Can I turn off Android locations?

Regarding our article on controlling your locations on an iPhone, a reader had a question about their Android phone.

 “How do you do it for android, and is there a way to turn off the GPS altogether?”

Yes, and it’s pretty simple. Your phone might not look exactly like my Galaxy but the process should be fairly similar on all Android phones. Start by opening Settings and scrolling down to Connections.

Then scroll down to Location. You could just slide location to the off position, but that could cause you issues with some apps like your weather app and you wouldn’t be able to use maps to get directions.

Instead, let’s tap on Location and look at our options. Start by tapping on Locating method.

You can choose between High accuracy which uses a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile networks to determine your location, a less accurate battery saving method or just sticking with the phone’s GPS.

You’ll also see a list of apps that have recently used location services.

If there are some apps you don’t mind using location services, you can leave location turned on and control the permissions individually. Just tap on the app from here or go back to settings and select Apps.  

Once you tap on the app you wish to open, scroll down to permissions. You can see what types of permissions that app requires. Just tap on permissions to get a closer look.

You can switch off location individually in the apps you prefer not have access. Also, you can leave location off as your default and only turn it on if you need directions, a local forecast, or other kinds of assistance.