16 Fixes For Location Unavailable in iPhone Issue

The Find My Friends application was installed on the iOS 8 first, by Apple Inc, keeping in mind the safety of Apple users. A number of people have been located with the help of this feature and it is quite useful in finding people who haven’t been able to be contacted.

Some users complained that this application does not display any location when you try to see where they are. It is not something you’d want to see when you’re unsure of where your loved one is and you don’t see their location pinned onto the map on your iPhone screen.

Before people can start asking the question – ‘Why isn’t my friend visible on the map?’, there are a few criteria that have to be met for your friend’s location to pop up on the screen.

This article will help you understand what they are and what can be done if you can’t see the location pin even after you fulfill the technical/configurational requirements.

Why Can I Not See My Friend On The Find My Friends Map?

There are some factors that can prevent an individual’s location from being displayed on the map.

  1. Your friend might need to correct the date on their device. 
  2. The device is off or isn’t connected to cellular or Wi-Fi.
  3. Your friend turned on Hide My Location in Find My Friends.
  4. Your friend turned off Location Services
  5. Your friend isn’t signed in to Find My Friends on the device being located.
  6. The device is in a country or region where Apple doesn’t offer this feature.

Solutions To The Share My Location Unavailable iPhone Issue

The case here is that the user cannot see their friend/contact’s location. This can be because of a number of reasons, most of which are excessively enabled or disabled options.

If unwanted features are active or the required features, especially location services are not enabled, you will not be able to see your friend’s location. The contacts have to be mutually saved for the location to be made available.

A few more requirements have to be met so that the Find my Friends app runs as expected. We will look into them as we progress in the article.

Share My Location Unavailable iPhone Issue

The following are the solutions to resolve it when a friend’s location cannot be seen through your iPhone’s Find My Friends app.

You can use the below resolves for reference even if every setting is adjusted to make your and your friend’s location available to each other on your iPhones and you’re still not able to see your buddy’s location on the application’s mini-map.

  1. See If The Find My Friends Is Supported In Your Region Or Country
  2. Restart The iPhone
  3. Disable And Enable The GPS Or Location Services On The iPhone
  4. Check If Your Network Is Connected To The Internet
  5. Turn On Cellular Data And Then, Restart Your iPhone
  6. Verify With Your Actual Location
  7. Look For New Updates For The Find My Friends Feature
  8. Remove Any Location Restrictions
  9. Enable The Find My iPhone Feature On Your iPhone
  10. Log Into Your iCloud Account
  11. Turn On Share My Location
  12. Disable The Hide My Location Setting
  13. Make Sure That Your Friend Is Signed Into The Find My Friends
  14. Close The Find My Friends App And Re-Launch It
  15. Adjust The Date & Time Settings On Your Friend’s iPhone
  16. Share The Location With A Third-Party Tool

Fixing The Location Unavailable On iPhone Issue

See If The Find My Friends Is Supported In Your Region Or Country

The Find My Friends application is not available for Apple users all over the world. This feature is geographically restricted on iOS for some countries.

Even if this feature is available on your phone, you will not be able to use it in some countries. When this question was placed in front of the Apple technical support team, they replied that some countries or regions do not have the Apple Find My Friends feature due to “technical limitations and local laws”.

There is no published list of countries and the areas that do not support the FMF application. Users have to check for the availability of this feature manually by opening the app on their iPhones.

Restart The iPhone

The easiest way to fix any minor bug or issue on any device is to reboot it. This will reset the unsaved configurations and get rid of the factors that previously caused issues for your mobile/PC.

However, it is not initially necessary to determine if the iPhone location unavailable for the Find My Friends issue is caused by an incorrect configuration or a temporary bug.

A simple reboot of the system should be sufficient to set this right under normal circumstances.

For users with the latest releases of iPhones (iPhone X, 11, 12, 13 and their variants), press and hold the Power button or the volume button and drag the slider when it appears.

It takes about 20 seconds for the system to completely shut down. Once the iPhone switches off, press and hold the power button till the Apple logo appears.

If you have an older version of the iPhone (iPhone 8, 7, 6, and iPhone SE 2nd Generation), the procedure is the same as above but you can use only the power button.

Once your iPhone reboots, check if you can see your friend’s location in the Find my Friends app.

Disable And Enable The GPS Or Location Services On The iPhone

Another obvious mistake all of us make is that we try to navigate through the maps without turning the location services/Global Positioning System (GPS) feature on in our devices.

