How to see someone’s location on iPhone

On iPhone there are several ways to see where a friend or family member is. All of them start the same way: the other person chooses to share their location with you.

1. Ask them to share in Find My

1. They open Find My → People → Share My Location and pick you.
2. You’ll get a notification. Open Find My → People to see them on the map.
3. Tap their name for directions or to set up a notification when they arrive or leave a place.

2. Share in Messages

In your conversation, they tap their name at the top and choose Share My Location. You’ll see a map in the chat. It’s handy for meeting up.

3. Use Family Sharing

If you’re in the same Family Sharing group, each member can turn on location sharing in Settings → [name] → Family Sharing → Location Sharing. Family members then appear in Find My.

4. Use a family locator app

If you want the app to notify you instead of you checking the map — when your child gets to school, when your partner leaves work, when a parent’s phone is about to die — a family locator does that work for you. With AI Family Locator you send an invite, they accept, and you get:

• A live family map with the place each person is at.
• Arrival and departure alerts for important places.
• Location history for the day.
• One-touch SOS and battery alerts.

If their location isn’t showing

• Location Services is off on their phone (Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services).
• They paused sharing or chose a time limit that ended.
• No connection — the phone is off, in airplane mode, or out of signal. You’ll see the last known location and time.
• Low Power Mode can delay updates.

A word on privacy

There is no legitimate way to see someone’s iPhone location without their knowledge. Apps or websites that claim otherwise are either misleading or ask you to break the law. Our explainer on tracking a phone by number covers what really works.