On and off: Those used to be the only options for sharing your location with applications on iDevices. Now with iOS 8, there’s a new alternative: a setting for sharing your location only while using a particular app.
When you log into an app that uses location-sharing, it will ask you whether or not you want to share your location with the service. That gives you the traditional options of yes or no. But if you then go to the location privacy page in your device’s general settings, you’ll see a new set of permissions for individual apps:
With some apps, agreeing to share your information with them means that, by default, your phone will “always” send them your location.
For instance, if you’ve given Facebook permission to access your location in the past, it will carry over that permission in iOS 8, and continue to enable location services even when the application isn’t open. Facebook says this is because Nearby Friends—the opt-in feature that lets your friends know where you are at all times—requires always-on location in order to operate.
Other applications may default to “always” on as well. If you’d rather restrict the way apps collect your data, be sure to check their permissions under your location services settings.
Lead image courtesy of Apple
