Life360: Pausing or Hiding Your Location With Minimal Notifications

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Learn how to pause or hide your Life360 location

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: October 17, 2024 Fact Checked

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Enable Low Data Mode

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Get a Burner Phone

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Spoof Your Location

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Video

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Warnings

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Freedom is an important thing to have as a teenager, but if your parents require you to use Life360 to track your location, you can feel a little stifled. Most easy and safe methods to turn off Life360 tracking do notify the other people in your circle, but we've gathered a few methods on how to hide your Life360 location on iPhone and Android with minimal notifications, as well as how to fake your location entirely. However, remember that you shouldn't turn off Life360 to do anything dangerous or worry your parents.

Things You Should Know

If you turn on data saver mode and shut off Wi-Fi, your Life360 location will be listed as "Internet connection problem," which can be easier to explain than a paused location.
Buying a burner phone and using that to track your Life360 location can allow you to roam freely with your personal phone, but has a high up-front cost.
If you have an iPhone, faking your location isn't as easy as it is on Android, as it requires jailbreaking your phone.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Enable Low Data Mode

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1
Turn on your phone's data saving mode. Both iOS and Android have the option to turn on a data saving mode, which turns off background app refresh. Eliminating background app refresh will ensure Life360 doesn't automatically refresh to show your location when you're not using the app.
- iPhone: Open Settings and select Cellular. Tap Cellular Data Options > Data Mode and change the setting to Low Data Mode.^{[1]
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- Samsung: Open Settings and select Connections. Tap Data usage > Data saver, then toggle on the switch.^{[2]
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- Google Pixel: Open Settings and select Network & internet. Then select Data Saver and turn it on.^{[3]
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- Note that not all Android phones have the same layout, so you may need to look for data saver in your phone's connections or network settings if you cannot find it.
2
Turn off Wi-Fi. You can either turn off Wi-Fi for your entire device by disabling it, or you can turn it off for the Life360 app individually via your app settings, if your device allows it.
- Enabling low data mode is preferable to simply turning off Wi-Fi and data completely, as turning off your connection can set your Life360 location to "Location paused." By using the low data method your location will be set as "Internet connection problem."

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Get a Burner Phone

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1
Purchase a prepaid phone. Some prepaid phones, sometimes called burner phones, can install apps. If you get a burner phone and install Life360, then log in to the app with your account, you can leave that phone in a location while you are actually somewhere else with your actual phone.
- Prepaid phones can be purchased at most major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. Prices on prepaid phones can range from $20 to a couple hundred dollars.
- Ensure the phone you're buying can install apps. Talk with the employees at the store you're buying from to find the right phone for you.
2
Install Life360 on the phone. Once you have your burner phone and have it set up, you'll need to install Life360 on the phone.
- Open the app store on the burner phone and search for Life360 to download it.
3
Sign out of Life360 on your personal phone. You can only be logged into Life360 on one phone at a time, so to avoid any weird glitches, you should sign out of the app on your personal phone first.
- This will notify your circle that your phone is off or you have no network.
4
Open Life360 on the burner and sign in with your email. You'll want to use email sign in, as your burner phone will have a different phone number from your personal phone.
- This will restore your Life360 connection and your circle will be notified that you are online at your current location. Make sure to perform this switch at a location where you're supposed to be, such as at home, school, or work.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Spoof Your Location

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While there are many apps that promise to spoof your location, wikiHow has found the best ways to spoof (or fake) your location depending on if you're on an iPhone or Android.
If you're on an iPhone, you'll have to jailbreak your phone before you can spoof your location.
On iPhone this is LocationFaker or LocationHandle, and on Android the app is called Fake GPS location.
If you're on an Android, you'll have to enable developer mode in your settings to spoof your location.
The steps vary whether you are on iPhone or Android.

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Warnings

Jailbreaking your iPhone can lead to security vulnerabilities. You can also likely not jailbreak your phone if it is updated to the most recent software version.

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Don't try and hide your Life360 location to do something dangerous. While you may not agree with your parents tracking your movements, most of the time they're doing it to keep you safe.

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While there are many valid reasons for wanting to fake your Life360 location, lying to your parents can have consequences. Lying can also be difficult to keep up, so be sure you really need to hide your location from your parents before doing so.

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If you believe your parents are tracking your location because they are controlling or even abusive, seek help from a trusted adult. You can learn more from the Childhelp Hotline.^{[4]
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