The Hidden iPhone Settings Experts Say You Should Turn Off To Stop Apps From Spying On You

July 15, 2025 by Lisa Cupido

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Your iPhone might feel like the most personal thing you own—it’s where you store your photos, messages, emails, and even your health data. But here’s the not-so-fun truth: some of your iPhone’s default settings could be quietly compromising your privacy. Even if you’re super careful about which apps you download or what links you click, your phone might still be sharing more than you think.

Many apps—and even Apple itself—use certain settings to track your behavior. Some do it to improve your user experience, others for advertising purposes. Either way, the result is the same: your data gets collected, analyzed, and sometimes even shared with third parties. For example, apps can track your exact location, monitor how you use other apps, or even listen for ambient noise to “enhance” their services. If that sounds creep to you, it’s time to do something about it. You don’t have to be a tech expert to take control. A few quick changes in your settings can make a huge difference in how much of your personal information gets out.

If you’re serious about keeping your phone activity private—or you just don’t like the idea of apps silently watching your every move—it’s a smart idea to review a few key settings. In fact, there are two major ones you’ll definitely want to turn off to protect your privacy and stop your phone from oversharing. It takes less than a minute, and once you do it, you’ll have a lot more peace of mind about what your iPhone is really up to behind the scenes.

1. Location Services

Location Services might seem harmless—after all, who doesn’t want their Maps app to know where they are? But the problem is, this setting allows dozens of other apps to track your whereabouts too, often in real time. Apps like weather, shopping, and even social media platforms can access your precise location in the background, which means they can build a detailed profile of where you live, work, shop, and spend your free time. This kind of data can be sold to advertisers or even used to target you with hyper-personalized ads.

To limit this kind of tracking, head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. You can turn Location Services off completely, or go app by app and select "While Using the App" or "Never" depending on your comfort level. Also, scroll all the way down to System Services, where you’ll find hidden toggles like "Significant Locations" and "Location-Based Ads"—these are especially worth switching off. You’ll still be able to use navigation and weather when you need it, but you’ll stop background snooping in its tracks.

2. iPhone Analytics

iPhone Analytics is another sneaky setting that sounds helpful but can quietly expose your habits. When enabled, it allows your device to send detailed usage and diagnostic data to Apple—and sometimes to third-party app developers. While Apple says the data is anonymized, it often includes information about how you use specific apps, your phone’s performance, crash logs, and even data from your iCloud account. Over time, this paints a surprisingly clear picture of your behavior, which can be used to tailor services, ads, and even product development. What’s worse: you may not even know you agreed to this.

To turn it off, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements. Toggle off Share iPhone Analytics, Share with App Developers, and any other options that sound like they're sending usage data elsewhere.

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