How to prevent turning off location services on Android and Apple devices?

How to prevent turning off location services on Android and Apple devices?

Many organizations, such as logistics and transportation companies, rely on device location for tracking and compliance. WeGuard helps keep location services enabled, preventing users from turning them off and ensuring near-real-time location updates on managed devices.

Prerequisites

  • Android: Device must be enrolled in Device Owner mode.

  • iOS: Device must be physically available with the administrator, as Location Services must be enabled manually and secured with a passcode due to Apple restrictions.


Prevent Turning OFF Location Services on iOS

The steps vary based on the iOS version.

iOS 12 and Later

  • Open Settings > Screen Time > Turn On Screen Time.

  • Tap Continue and select This is My iPhone.

  • Go to Content & Privacy Restrictions and enable it.

  • Tap Location Services and ensure Location Services is turned On.

  • Verify the WeGuard MDM app has "Always" or "While Using the App" location permission.

  • Select Don't Allow Changes to prevent users from disabling Location Services.

  • Return to Screen Time, tap Use Screen Time Passcode, and set a passcode to secure the settings.


Note: These settings do not apply if Screen Time restrictions are enforced through a policy group.


iOS 11 and Earlier

  • Go to Settings > General > Restrictions.

  • Tap "Enable Restrictions" and create a restrictions passcode.

  • Navigate to Privacy > Location Services and enable Location Services.

  • Configure location permissions for the required apps.

  • Select Don't Allow Changes to prevent users from modifying Location Services settings.


Note: Apps installed after these settings are configured will not receive Location Services permission automatically.

If a device is upgraded from iOS 11.x to iOS 12 or later, reconfigure the settings under Screen Time, as Apple moved the Location Services restriction from Restrictions to Screen Time.

Preventing Turning OFF Location Services on Android

To prevent disabling location services on Android devices, follow the steps given below:

  • Log in to the WeGuard Console.

  • Navigate to Policies and select the required policy.


  • In General find the Location Settings and select “Location ON” from the drop-down.


  • Go to Security and find Share Location Disabled; make sure this is toggled always toggled off to get the location data from the device. If enabled, the device won’t share any location data with the server.



WeGuard also provides the WeTrack feature to track the devices in real-time without any third-party application. WeTrack provides you with the complete report of location history based on the track frequency set (1 min., 10 min., etc.). Click here to find more details on WeTrack.


We hope this article was helpful. For additional support:

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