Have you ever noticed a blue (or gray) arrow at the top of your iPhone screen or in Dynamic Island? This indicates that your device is providing directions or that an app, background service, or website is actively using location services. Unlike other indicators, for example Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, the arrow only appears when location services are used. This way, you always know when an app is accessing or sharing your iPhone’s location. And in just a few clicks you can find out which application it is.
To do this, simply pull down the top right corner of your screen to access Control Center. It will show which app is accessing your iPhone’s location services. Apps that commonly rely on this include Apple Maps and Google Maps for directions, food and other delivery apps to identify your precise location, and even WhatsApp and other similar communication apps when you share your location with someone.
Remember that the blue arrow serves as a visual indicator. Every time it appears, you know your phone is sharing its location with an app or service. This becomes even more important when an untrusted app has access to your iPhone’s location. And as soon as you discover that location services are being used, you should take a minute to determine which app is at play and decide whether you trust it or want to revoke access to location data. Keep in mind that misconfigured permissions are one of the main reasons why iPhone apps can spy on you.
Get rid of the blue arrow on an iPhone
The only way to get rid of the blue arrow across the board is to turn off Location Services (Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services), but this has many drawbacks. When you turn off location services, apps, including critical apps, will not be able to access your location and those that actively rely on them will not work properly. For example, built-in Apple Maps will not be able to retrieve your location. Likewise, you won’t be able to share your location with other people on apps like WhatsApp. Fortunately, there is a smarter option.
Instead of turning off Location Services, you can identify which apps are using your location data and then revoke access to those you don’t want to use your location information for (choose Never next to the app you want to change in Location Services). This practice not only prevents these apps from generating the blue arrow icon but also improves your security profile since not checking app permissions is a common mistake users make on iPhones. Sometimes the offending services will be part of the large group of system services, but you can always prevent the arrow icon from appearing when one of them accesses your location. To do this, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services and turn off the tray icon. This will not affect a service’s ability to request or access a location, but it will instantly prevent the arrow icon from appearing.
That said, it is important to realize that the blue arrow is an important visual indicator. It lets you know when an app is constantly accessing or sharing your iPhone location. So, disabling it completely might not be the best idea after all.
