You’ve set up Parental Controls and Screen Time limits on your kids’ iPhones. All seems right in the world. But then it’s time to meet your kids and they aren’t at the pre-arranged spot. They aren’t returning your call or text.
Don’t panic! There’s a simple way to find your child’s location via their iPhone. With a few easy steps, you can add a layer of safety and convenience with iPhone Location Services.
How to set up Location Services on iPhone
- On your child’s iPhone, open the Messages app
- Find your contact as if you are about to send a text
- TAP your name at the top of the screen
- TAP the info icon on the upper right menu under your name
- TAP Share My Location
- TAP Share Indefinitely
In the message thread on your own phone, you will then see a prompt that your child is sharing their location with you with a time stamp. If your child stops sharing their location, you will get a prompt in a text.
Likewise, using Share my Location can be an added layer of communication with out-of-state emergency contacts in case of a disaster.
Share a location for one hour or one day.
Use these steps to send your current location to anyone who has an iPhone for one hour or one day. It’s helpful to locate members of a group in a public space. If you are not using WiFi, sharing your location will use a negligible amount of data.
What about security concerns?
Apple’s iPhone has you covered. For security purposes, frequent locations can’t be tracked. Apple’s privacy policy says location data is anonymously stored on servers in an encrypted format — and for only two hours — before it is deleted.
