The arrow next to the time on the status bar of your iPhone is a location services indicator. It indicates that an app on your iPhone is requesting your location.
Hi, I’m Devansh. I learned about the arrow icon when I switched from Android to iPhone last year. In this article, I’ll describe the meaning of the arrow icon and show you three ways to remove it. I’ll also answer some common questions.
If an arrow icon keeps appearing in your iPhone status bar and you have no clue what it is, keep reading to learn more!
Contents
What Does Arrow Icon in Status Bar Mean?
The arrow icon in the status bar appears when an app (like Maps or Weather) requests your location.
To learn about other status icons and symbols, see this page.
Top 3 Ways to Remove Arrow Icon
You can remove the arrow icon with these three methods if you find it distracting.
Disable the Status Bar Icon
Open Settings, go to Privacy & Security, and tap on Location Services. Here, scroll down and tap on System Services. At the bottom of the page, toggle off Status Bar Icon.
Once you toggle off Status Bar Icon, the arrow icon won’t appear the next time an app requests your location.
Restrict Apps From Accessing Your Location
You can limit which apps can use your location. Open Settings, go to Privacy & Security, and tap on Location Services. Now, you can scroll through the list of apps and check their level of location access.
A gray arrow will appear next to an app if it has used your location within the last 24 hours (purple if it’s more recent). To change location access, tap on an app. Under Allow Location Access, you’ll see these options:
- Never
- Ask Next Time Or When I Share
- While Using the App
- While Using the App or Widget
- Always
Go through the list of apps and adjust location access for each app as you prefer. Plus, read their explanation for accessing your location if necessary.
Disable Location Services
You can also disable Location Services if you want. Keep in mind this might interfere with many native and third-party apps that rely on location data. Open Settings, go to Privacy & Security, Location Services, and toggle off Location Services.
In addition, you can also factory reset the location settings on your iPhone. Open Settings, go to General, Reset, and tap Reset Location & Privacy. Open this article to read more about the technology behind Location Services and related features.
FAQs
Here are two common questions about Location Services on the iPhone.
Does the Arrow Icon Indicate Your iPhone Is Hacked?
Generally, no. Some apps need to access your location for legitimate reasons, like ride-sharing and food delivery apps. But if the arrow icon is present even when you’re not using location-based apps, it might indicate the presence of spyware on your iPhone.
How to Check Your Most Visited Locations on Your iPhone?
If Location Services is enabled, your iPhone keeps track of your most-visited locations. Open Settings, go to Privacy & Security, Location Services, System Services, and Significant Locations. Check out this article to learn more.
Conclusion
In short, the arrow icon in the status bar of your iPhone is a location services indicator. If you’d like to remove it, you can disable the status bar icon, restrict apps from accessing your location, and disable location services.
Do you have further questions regarding your iPhone’s arrow status bar icon? Let me know in the comments!
