Location sharing

1. Pick one main location system

   On your phone · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   Two or three location apps means more permissions and more confusion when one goes quiet. Find My through Family Sharing is free on an iPhone in your family group. Family Link location is free on a supervised Android phone and compatible Fitbit devices, not on a child's iPhone. Samsung families can use Family Link or Samsung Find with a child account. Life360 works on both, with a free tier. US web prices on Sep 30, 2026: Silver $9.99/month, Gold $16.99/month, Platinum $24.99/month.

   1. iPhone in Family Sharing: use Find My, then lock it with Screen Time.
   2. Supervised Android: use Family Link location.
   3. Mixed iPhone and Android: Life360 or Google Maps sharing, knowing Life360 cannot force sharing to stay on.
   Life360 plans

2. Turn on Find My from your child's iPhone

   On your kid's device · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   With Automatically Share Location on for a child, only parents and guardians in the family group can see the child's location. Apple says each family member can choose to share their location with you. Turning this on from your iPhone shares your location, not your child's. A cellular Apple Watch shares location when it's away from the paired iPhone. A watch or iPad set as My Location can make a phone left at home look like your child is at home. Satellite location can be sent once every 15 minutes, needs an active SIM, and isn't available in all regions. That is for emergencies, not everyday tracking.

   1. On your child's iPhone: Settings > Family > Location Sharing, or Find My > Me > Share My Location, and share with you.
   2. On that iPhone, leave Location Services on, including Find My (Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services).
   3. Optional: share your own location from your iPhone the same way, so your child can see you.
   4. Then lock it. Optional: set recurring notifications in Find My, such as leaving school during school hours.
   Share location with Family Sharing (Apple 105107, Sep 14, 2026)

3. Lock Location Services and Share My Location

   On your phone · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   Apple says children and teens with Screen Time turned on may not be able to change their own location sharing settings. That isn't guaranteed, so set the lock yourself. Your child gets a notification when a parent or guardian changes Share My Location settings. The iOS 27 layout needs iOS 27 on every family device. Older versions use Content & Privacy Restrictions with a different layout. Whether Apple alerts you when a child switches Use this device as My Location isn't documented.

   1. Set a Screen Time passcode your child doesn't know.
   2. Settings > Family > your child > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allow Changes to Settings. Block changes to Location Services and Share My Location.
   Allow Changes to Settings (Apple, iOS 27)

4. Turn on Family Link location

   On your phone · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   Free on a supervised Google account, with Family places alerts. You won't see location if the device is powered off, isn't connected to the internet, or hasn't been used recently. It works best with a mobile data plan. If your child is signed in on more than one device, Google says only the location of the most actively used device is shown. Under 13, a supervised child can share real-time location in Google Maps only with their parents. Over 13, they can share with their parents and others. Google's Family Link help says a child under 18 needs a parent's approval to stop supervision, and you'll both get notified. An older Maps page says some over-13s whose existing account had supervision added can stop location sharing by stopping supervision or turning off Location History. Expect a notification if supervision ends. Whether a supervised child can turn off device location, and whether you're alerted, isn't said on Google's location page.

   1. In Family Link: Location > Set up location, or pick your child and turn on Location sharing.
   2. Turn on Location Accuracy. Add Family places such as home and school, and turn on Arrives and Leaves notifications.
   3. Know every device signed in to the account, because Family Link shows the most actively used one.
   Find and manage your child's location (Google 7103413)

5. Know Google Maps sharing can be paused

   Both of you together · ages 13–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   Maps sharing works on iPhone and Android. If your child is supervised, manage it from Family Link. Android has a device-level pause. Google says pausing won't stop any of your shares, but they won't be updated with your real-time location. No parental lock outside Family Link was found. The warning sign is that your teen still shows as sharing, but the location stops updating.

   1. Your teen opens Google Maps > profile picture > Location sharing > New share > Until you turn this off > picks you.
   2. If the account is supervised, use Family Link instead of asking them to start a share.
   Pause Location Sharing (Google Account help)

6. Samsung Find, if you use a Galaxy phone

   Both of you together · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   Samsung Find replaced SmartThings Find for finding people. Samsung Find itself runs on One UI 2 or later and comes preloaded from One UI 6.1. Sharing with family through a Samsung family group needs One UI 5.1 or later in the US, and One UI 6.1 or later in Europe. The person-finding feature is app only, not on the Samsung Find website. Samsung has a setting for a notification when someone views your location, so your child may be told when you check. Samsung's pages show the sharer can turn off the Share my location switch or tap Remove. No Samsung parental lock was found. Use Family Link on a Galaxy phone if you need a lock. Check with Samsung before you rely on one. SmartThings Find is for lost devices, not people, and is only supported on Android devices.

   1. Create a Samsung family group (Settings > Samsung account > Family) and a child account.
   2. On your child's phone, sign in to Samsung Find with the child account > People > add you > choose the time range > Share. This goes through parental consent.
   3. On your phone: Samsung Find > Settings > Child location sharing, on for each child.
   Samsung Find (US)

7. If you use Life360, treat it as opt-in

   Both of you together · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   On its See a Circle Member's Location page, Life360 says: "It is not possible to prevent someone from turning off location sharing if they do not wish to be located. Life360 is an opt-in service." A pause only affects the Circle it was turned off in, so your child can still be visible in other Circles. Members of a new Circle may be able to see past location history. Even with sharing off, SOS, Check In, and Crash Detection can still share location. Life360's privacy policy, last modified Aug 26, 2026, says that where the law allows, it discloses precise geolocation data, movement data, and other information to select business partners for their own uses, including their own monetization purposes. You can limit that under Your Privacy Choices. That applies to adult members, including you. It says it does not sell or share data of members it knows are under 18, and shows no ads in Child or Teen accounts. The same policy says Life360 may disclose the personal information of Children and Teens to service providers and business partners that offer integrated services. Check the Traffic and Retail Insights opt-out. Turning sharing off doesn't delete location history already collected. A minimum age isn't stated on the pages checked for this card. Check Life360's terms.

   1. Learn the alerts: Location Sharing Paused, Location permissions off, Logged out of Life360, or a greyed-out icon if the app lost connection.
   2. Check which Circles your child is in.
   3. Review Your Privacy Choices and the Traffic and Retail Insights setting.
   Life360: see a Circle member's location

8. Check location inside Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok

   Both of you together · ages 5–17 · checked 30 Sep 2026

   The bigger risk is often your child sharing location with people other than you. Snapchat Snap Map is off by default and friends-only. In Family Center you can see your teen's location-sharing settings, request their live location, and set place alerts. Instagram Map is off by default. With supervision, you get a notification if your teen starts sharing, you can decide whether your teen can use map location sharing, and you can see who they share with. TikTok precise GPS location is only for users 18 and older. TikTok still uses approximate location, city or region, from things like an IP address, for everyone. WhatsApp live location is under Settings > Privacy > Live location.

   1. Open Family Center for Snapchat and supervision for Instagram, and review map sharing.
   2. On WhatsApp, check Settings > Privacy > Live location with your child.
   3. On Apple, Check In and Live Location in Messages can share with anyone your child chooses.
   Snapchat Family Safety FAQ

How we check lists what was left off Location sharing.