It is frustrating when you keep getting a wrong location when using your maps feature to navigate foreign places or when trying to find your iPhone using the Find My iPhone feature. If this has never happened to you, you may wonder whether the Find My iPhone feature can show the wrong location and the steps you can take to fix this problem.
So, can Find My iPhone be wrong and show the wrong location? Find my iPhone can be wrong and show the wrong location if you disable location service. This problem will also arise if your device is not up to date, if you deny access to your location, and in case of signal or network problems. Your iPhone apps will ask for permission to access your location when you open them for the first time. If you allow them, the location feature will work fine, but you should expect errors in location detection if you decline permission.
In most cases, your iPhone will operate perfectly with no system issues. Still, like any other device, it is prone to connectivity and GPS issues, and knowing the cause is vital to resolving the issue.
Find My iPhone can be wrong and show the wrong location due to signal or network issues, faulty updates, and the turn-on location restrictions. An iPhone’s navigation function primarily depends on the network, including Wi-Fi and GSM, and the GPS strength for accurate positioning. Hence, your GPS will act up when close to obstructions such as walls, impeding the connectivity and signals.
Your device’s software is another important element dictating applications and services performance. This is why you should ensure it is up to date if you want to use your iPhone with minimum issues.
Unfortunately, certain apps may contain bugs that will find their way into your device during the update. These apps will, in turn, affect your iPhone navigation service. Fortunately, you can tell and recognize problems resulting from such bugs, as they will start immediately after the update.
With the increasing number of hackers online, security is a big deal. It is no wonder you may disable, limit, or deny your Find my iPhone app access to your current location. As such, your device’s navigation will not capture the correct location.
How Accurate Is iPhone Location Tracking?
When you lose your iPhone, the fastest way to locate it is using the Find My iPhone App. You can also log in to the web through iCloud if you do not have access to another iPhone. It is normal to notice some accuracy changes signaled by the green circle around your device’s location.
Your iPhone location tracking accuracy is very accurate. If you enable mobile data and Wi-Fi and turn off GPS, you expect 10-100metres location accuracy. This accuracy can increase depending on the cell towers in your area, interference, GPS, and Wi-Fi. To tell how accurate your information is, check the green circle. A small green dot will indicate greater precision, while a green dot with a larger green circle signifies lower precision. In the latter case, your device is within the large circle. A gray dot means no location detected.
As stated earlier, your iPhone’s location services help locate a lost or misplaced device. These services will combine cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS to detect your location. How accurate the App locates a device will depend on the above factors, with your device becoming more accurate with good access. If you are in a place where your device cannot detect your location through GPS, it will look for an alternative. Equally, Wi-Fi and cellular networks will supplement GPS when weak.
Your iPhone will mostly rely on the inbuilt GPS and Wi-Fi to determine the location. You can improve this accuracy by turning off Wi-Fi. By turning off Wi-Fi, your device will rely on one piece of information to locate the device. In all the above instances, you should have your Find My Phone app settings on to get your search results.
If you are in a place with obstacles such as buildings and trees, your GPS accuracy may vary, affecting your location results. Also, tracking will stop when your iPhone battery dies. Thus, after losing your phone, you will have some hours to track it, after which it will be impossible if the battery goes off.
When your iPhone detects your most frequently visited places, it will mark them as Significant Locations. These locations are the least accurate as they update only when there is a cell tower change or transition.
This change varies the update accuracy depending on your location. The low accuracy in Significant Locations is because they are the last updated. For instance, if you are always on Wi-Fi at home, your iPhone will detect the location you are always at when using Wi-Fi.
When you shift to another place with your Wi-Fi router and connect your iPhone, it will think it still knows where you are since it saved the information, yet your location is now new. After some time, Apple will update this information, before which you will have to deal with the inaccuracies it presents.
Apple allows you to update your Significant Location details when you shift. To do this, launch the Settings App on your iPhone and scroll to Privacy. Next, select Location Services and scroll to the System Service. From here, scroll down and tap on Significant Locations. You can then verify your identity using your passcode, Face or Touch ID. Several significant locations will populate, and you can edit or delete them.
Lastly, while you may not always get your phone back after tracking, this process is vital to authorities in their investigations. Apple has not promised anything yet on the app improvements but only hope that the Find My Phone app will become a more accurate tool for recovering phones.
