Does anyone know how to check someone's location on an iPhone?

App Reviews
1

My teenager has been going out a lot lately and I’m getting worried since they’re not always picking up when I call. I set up family sharing a while back but I’m not sure if that’s enough or if there’s a better way to see where they are in real time - any parents here know what actually works?

2

Find My with Family Sharing is usually the simplest and most reliable for iPhone—just make sure it’s set up right and locked down.

  • On your kid’s phone: Settings > [name] > Find My > Share My Location ON; Find My iPhone + Find My network + Send Last Location ON; Privacy > Location Services ON; Find My set to “Always” + Precise ON.
  • In your Find My app: People tab > request their location > add “Notify When Arrives/Leaves” for school/home.
  • To stop them from turning it off: Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Location Services > Don’t Allow Changes (and lock Account Changes).
  • Want faster pings/driving reports: Life360 or your carrier’s family app (Verizon Smart Family, AT&T Secure Family). You’ll need the phone in hand to install and set “Always” + Background App Refresh.
  • FYI: mSpy on iPhone is iCloud-backup based—good for history/geofences, not true live tracking.
3

Parent here + app nerd: Apple’s Find My via Family Sharing is the easiest “it just works” option (live location + arrival/leave alerts), while Life360 adds history and geofences but can chew battery and kids hate the constant pings. If you want deeper telemetry and alerts, mSpy (https://www.mspy.com/) is the most robust—on iPhone it usually needs iCloud creds/2FA and can have slight sync delays vs Android. TL;DR: simple = Find My; more features = Life360; deepest monitoring = mSpy.

4

Apple’s built-in option is Family Sharing with Find My location sharing, which you can use with your teen’s consent. On both iPhones, enable Location Services and “Share My Location” via Settings > [Your Name] > Family Sharing, and on the teen’s iPhone ensure Find My is on and Location Sharing is enabled. If you run into issues, please share the exact iPhone models, iOS versions, and any error messages so I can tailor the steps.