Find My Friends Not Updating Location? 9 Best Fixes!

So, you tried sharing your location with your friends on your iPhone, but Find My Friends is not updating the location? Don’t panic. There are several reasons why Find My Friends might not update your location. Perhaps you haven’t granted Find My Friends permission to share your location, you or your friend have a poor network connection or some other reason.

Regardless of what might be the cause of this issue, our article will teach you some of the workable solutions to resolve Find My Friends not updating location. Without wasting time, let’s dive right in!

Part 1: Why Find My Friends Is Not Updating Location

• Device Connectivity Issue: If your device has poor or no internet connectivity, the Find My Friends app may not be able to update your location accurately.
• Location Services Disabled: Also, if  the location services feature is disabled for the Find My Friends app or your device in general, the app will not be able to update your location.
• Find My Friends Has No Permission To Share Location: You might have configured Find My Friends app to stop sharing your location update via your iPhone settings.
• App Issues: Technical issues or bugs within the Find My Friends app itself can cause it to stop updating a person’s location. You can try restarting your phone or consult Apple customer service.

Part 2: Best Fixes To Resolve Find My Friends Not Updating Location

When Find My Friends fails to update your location in real-time, there are different approaches you could take to fix the problem. Here, we will explore the 9 best fixes.

Method 1: Check Your Network Connection

Before troubleshooting the Find My Friends app, it’s essential to ensure that your device has a stable network connection. A poor or unstable network connection can lead to issues with location updates in the app. You can do this by checking if other apps or websites are loading properly on your device.

Method 2: Check If Find My Friends Is Supported In The Region/Country

As surprising as this might sound, Apple Inc has bs not made the Find My Friends feature available to users in some countries. So, in some cases, the Find My Friends app may not update locations correctly due to regional or country-specific restrictions. It’s essential to ensure that the app is supported and allowed to function in your current region or country. You can check if there is a Location Services option in the Privacy option in Settings. If your region supports Find My Friends, then you should be able to see this option.

Method 3: Restart iPhone/iPad

Another simple, yet effective troubleshooting step is to restart your iPhone or iPad. This can help in resolving temporary glitches or issues that may be affecting the proper functioning of the Find My Friends app.   

Step 1: If you’re using iPhone X or later, hold the “Side” and “Volume Up” buttons.

However, on iPhone 8 or earlier, hold only the “Side” button.

Step 2: Release the “button(s)” once you see the power off option. Then, swipe the “Power Off” slider to the right to turn off your device.

Step 3: Finally, press the “Side” button to turn your iPhone back on.

Method 4: Adjust iPhone Date and Time

Incorrect date and time settings on your device can sometimes interfere with the proper functioning of location-based apps like Find My Friends. Ensure your iPhone “Date & Time” is set to automatically update using the following steps:

Step 1: Go to “Settings” on your iPhone.

Step 2: Select “General” > “Date and Time”.

Step 3: Turn on the toggle next to “Set Automatically”. This will enable your iPhone to automatically update your date and time to match your current location.

Method 5: Turn On Location Services & Share My Location

To ensure accurate location updates, it’s crucial to have location services enabled on your device. Additionally, the Find My Friends app must be granted permission to share your location.

Follow the steps below to turn on location services and allow Find My Friend to share your device’s location:

Steps To Turn on Find My Friends Location Services

Step 1: Go to your iPhone Settings app and select “Privacy & Security”.

Step 2: Tap on “Location Services”. Turn on “Location Services” by tapping on the toggle next to it.

Step 3: Scroll down and select “Find My Friends” app. Then, turn on “Precise Location” and select “While Using The App”.

Steps To Allow Find My Friends Share Location

Step 1: Tap on the “Apple ID” banner on the iPhone Settings main page.

Step 2: Select “Find My”.Tap on the toggle next to “Share My Location” to turn green.

Method 6: Turn On Find My Friends Background App Refresh

If Find My Friends does not update location after you’ve enabled location services and granted it to share your location, then you should try turning on the background app refresh for it. This allows the app to update in the background, which ensures that location information is refreshed and updated constantly.

Step 1: Navigate to the “Settings” app on your Device.

Step 2: Choose “General” > “Background App Refresh”.