Why Does My iPhone Location Show Somewhere Else?
iPhones are sure a choice for many individuals for their functional versatility. In addition to its outstanding features, you can use your iPhone as a navigational tool, giving you directions to unfamiliar places and tracking your movement throughout the day. It is no wonder you will be frustrated if your iPhone location shows somewhere else, and I will help you understand why this can happen and the possible fixes.
Your iPhone location will show somewhere else due to a problem with the location app, Wi-Fi, GPS, or bugged apps and software. When your mobile cellular signal is weak, Maps will likely choose the wrong location. Hence, a stable internet connection is vital if your iPhone’s navigation function is to give proper reception. You will notice your GPS acting up when close to obstructions affecting connectivity and signal.
Also, if your iPhone’s OS gets bugged updates, it is likely to show the wrong locations, and you will notice this soon after the updates. Turning off your location such that the App cannot access your current location will cause errors in your location.
Understanding what causes your iPhone to show the wrong location is necessary if you are to fix the problem. Start by checking your location apps for unified information. If your location is incorrect in only one App, it could be a problem with that specific App.
You can confirm this by checking other apps such as Weather and Maps. If the information matches, then your iPhone location services are working fine. On the other hand, if a single app has a problem, close and reopen it and check for any changes.
If your apps are not the problem, the next step you should take is to check whether you gave Find My Location permission to access your location. All your apps will ask whether they can access your location the first time you open them and if you say no, the location feature will not function properly, explaining why your iPhone location could be showing somewhere else.
If you said no initially, you could grant your app access by opening the Settings app, tapping Privacy, then Location Services. While at the Location Services, you will see a list of the apps requesting access to your location, and if an app has Never besides it, it means it does not have access to your location information.
Tap on the App and set it to While Using the App and close out of the Settings window. You should also close the App, and after reopening it, you should be able to use your location information and get accurate results.
Still, if your iPhone location is wrong in one of your apps, it could indicate a software issue. In most cases, the app owners are usually aware of the app issue and could be sending an update soon to fix it. Hence, you should check for the app update in the App store. If the updates do not resolve your location issues, you can take a step further and reach out to the app developer. This may not be possible for all the apps, but it is worthwhile checking.
To do this, navigate the App Store and enter the App’s name that is giving the wrong location in the search tab. Scroll to the Ratings and Reviews section and tap See All, then App Support, and you can send a message or report your concerns.
Given your iPhone’s software complications, an update may not always resolve the location issues, requiring you to correct the settings to fix the location issues. To reset your location settings, navigate to the Settings, General, Reset, then Reset Location and Privacy. You will get a prompt to enter your passcode, after which your location and privacy settings will format to the way they were when you bought your iPhone.
As stated earlier, your iPhone will pinpoint your location using your cellular network or Wi-Fi information. Apple will even store this information such that if you are always on Wi-Fi while at home, it will take this as your location.
While this sounds great, a shift with your router may cause your location to show a different location due to the many Significant Locations stored by the device. If this is the reason behind your iPhone showing somewhere else, you can change the settings manually or ask your iPhone to forget the known locations after such a shift. Alternatively, wait for a day or more for your device to send its location to Apple, but if it is wrong after this, proceed with the other steps of correcting wrong locations.
In addition to the above, you can restore your location functionality by using this feature away from obstructions to ensure good reception. Checking your internet connection when on GPS apps will tell whether connectivity issues are the culprit. You should also check if your iPhone is off due to the low battery. Like in an internet connection, your iPhone should be on to detect location.
If it goes off, the Find My iPhone site will show the last location before it went offline, so you should recharge your device as soon as it shows the red battery. You can also update your maps or visit Apple Support to confirm no outages.
Should you try the above options in vain, you are likely dealing with a hardware problem, specifically the GPS chip. A GPS chip problem will occur if you subject your iPhone to frequent drops or exposure to liquid. In this case, you should visit a licensed Apple store for the technicians to investigate the issue.
Summary
Your iPhone is a great navigational tool for moving about unknown states or tracking a lost or misplaced iPhone. This accuracy is approximate and will vary with interferences such as natural features like tall trees, buildings, the presence of cell towers in your areas, GPS and Wi-Fi. You can check your iPhone location tracking accuracy by observing the green circle with the small green dot indicating high accuracy.
Unfortunately, the Find My iPhone feature can, at times, show the wrong location. This may occur if you disable your location service, your device is not up to date, and in case of network problems. Identifying the cause of the inaccuracy is vital to fixing the issue. However, where the cause is a hardware problem, you should consult the Apple Support team for further assistance.