Without access to this feature and the part of the hardware that enables it, the iPhone will not be able to show you location-based results. You might need access to the internet to get a precise location.

To enable the Location services on your computer, Open the Settings and go into Privacy > Location Services and toggle the Location Services option on.

Note: Turning the Location Services option on your iPhone can deplete a decent chunk of your battery. Running other battery-consuming applications when the Location Service feature is enabled is not optimal for your mobile battery.

Check If Your Network Is Connected To The Internet

Even if the Location Services feature is active on your iPhone, you might require an internet connection to calibrate on to the precise location. If your iPhone is connected to a network, you will see a Wi-Fi or a cellular data icon on the notification bar.

Also, an enabled airplane mode is a possibility. If you are connected to a wireless network, make sure the network has access to the internet. Make sure that you are located in a spot where you get a good cellular or wireless signal. This workaround applies to both the location sender and the person who sees it.

Turn On Cellular Data And Then, Restart Your iPhone

Turning on Cellular Data on your iPhone is your solution if the device does not have a connection to the internet. The cellular data feature can be enabled through the notification bar or the iPhone settings.

Simply, bring up the notification tray by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the Cellular data toggle button to turn it on.

Alternatively, you can open the iPhone Settings and go into the Cellular settings. Here, you will have the option to toggle the cellular network connection on or off.

Once the iPhone has access to the internet, reboot the device and then check if Find my Friends works for you.

Verify With Your Actual Location

Verify With Your Actual Location

Sometimes there are chances that the location can be pinned differently on your iPhone. If you know your surroundings, check with the maps that you are in the right location.

When the Maps or the Find my Friends application is launched newly, there are chances that your location is detected in a different location mainly because of your network server locations or a bug in the application.

If your location is pinned at a spot different from where you are, on the map, check if you are connected to a network and wait for the map to re-calibrate your location. If it does not help, refresh the map to check if the correct location is displayed.

Look For New Updates For The Find My Friends Feature

An out-of-date Find My Friend application can be the reason why you can’t see your friend’s pin on your map. If the feature is not updated, you may receive a notification announcing the availability of updates for it.

You just need to have a network with sufficient bandwidth to download the updates. If you see a notification stating that the update has been downloaded, restart the system after the installation is complete.

The updated FMF app can not only fix existing bugs like the one we’re discussing but also bring new features to the device, in cooperation with the iPhone’s location services.

Remove Any Location Restrictions

The Find My Friends app can only be used to share/exchange locations where there are no restrictions on your iPhone for sharing the location.

Such obstacles include disabled location service-related features, an active VPN or a proxy, or the lack of permissions to use the location services. If you are connected to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) disable it to see if it helps your friend by displaying your location on their map.

As for location permissions, you can enable them in the app settings. Without anything for the Find My Friends application to be held back, the location sharing feature should be able to be used without any further issues.

Enable The Find My iPhone Feature On Your iPhone

This method is for iPad/iPhone users with iPadOS and iOS 12 or older. Before the Find My Friends application was launched in 2019 on iOS 13, the Find My iPhone was prevalent across all iPhones.

Both these applications were put together as one and re-released under the name “Find my Friends”. If your iPhone does not have the latest iOS version, check whether you have the Find My iPhone or Find My Friends application on your Apple Device.

Just like for Find My Friends, the Find My iPhone application also requires a login/registration to be set up on your device. Only after the Apple account is linked or a new profile is created for the Find My iPhone you will be allowed to see and share locations.

Note: Find my iPhone is outdated technology and does not receive updates anymore.

Log Into Your iCloud Account

The iCloud account that requires to be logged in when the iPhone/iPad is booted up for the first time after the purchase or a factory reset is very important. When an iCloud account is linked to your device, the account gets access to all features of the device.

You needn’t log in repeatedly to all the applications if you do it once initially. If you did not sign into the iCloud account at first, you can do it through the iPhone or iPad settings.

iPhone Settings

When you open the Settings, you will see a ‘Sign in to your iPhone’ option. Touch it, follow the on-screen instructions, and use your login credentials to sign in to the iCloud account. If you haven’t already signed in, do it and then proceed with the solutions we have to offer for this issue.

Note: The Apple ID is not the same as the iCloud account.

Turn On Share My Location

There is another feature that is a subsection of the Location Services on your iPhone. The Share my location toggle switch has to be on for your device location to be projected to other people.

This feature is entirely dedicated to sharing the iPhone location through the Find my Friends tool. Additionally, on this settings page, you will also be able to see a list of all your contacts who can see your location in the Find My Friends map.