Step 3: Scroll to “Find My Friends” and turn on its toggle.

Method 7: Update Device iOS/iPadOS

Keeping your device’s operating system up to date is important for overall app performance. So, if your iPhone is still using an outdated iOS or iPadOS version, update it to the latest version to fix potential bugs and errors that may be affecting the Find My Friends app.

Step 1: Find your way to the “General” settings on your iPhone.

Step 2: Select “Software Update”.

Step 3: If there is a new update available, tap on “Install Now” and enter your iPhone or iPad passcode.

Step 4: Wait for the new update to be downloaded and installed on your iPhone. This should take a few minutes.

Method 8: Check Your Friend’s “Find My Friends” Login Status

It’s important to ensure that the friends you are trying to locate using Find My Friends are actively logged in and sharing their location. If they are not logged in or have disabled location sharing, it can impact the app’s ability to update their location.

Method 9: Restart Find My Friends App

If you are still experiencing issues with location updates, restarting or re-downloading the Find My Friends app itself can sometimes clear any temporary glitches or issues that may be preventing accurate location updates.

Part 3: Update Find My Friends via Smart Location Changer

If all else fails, you might need to use a location-changing app to update your location on Find My Friends. All you need is a smart location changer app like iWhere iPhone Location Changer.

iWhere iPhone Location Changer is one of the best location-changing apps that you can always count on to change location on iPhone or iPad without jailbreak. It allows you to easily mask your iPhone’s original location and use a virtual location to update your location on Find My Friends without hassle.

The best part of using this app is that it grants you the freedom to either update Find My Friends with your original location or another region around the world. Plus, it supports more than one location-changing modes, including one-stop mode, multi-stop mode, and lots more.

Key Features

• Modify Location With Different Modes: Using One-stop Mode to set a route by choosing starting and ending spots; Multi-stop Mode can help you create a customized route by connecting multiple spots; Joystick Mode allows you to control your iPhone’s location move freely with your computer mouse or keyboard.
• Change Location On AR Games and Social Media: Works with location-based apps, including AR games and social platforms, allowing for seamless location modification.
• Customizable Speed: Customize the speed of your iPhone’s location from 1 m/s to 50 m/s, providing flexibility and control over the simulated movement.
• Import/Export GPX: Import or export GPX files to save and utilize your favorite routes, enhancing convenience and reusability.

The following steps will walk you through the process of updating Find My Friends location using iWhere iPhone Location Changer:

Step 1: Install “iWhere iPhone Location Changer” on your computer and click “Start” after launching. Connect your iPhone to the computer.

Step 2: Click on the option that says “Modify Location.”

Step 3: The Map that appears will contain you current location information. You can use the “+” and “-” buttons to zoom in and zoom out of the map.

Step 4: Click on the “Region” of the map to use as your location. Then, click on “Confirm Modity” to finish the operation.

Part 4: Tips To Prevent Find My Friends Location Not Updating

• Ensure that your device has a stable and reliable network connection, as poor connectivity can hinder the app’s ability to update locations accurately.
• Regularly check and ensure that location services are enabled for the Find My Friends app, allowing it to access and update location information effectively.
• If traveling or residing in a different region or country, confirm that the Find My Friends app is supported and allowed to function in that specific location.
• Stay up to date with software updates for your device to ensure compatibility and optimal performance of the Find My Friends app.
• Allow Find My Friends to refresh in the background to ensure that location information is consistently updated.

FAQs

Q1: What Does It Mean When Someones Location Says 30 Minutes Ago On Find My Friends?

If someone’s location says 30 minutes ago on Find My Friends, it means the device location was last updated 30 minutes ago. Perhaps the person’s device is turned off or they’ve disabled their WiFi or cellular network.

Q2: How To Know If Someone Turned Off Their Location On Find My Friends?

If someone turns off their location on Find My Friends, you’ll see a message that says “Location Unavailable” when you try to track their location.

Conclusion

Encountering issues with the Find My Friends app not updating locations can be frustrating, but several troubleshooting methods can help resolve these issues. From ensuring a stable network connection and checking regional settings to restarting the app and updating the device software, the techniques in the article will help you resolve the problem.

However, if none of the methods work, you can utilize iWhere iPhone Location Changer to update your location on Find My Friends.