How to Turn Off the Frequent Locations Feature on iPhone
Frequent Locations is an intelligent feature on the iPhone that allows the device to track where you go and learn what places are frequently visited. Once the iPhone has determined some locations that are most common, say your home or work, the iPhone will then report to you some personalized data about that location, like how long it will take you to get home, or how long your anticipated commute to work will be.
Most users will see this represented within Notification Center, accessible via a swipe down from the top of the iPhone, and the associated Frequent Location text will usually say something like “Right now, it would take you xx minutes to drive to (work / home / school)”. If you’ve never noticed this yourself, here’s where to look on your device to see it:
While this feature is undeniably convenient, there are several possible issues with Frequent Locations. Most obvious is that Frequent Locations requires the usage of GPS to determine location data, meaning it can lead to unnecessary battery drain on iOS 7+ devices, particularly among users who don’t bother to pay attention to the service let alone use it. Additionally, some users just may not like the idea of iOS and their iPhone keeping track of places you’ve been to and frequently go to, so some users may just want to turn Frequent Locations off for privacy purposes.
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