Is Your iPhone Secretly Tracking You? Here’s How to Stop Apple Maps from Logging Every Place You Visit

Apple unveiled its iOS 26 in September with a host of features and enhancements to the iPhone. One of the privacy-sensitive features that came with iOS 26 is the Visited Places in Apple Maps. The feature tracks and log locations that you have visited make navigation and sharing easy. While the feature is convenient in many ways, it is still problematic for users who don’t want to have a running location history stored on their devices.

If you are someone who values privacy or you want to clear old entries, then we are listing a step-by-step guide on what is Visited Places feature is and how to turn it off.

What is the Visited Places Feature in Apple Maps

Visited Places works automatically to create a list of places you have visited so that Apple Maps can show the shortcuts in the list or add notes, or share such spots in a short time. According to Apple, this information is encrypted at the end; however, in case you do not feel comfortable with any of the applications tracking the movements even within your device, the feature can be turned off, preventing Maps from making new entries to your history and allowing you to erase the historical traces.

How to Disable Visited Places on iPhone: Step-by-Step Guide

STEP 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

STEP 2: Scroll down and tap Maps.

STEP 3: Select Location.

STEP 4: Find the Visited Places toggle and switch it off.

STEP 5: To remove past entries, open Apple Maps, tap Places, choose Visited Places, and tap Clear History.

What Happens After You Turn It Off

Available: When you enable Visited Places, Apple Maps will no longer add a location to that list. The previous entries will be kept until you delete them manually; therefore, make sure to use the Clear History option in case you desire a blank page. Deactivating the feature does not impact other location services or your ability to get directions, and only the automatic recording of the places visited is turned off.

Tips for Privacy

In case your concerns are privacy-related, also check the larger Location settings in Maps and system-wide Location Services in Settings > Privacy and Security. Background Location of single apps and clearing app histories frequently is also a way of keeping your device footprint low.