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Does Turning Off Your Phone Stop Location Sharing?

People might want to turn off their phone’s location-sharing feature for many reasons. Generally, turning off your mobile device will do the trick, but there are some instances where your phone could still send out a location signal or be tracked from another device. 

Let’s look at how turning off your cell phone could impact your phone’s ability to share location or use location-sharing apps like Life360. Remember, Life360 does not track users without permission being given on their devices.

Does Turning Off Your Phone Affect Location-Sharing Services?

Turning off your phone could affect location-sharing services. Most smartphones and location-sharing apps require multiple elements to track and share your position, including GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular networks. 

If you were to turn off your phone or put it on airplane mode, you would no longer be able to access Wi-Fi or the cellular network. Not having access to either of these components could impact the performance of your location-sharing services. 

Can Your Location Be Tracked When Your Phone Is Off?

Turning off your phone can prevent your location from being tracked because the device no longer sends signals to the cell towers. However, your service provider or internet provider will be able to see your last location before the phone was turned off and your device’s current location once it’s turned back on. 

Can Life360 See Location If Your Phone Is Off?

Since Life360 is an app, the location-sharing service is also disconnected when a phone is turned off. However, Life360 does have the ability to provide the location history of the device for 30 days. 

Can Life360 Track a Turned-Off Phone?

Life360 can’t see the phone’s location mainly because once the mobile device is shut off, so is its GPS functionality. Since Life360 utilizes GPS data to calculate a person’s location, the app won’t work properly without access to the information. 

Can Someone See Your Location If Your Phone Is Dead?

While the app won’t provide you with the location information of a user if their phone is dead, Life360 does have an interesting feature that will let you know why their location isn’t available. 

For example, if someone in your Circle doesn’t have a current location, the app will provide a status on that person’s phone. The status will generally include the battery life percentage of that particular mobile device. The app will also alert you when someone’s phone is low on power. 

Both of these features will usually provide enough information to conclude that a person’s phone has died, and that’s why their location isn’t available. 

Peace of mind starts with location sharing.

Know where they are without asking.

See when they get home from school, leave work, or start warming up on the practice field. When you’re all busy doing your thing, Life360 keeps you in the know.

Try Life360 for free!

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Can You Pause Location on Life360 Without Anyone Knowing?

If you are a member of a Circle on Life360, your fellow Circle members will be able to see if your phone is dead or your location services are turned off. Therefore, you cannot turn off your location without anyone knowing unless you decide to leave the Circle. That being said, if you do not want your exact location shared, it may be time to chat about using our Bubbles feature on Life360 for less precision and more privacy within the app.

Does Location Sharing Drain Phone Battery?

The short answer is that yes, any app that utilizes location-sharing services will reduce your battery charge while being used. This is because your phone’s GPS hardware requires more battery to run. Life360, however, has optimized the app to reduce the amount that the battery charge charges reduces while being used. You can read more about that here.

Keep Connected With Your Friends and Family Through Life360

Even though location sharing might be affected by your phone shutting off, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the app for your family. It’s a great tool to stay connected with everyone and ensure your friends and family are safe. Try Life360 for free and see why millions of families enjoy the peace of mind it provides.