How to figure out which app is using location data

iOS 4.0 introduced a number of great features, not least of which involves background location services. This allows apps such as Navigon to continue guiding you even when you use different apps on your iPhone. But you’d be surprised how many apps use location services, and sometimes you just don’t know which app is causing that purple navigation icon. Fear not, there is a way…

It’s actually quite easy. Just open up Settings.app, tap General, then tap Location Services. Below the overall switch that enables Location Services are switches corresponding to each app for which you’ve approved access to this data. You’ll probably notice there a bunch of apps here that don’t have a whole lot to do with navigation. Many just want to relay information about your location to social services like Twitter or Facebook, or taylor your experience to your location, like movie time listings. Next to any app that hass requested location data in the last 24 hours, you’ll see that familiar purple arrow. If you want, you can cut off that access with the flip of a switch.

Pretty simple, right? Last night, I went to see Inception, which is quite a long movie. So, I launched the RunPee app just in case I really had to go. Today, I noticed my iPhone was indicating that an app was accessing location data. I get a bit paranoid about this—not because I think someone is following me, but because I know how much this can potentially drain the battery and cause the iPhone to get really hot. This time around, that wasn’t the case, but that purple icon always gets me wondering.

In the future I, and you too, will know where to look.