How to lock down location sharing on a child’s phone

Last updated: October 22, 2026

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

Turn off live sharing first, then decide whether to clear history and limit app access.
In Find My, remove sharing and check Family Sharing location settings if needed.
End Google Maps sharing in the app, then review Google location settings separately.
Limit system-level location permissions, since app access can remain after family visibility changes.

A child’s phone can reveal a lot with surprisingly little effort — a map, a family app, or one default setting is often enough. This guide on how to lock down location sharing on a child’s phone centers on three controls: location sharing, location history, and per-app location access. Start with the live view. That is the first leak to close.

The fastest practical move is to shut off live sharing first, then decide whether you also want to clear history and trim app access. That keeps you from going overboard and breaking maps, ride apps, or school apps that only need location now and then.

There are three separate layers people often mash together.

Live location sharing shows another person where the phone is right now.
Location history records places the phone has been over time.
App location access lets individual apps use GPS or network location.

Shut off only one layer, and the others may keep working. A child could still show up in a family map even after one social app loses location permission. But if you turn off every location setting, the phone gets clumsy for navigation, emergency calls, and school pickup.

A cleaner order helps. Remove visibility first, then reduce tracking. For most families, that means:

Stop sharing the child’s live location with specific people or family groups.
Turn off location history if the phone is collecting it.
Set app access to “While using the app” or “Never” for apps that do not need location all the time.
Check whether a family safety feature is still showing the phone in a shared circle.

The trade-off is plain: tighter privacy usually means more friction for maps, lost-phone tools, and check-ins. Honestly, there is no magic switch here. That is why the next sections split the task by platform instead of treating every location control as one thing, and Apple and Google’s support pages are the best places to confirm the current menu names.

On iPhone, the controls you need live in Find My and Settings, not in one neat privacy panel. You can stop a child’s iPhone from showing up in Find My by turning off sharing and, if needed, disabling the device’s role in Family Sharing location features.

Use this sequence:

Open Settings and tap the child’s name at the top, then choose Find My. If the phone is on iOS 17 or later, the menu labels may appear slightly differently, but Find My is still the place to start.
Turn off Share My Location. That stops the phone from broadcasting its live location to people or family members who can already see it.
Open the Find My app and check the People tab. Remove any individual person who should no longer see the child’s location.
Open Settings and go to Privacy & Security > Location Services. Set app access carefully so only apps that truly need location get it.
Scroll to System Services inside Location Services and review anything location-related that is still active.
Go back to Privacy & Security and check whether Location Services should stay on at all. Turning it off stops most location use, but it also affects maps, weather, and some emergency features.

What you want is straightforward: the child no longer appears in Find My for the people you removed, and the phone stops sharing location by default. If the device still shows up, look for a family-sharing setting left on at the account level rather than on the handset itself.

One limitation is worth keeping in mind. Find My is not just about sharing with people; it also helps find a lost phone. Disable too much, and later recovery gets harder. That is a trade-off, not a technical rule.

For Apple’s own reference, the relevant support pages are the Apple Support articles on Find My and Location Services.

How do I stop Google Maps and Google location sharing?

Open Google Maps first and end the share there, then check the phone’s Google location settings separately. Google keeps location sharing and location history in different places, which is why people often think they have turned off tracking when they have only stopped one piece.

Start with Google Maps:

Open Google Maps on the child’s phone.
Tap the profile photo or initial in the top-right corner.
Choose Location sharing.
Tap each person who should no longer see the child’s location and choose Stop or Stop sharing.

That removes live visibility for those accounts. It may not stop the device from recording location history.

Next, check Google account controls:

Open the child’s Google account settings.
Look for Location History and turn it off if you do not want a timeline of places visited.
Review Web & App Activity if you want to reduce other location-linked records Google may keep.
Confirm the child is signed into the intended Google account, not a second account that still has sharing enabled.

On Android, Google Maps often gets location through the device’s broader privacy settings. So the app can still know where the phone is even after you stop sharing with a person. That step is incomplete unless you also handle app permissions.

A common slip-up is leaving Google Maps open under one account while the child uses another. The app can still show the wrong sharing status because it is reading the account currently signed in, not the one you meant to manage.

If the child uses Google Maps for transit or walking directions, turning off all location access may be too blunt. In that case, keep location on only while the app is in use and keep location history off. Less tracking; fewer headaches. That is usually the better compromise.

Google’s help pages on Location sharing and Location History are the right sources to check for current menu names.

What privacy settings to change on the phone itself

System-level permissions deserve attention too, because app-level sharing can survive even after family visibility changes. The cleanest pattern is “only while using” for trusted apps and “never” for apps that have no legitimate reason to know the child’s location.

