How to See iPhone Location History?

You may want to view an iPhone’s location history to ensure your child’s and other family member’s safety. It can help you find out where your child goes to monitor their behavior or even test your significant other’s loyalty if you suspect them of cheating.

Apple is considered a user-centric brand that provides security and Privacy. But in reality, your iPhone also secretly records your location. It often keeps a log of the places you visit under the label of significant location. In your iPhone settings, you can see the history with time stamps and cities you visit. There are also various other ways to find the travel history of an iOS device. In this article, I will take you through some reliable methods to help you find the location history of an iPhone.

Method 1: Get iPhone Location Using Third-Party Apps

Here are some of the best third-party apps that I came across while looking for tools that can provide iPhone location tracking and history. I have evaluated these apps and tried them first-hand to provide the information given below.

1) mSpy

mSpy is a powerful tracking app that allows you to monitor any device’s activity. I reviewed this tool and found that it is a popular iPhone tracking app for monitoring employees, kids, or spouses. It helped me monitor calls, track locations, read text messages, and record voice effectively.

Besides monitoring, you can also control the apps on the target device. mSpy enabled me to track both Android and iPhone. The location tracking on the mSpy app is precise with coordinates as it uses GPS. I found out that this app is used widely, and its reviews are highly positive.

Features:

• Location Tracking: I could track and view my kid’s iPhone’s location history effortlessly to monitor movements. It showed me easy-to-read maps with longitude and latitude, date and time, and complete address details.
• Geo-Fencing: Its geo-fencing tool helped me set safe and danger zone so I could get notified everytime the iPhone user left my safe fenced area. 
• Monitor App Activity: You can check the activity on apps like Browser, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram. I could also view the messages on these social media platforms.
• iPhone Screen Recording: It helped me record my iPhone screen to capture and review activities in real time.
• Communication Monitoring: You can monitor text messages, calls, emails, and third-party apps like WhatsApp for comprehensive oversight. It allowed me to stay informed about important conversations.

Visit mSpy >>

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How Does mSpy Work for Location Tracking?

Here are the steps that I used to use mSpy for location tracking:

Step 1) Go to the mSpy website and create an account.

Step 2) Select the Device you want to monitor, or you can leave it for later.

Step 3) Choose the Subscription plan.

Step 4) You will receive a verification email at your address for mSpy login. You must confirm this email.

Step 5) Enter the iCloud credentials of the target iPhone.

Step 6) Watch every activity of your kid in real time.

An important thing to note is that you should not misuse this app. You need consent to check others’ iPhone location history unless they are your teenage kids.

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Method 2: How to Check iPhone Location History?

For location history, iPhone collects data through different services like Bluetooth, Wifi hotspots, GPS, and cell phone towers. You can trace your smartphone’s location by looking at the history of apps with tracking permission.

Some iPhone users intentionally enable location tracking to later remember the places they visited in recent times. It is also a handy feature for parents, who use it to know their children’s whereabouts.

Here are the steps I follow to check my iPhone location history:

Step 1) First, open Settings on your iPhone.

Step 2) Search and Select the Privacy option in settings.

Step 3) See the location service option.

Open Location Services.

Step 4) Navigate to System Services, at the bottom and click on it.

Step 5) In System Services, hit on Significant Locations.

Step 6) It will ask you to prove your identity through fingerprint or password.

Step 7) Here, you will get to see all the Recently Visited Locations.

The arrival and departure timestamps are shown in the location logs on the significant locations page. Select the city to view the history of your iPhone’s recent locations.

How to Turn Off Significant Locations iPhone Records?

Follow my step-by-step guide to turning off iPhone recent locations tracking:

Step 1) As explained in the previous section, open Significant Locations in Settings.

Step 2) Hit the switch next to the Significant Locations option to turn it off.

Your iPhone will not keep the record if the toggle button is turned Gray from Green. It will then restrict the apps that track location history, and you will not get to see your iPhone location history.

How to Delete Location History On iPhone?

You may also want to delete the iPhone location history if you turn off the significant locations. I have given a step-by-step demonstration of how to do it.

Step 1) Navigate to the Significant Locations page from settings.

Step 2) On the Significant Locations page, you will find the Clear History option under the Map.

After you hit on the Clear History option, you will be able to delete significant locations. Also, if the location is not there even before you delete it, you may need to read the next to learn why.

Method 3: Use Find My iPhone Feature to Check Location

Apple Find My feature is a great assistance when locating your device. This feature is also used to find your family member’s devices who have shared their iPhone location.

Here are the steps I followed to find my device using Find My iPhone:

Step 1) Open Settings on your phone and Click on your Apple ID.

Step 2) Tap on Find My app.

