iOS 11 Will Make It More Obvious When Apps Access Your Location

Privacy is a huge deal which is why for some users, they prefer keeping their location data off. However some apps do require location data in order to function properly, such as mapping apps, and if you’re a little paranoid about what apps could be accessing your location in the background, iOS 11 should help to assuage some of those fears.

It has been noticed that in iOS 11, Apple is making it more obvious when an app is accessing your location in the background. As you can see in the screenshot to the right, a blue bar will now be displayed at the top of your screen that lets you know that the app is accessing your location even when it is closed. Note that this blue bar isn’t new and sometimes it does pop up when you are using Google Maps or Waze and you close the app briefly to do something else.

However in iOS 11, it is expected to show up more. As it stands how Apple depicts an app is accessing your location in with an arrow icon on the top right corner of your screen that is either hollowed out or solid. While this works we guess it isn’t quite as noticeable, but safe to say it would be pretty hard to miss this blue bar flashing across the top of your screen.

While there’s a good chance you might already know what app will use location data, it can also come in handy at detecting apps that might be trying to access your location secretly, or if an app you’re using is running ads that uses your location that you’re not aware of, so if you’re the type that really values your privacy, iOS 11 should help you make better choices when it comes to using apps and services.

Image credit – TechCrunch

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: Apps, iOS, ios 11, Privacy