To enable this setting, go into the iPhone settings (gears icon) and take this path:

iCloud Settings > Location Services > Share My Location

On the upcoming page, tap the Share My Location toggle switch and make sure it is green, meaning it is enabled. The From option on the same page should be set to This Device.

Disable The Hide My Location Setting

One feature of the Find my Friends application is that it allows users to hide their location from their iPhone contacts. When your friend has this attribute enabled, you will not be able to see their contact on the map.

Only when the Hide My Location feature is turned off, your contacts will be able to see where you are.

  1. Open the Find my Friends app and locate your pin on the map.
  2. Tap on your picture to open a menu.
  3. Touch the Share my Location toggle switch.

When you check the Find My Friends on your friend’s iPhone, you should be able to see the

Make Sure That Your Friend Is Signed Into The Find My Friends

Your friend needs to have a registered Find My Friends profile to have their location displayed on someone’s Find My Friends mini-map. The application asks every user to register the first time it is opened on their iPhone.

Make sure that the person whose location you seek has their phone linked to the Find My Friends application. Only then will both of you be able to see each other’s locations.

Close The Find My Friends App And Re-Launch It

Another simple workaround to fix an application or device feature that is not functioning as it should is to kill the application and launch it again. This is a method of resetting the unsaved changes in the iPhone.

This solution doesn’t just have to close the Find my Friends window. You will also have to end this application from the list of running applications.

Swipe up at the bottom of the iPhone screen and pause at the center of the screen from the Home Screen. Swipe left or right to navigate through all the apps that are running on your iPhone wish to close.

Once you are at the application that you want to end, touch and drag the mini-application window up. To launch it again, locate the application and tap it.

Adjust The Date & Time Settings On Your Friend’s iPhone

Incorrectly set time and date settings can be a factor that causes a lot of issues on your mobile. It needn’t necessarily be an iPhone.

Even smart-watches and e-readers can malfunction if the device time does not coincide with the time zone of the region. However, this can be easily changed on all devices through the settings.

Here’s how you can change the Date & Time Settings on the iPhone:

  1. Launch the iPhone Settings page and go into the General settings.
  2. Tap on the Date & Time option. Here, you will be able to custom set your time and also, set the time with reference to a specific time zone

If you enable the Set automatically option, the iPhone will notify you when you travel to a different time zone. The time will be changed automatically to coincide with the time zone the iPhone is in.

Share The Location With A Third-Party Tool

Find my Friends is not the only application that can be used to share your location or get the location. There are a lot of other tools that can be used to let someone know where you are.

Almost every popular text messaging service has the option to share your iPhone’s location with one person or a group of people.

Another alternate method for you to share or get a location pin and the coordinates is to tap the spot on the default map application and share the link that appears to the person or group.

Share location  link

The above-stated solutions should be sufficient to help your friend see your pin or you see your friend’s location pin on the Find My Friend application.

If these solutions do not help, check Apple’s Find my friends support page or try contacting the Apple support team for detailed help.

We hope this article helped you send or receive the location from your friend and meet them.

FAQs

How your native location to anyone?

To share your native location with other people over your phone, you will need the Maps application on your phone (iOS or Android). Open it and navigate to the location you want to share. Tap on it and copy the link that appears on the pop-up. This link shows the pinned location of the place you sent when opened by the receiver.

Why is my location unavailable on my iPhone?

There are several factors that can affect the visibility of your location in the Find My Friends application on your iPhone.
The date and time on your device are incorrect. 
Your device is switched off or has no active cellular data or Wi-Fi connection.
The Hide My Location feature is active in Find My Friends.
The Location Services are turned off.
The device isn’t signed in to Find My Friends.
You are in a country or region where Apple doesn’t offer the Location sharing feature.

How do I make my location not available?

If you want to keep your location hidden in the Find my Friends application, you can toggle the Hide my location option. This option is available in the menu that appears when you tap your profile’s location pin. Alternatively, you can turn off your GPS or disconnect from the cellular or WiFi network to prevent the location from being broadcasted.

How to fix iphone find my friends location not available?

If your friend’s iPhone location cannot be seen on the Find My Friends map, you can try restarting the phone, checking the phone for internet and GPS, changing the date and time settings, enabling the share my location feature, logging into the iCloud account and finally, turn off the Hide my location option. If these steps do not work, you can share your location or get it from someone through a third-party messaging app like Whatsapp.