “ than the consumer (see reasons for being unable to disable wifi/Bluetooth)
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Location Services Constantly 'On' in iOS 11
- Thread starter Sirious
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The only way to get the location status icon removed is to disable it in. Settings. Im convinced apple has been on a downward spiral since the death of Jobs. My next phone wont be apple im afraid as it seems they are doing more for “the developers “ than the consumer (see reasons for being unable to disable wifi/Bluetooth)
The Jobs DNA is definitely leaving, but there are still enough of his personal touches there to keep me interested. I've thought about leaving, from time to time, but there is no alternative. Unless a new OS arrives from a new player, or perhaps a Linux phone takes off, there just isn't anywhere else to go. Despite my intense dislike of Google, my main objection to Android is Android itself. Its really frustrating for me to use it. I've had two devices so far - made available to me for free - and I couldn't make it past two minutes with any of them. When a customer would rather pay the "Apple tax" than take your stuff for free, you're doing something wrong.
Last edited:
Same issue. I use Siri watch face and weather doesn't auto update as I travel if you only have 'while using' for iPhone weather app. So watch is pinging and geofencing via iPhone to know where you are. I read years ago that arrow doesn't assume GPS, could be tower triangulation and other non battery consuming methods.
Hi guys.
I don’t know if you’re still looking for a solution but I think I got it.
Try that out:
Privacy —> location services —> system service —> significant location —> and you turn that off.
It disappears instantly. I tried to load google maps and left. It appeared and then left once I quit the map app !
Let me know if it’s what you were looking for too
Cheers
I don’t know if you’re still looking for a solution but I think I got it.
Try that out:
Privacy —> location services —> system service —> significant location —> and you turn that off.
It disappears instantly. I tried to load google maps and left. It appeared and then left once I quit the map app !
Let me know if it’s what you were looking for too
Cheers
Indeed you seem to be right. The arrow came back even after I unpaired my Apple watch. However I have since used the reset settings option and since then the arrow has vanished !! I am not sure what caused the issue but now I do not have it
Try turning off Locations completely, and just enter your location into the weather app manually. Problem solved.
That is such bad UI design, changing the meaning of an established icon previously used.
to each their own. I travel extensively, and I'm on the road about 12-13 hours every day. I have not once needed Location Services.
Hi guys.
I don’t know if you’re still looking for a solution but I think I got it.
Try that out:
Privacy —> location services —> system service —> significant location —> and you turn that off.
It disappears instantly. I tried to load google maps and left. It appeared and then left once I quit the map app !
Let me know if it’s what you were looking for too
Cheers
What is this significant location for ? Is it safe to tirn it off ?
Good article. I noticed that new behavior
[doublepost=1507309396][/doublepost]
It's a little confusing for sure, but I wouldn't call it such a big deal
Yes. I see the hollow arrow on my iOS11 phone and my new Apple Watch. The icons match. I was trying to shut down location services to
If anyone is worried about these location services being on draining battery then don't. I've been testing and leaving them on or off has ZERO impact on battery.
These services don't use the power hungry GPS but rather uses cellular triangulation and detecting nearby WiFi to get a very close approximation of your location. These take no real power. GPS is only uses for mapping apps.
These services don't use the power hungry GPS but rather uses cellular triangulation and detecting nearby WiFi to get a very close approximation of your location. These take no real power. GPS is only uses for mapping apps.
No that only HIDES the Location Services Icon from the top bar which is worse because then you won't even know what and if apps are using location services.
It was frustrating because before the update battery life on my iPad Mini 4 was like this: 7 am leaving home for work with 100%. My morning consisted of basic usage at 100% brightness reading New York Times App continuously on my 40 minute train ride into work. Then at work mildly using eBay, a Subway Map App, Google Maps, Words with Friends, Email checking and writing.
By lunch I would have at least 80% of battery left.
After the update, with doing the same exact things by lunch time, my battery life was barely higher than 40%. Even dimming the brightness by half didn't help much.
Here is how I fixed it:
A - First you need to go down your Location Services App List and decide what Apps you need to set to location services ALWAYS on, only on WHILE USING THE APP and NEVER on.
For basic everyday iOS users none of us do not need any non-essential/non-system Apps to be ALWAYS on. Our core group of Apps (google, chrome, safari, maps, facebook, instagram...) should only access location services WHILE USING THE APP while most of our Apps (games, shopping stores, ESPN, Calculator Pro, etcc...) should NEVER be set to using location services EVER!
B - To fix my issue I needed to do several things in System Services to stop location services from being ALWAYS on.
1. Wi-Fi Networking (turn off) - not sure what this is and why WiFi needs location services. With this off WiFi works the same. My WiFi antenna is always turned on 24 hrs a day so I was really hurting here.
2. PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT - Routing & Traffic (turn off) basically Apple is using your device as a location beacon for creating real time traffic flow maps in your area for their general network. For some reason this was turned off previously but IOS 11 turns it back on even though other items in PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT remained off.
Now with my changes I only ever see the Location Service is On arrow icon when I expect to the the arrow icon! Not sure why Apple make end user configurations so complicated!
Last edited:
[doublepost=1508594914][/doublepost]I turned location services off then back on and it stayed off now.
No effect for meHi guys.
I don’t know if you’re still looking for a solution but I think I got it.
Try that out:
Privacy —> location services —> system service —> significant location —> and you turn that off.
It disappears instantly. I tried to load google maps and left. It appeared and then left once I quit the map app !
Let me know if it’s what you were looking for too
Cheers
What solved this for me is because I was sharing my location with some friends and family in the “My Friends,” app... BUT, I had added a notification to “Notify friends option” when I leave my home... I deleted the notification I added and it fixed it immediately!!
Yes, very odd and happened to me also after iOS 11. It doesn’t matter what I do the arrow stays hollow on the status bar. I’ve turned off location services, Bluetooth, WiFi, everything I can think of and it still stays on.
Got it to go away by setting Weather to “While using app”. That’s the only way to make it go away (in my case).
I turned off location services. Then did a hard shutdown. Powered back on and turned location services back on. Problem went away for now.