On iPhone, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services. On Android, open Settings → Location or Privacy and then open App permissions or App location access. The exact wording changes by model, but the idea stays the same: each app gets its own rule.

Here is the order that keeps the phone usable:

Navigation and map apps: allow only While using the app.
Messaging apps: allow location only if the child actually uses location in chats.
Social and shopping apps: set to Never unless there is a clear need.
School or ride-share apps: keep tighter control and check whether they need precise location or only approximate location.

If the phone offers Precise Location, turn that off for apps that do not need exact street-level positioning. Approximate location is enough for weather, local news, and many services that do not need to know the house number.

The downside of being too strict is real. Some apps stop showing nearby places, some maps lose turn-by-turn accuracy, and certain safety features can fail in ways a parent may not expect. The downside of being too loose is real too: one forgotten app can quietly keep tracking in the background.

A practical standard is to review these settings every 3 months and after any OS update. iPhone and Android both reshuffle menu names from time to time, especially across major versions such as iOS 17 and Android 14. A quick review takes minutes; recovering from a missed permission can take much longer.

If you need a second reference, Apple’s and Google’s support pages on Location Services and App location access are the authoritative places to confirm the current labels.

How to cut off family location visibility without deleting the account

You can remove a child from family location visibility without deleting the account, but you need to change the shared circle or family group, not just the map view. That matters because family location tools often keep the child’s profile active even after one person stops seeing them.

Look for these controls:

In Apple’s ecosystem, check whether the child is still part of Family Sharing location access.
In Google-based setups, check whether location sharing is still enabled for the family group inside Google Maps or a linked family service.
In third-party family apps, check the group roster and the permissions granted to each member.

The key difference is between “I can no longer see this child” and “the child’s phone is no longer sharing at all.” Those are not always the same outcome. One family member may be removed while the broader group still has access.

A good cleanup pattern is:

Remove individual viewers first.
Then check the family group or shared circle.
Then confirm the child’s device is no longer publishing live location.
Finally, check whether a second account on the same phone still has access.

The trade-off here is social, not technical. If one parent still needs location for pickup or emergencies, do not erase every shared setting before deciding how the family will handle handoffs. The phone can be locked down for most people and still shared with one trusted adult, if that is the actual goal.

This is also where generic advice usually falls apart. It treats “family location visibility” like a single on/off switch, but it is usually a set of permissions spread across the phone, the app, and the account.

If you want a broader framework for this kind of cleanup, the hub page on child device access and privacy controls is the right companion piece.

Turning off the wrong layer and calling it done is the biggest mistake. That leaves a child visible through a second app, a family circle, or a history setting you never touched.

The most common errors are these:

Stopping one person but not the group. Cost: the child still appears in a family view. Do this instead: remove the whole sharing target list, then re-add only the people who truly need access.
Leaving location history on. Cost: a timeline of movements may still be saved even when live sharing is off. Do this instead: turn off history separately in Google settings or the equivalent account history control.
Giving every app precise location. Cost: apps that do not need exact position can still build a detailed profile. Do this instead: use approximate location or “While using the app.”
Forgetting a second account. Cost: another signed-in Apple ID or Google account may still share location. Do this instead: check the account currently active on the device, not just the one you expected.
Assuming screen lock equals privacy. Cost: a locked screen does not stop location sharing once it is enabled. Do this instead: use privacy settings, not passcode strength, to control visibility.

The time cost of a proper cleanup is usually 10 to 15 minutes if the phone has a normal set of apps. The bigger cost is missing one hidden permission and thinking the phone is private when it is not.

One honest limitation: there is no single universal switch that covers every phone, account, and app. That is why this topic needs a method, not a slogan.

Should parents use location sharing?

Use it only if it solves a real family problem, such as pickups, travel coordination, or emergency check-ins. Location sharing is useful when the people involved agree on who can see what and for how long. It is a poor fit when the goal is constant monitoring without a clear reason, because that tends to create conflict and still misses app-level tracking.

How do I stop an app from tracking location?

Open the phone’s privacy settings and change that app’s location access to Never or While using the app. On iPhone, that is under Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services. On Android, it is usually under Settings → Location or App permissions. If the app still tracks through an account setting, turn off its own history option too.

Can my child turn off location sharing?

Yes, if the child has the password or permission to change the account and device settings. Location sharing is only as locked down as the account controls behind it. If you need the setting to stay in place, use the child’s account rules, device restrictions, or family permissions to keep the child from reversing it without approval.

Drafted with AI; not yet reviewed by a person.

Admin

Key Takeaways

The quickest way to stop location sharing without breaking everything else

How to lock down location sharing in Find My on iPhone