Step 3) Hit on Find My iPhone and turn it on.

After you follow these steps, not just you from some other device but also people with whom you have shared the location can track down your iPhone location. I have noticed that Apple location tracking is extremely precise; it will take you inches close to your lost device.

How to Disable Location Access to Find My iPhone Service?

iPhone also allows you to disable Apple maps history access to any application and service, including Find My iPhone.

Here are the steps I take to disable the location tracking for apps:

Step 1) In iPhone’s Settings, tap Privacy and Location Services.

Step 2) Here, you will see the List of Applications that can access your Location History if you allow them.

Step 3) Click on the App you want to restrict from tracking you and disable it by selecting the Never option.

To only allow or disallow Find My iPhone location history, you will navigate to Find My app, open it, and select the option of your choice.

However, if you decide to leave it active, tap on the toggle next to the Precise Location to help you provide a specific location.

Method 4: How Do You Share Your Location on iPhone

iPhone lets you share your location with family members you add. In my experience, I discovered that sharing your location makes it possible to find your iPhone if it gets lost. It is a great option for keeping track of your device.

In the family sharing setting, you must enable the Apple share location for a particular family member. You can also let multiple people check your iPhone location history.

Here are the steps I use to share my location with family members:

Step 1) Open Settings on your iPhone.

Step 2) In settings, go to your Apple ID Setting And tap Family Sharing.

Step 3) Now, click on Location Sharing.

Step 4) Hit the toggle next to the Share My Location option to turn it on if it is not enabled.

Step 5) Tap on any family member shown below And Select the Share My Location option.

Note: I recommend repeating the last step to share the location with multiple people.

Whoever you add will get a message on their Apple email with the option for them to share their Find My location with you. If you decide to halt access for them in the future, tap on the name and select the Stop Sharing My Location option.

How to See Shared Location on iPhone

When you share your Find My iPhone location with someone, or they share their location with you, check your iPhone location history from your Apple device.

I found out that the moment someone shares the location with you, they get added to the maps of your Find My app. So go to the app and tap on their name to get the directions. Then, follow them to locate the device.

Method 5: How to See Google Maps Timeline iPhone Saves

Yes, indeed, Google can also keep your iPhone location history. In its map app, you can see the Google location history iPhone saves. If you don’t know how to see Google Maps history, then the instructions below will lead you there:

Step 1) Open the Google Maps App on your iPhone.

Step 2) Tap on your Profile Picture in the upper right corner.

Step 3) Select the data in Maps option from the list.

Step 4) Hit the See & delete activity button under Location History.

Step 5) Next, you will see your today’s location. Click on Today or the right/left arrows to change the day.

If you don’t see any location, this may be because you have the Google tracking history turned off. I suggest you go to your settings to turn it on.

How to Turn on Google Tracking History For iPhone Devices?

I have given the method below to enable Google location tracking:

Step 1) Open Settings on Your iPhone.

Step 2) Click on Privacy and then Location Services.

Step 3) Navigate to the Google Maps app in the list and tap on it.

Step 4) Make sure you have Location Access to Always.

After this, Google will start recording your iPhone’s recent locations. You will see an interesting Google Maps timeline that the iPhone saves after using it for a while, so you have something to look back on your adventures and experiences.

How to Know When Any Service Accesses Your Location?

If you allow multiple services to access your iPhone location history, you may like to know when any app is accessing it. To provide better transparency to its users, Apple has a status bar icon feature that lets you know when and which apps see iPhone location history.

Here are the steps I took to enable the Status Bar Icon:

Step 1) Open Settings, go to the Location Services, scroll down to System Services and tap on it.

In Systems Services, you will see the list of services that may access your iPhone’s recent locations. Enabled Services with the purple Find My iPhone icon are the ones that recently gained your location.

Step 2) Navigate to the Status Bar Icon at the bottom and enable it.

Step 3) Now, you will see the location icon at the top of the screen in the status bar when using location.

Note: Ensure you keep the Find My iPhone location history enabled, as it is not harmful and proves helpful in times of need.

Why Location History Is Not Available?

It could be unavailable because of these reasons:

1. You do not meet the age requirement.
2. Location history feature unavailable in your region.
3. Group administrators can disable Google account services.
4. Location Services is disabled.

Check which one of these is the reason in your case. If you want an iPhone location history, try to remove that restriction.

Conclusion

I found mSpy to be incredibly useful for tracking my family member’s iPhone location history. It offers comprehensive features that make it easy to monitor past locations and ensure safety. You can also use Apple’s Significant Locations to find frequently visited places. Additionally, Google Location History on iPhone and the Find My iPhone service are useful for keeping a record of the travel history of your target iOS device.