how to turn off location without notifying

The very first time you set up an Android device, you'll be asked if you want to share your location data. If you say yes, then Google automatically adds your movements to your Location History, which you can look at in the Timeline section of your Google Account.

Location history can provide useful information such as automatic commute predictions or improved search results. But not everybody is comfortable with their every step being tracked. Even if you trust Google, if you lose your device then that data could be seen by somebody with malicious intent. Here's how to turn off Android location tracking if you no longer want it.

Other useful info:

How to turn off location tracking on Apple devices
The advantages of location tracking
How to turn location tracking back on

How to turn off location tracking

From your Android phone

Just follow these simple steps to turn off location tracking

Open Settings
Scroll down to Security & Location, then hit Location
You'll see an on/off switch in the top right. Use this to turn location services on or off altogether.
Tap on Location > Google Location History
Once again there's a button in the top right that lets you turn your location history on or off

From your computer

On a computer, go into https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols > Activity Controls > Manage Activity and then toggle the bar on Pause Location History; a pop-up tells you what you are and aren't disabling, and provides a link to where you can delete your location history altogether.

Going to https://www.google.com/maps/timeline and opening the settings cog icon in the lower right side will also give you options to pause location history, delete it or download your data.

How to delete your location history on Android

If you also want to delete your location history, you can do that here too: under Location History tap the three dots in the top right, then hit View/Manage.
Hit the three dots once more, then Settings
You should now be in a section named Personal content
From here you can Delete all Location History or select Delete Location History range to delete just a part of it. Once deleted this information can't be recovered.

How to turn off location tracking on an iPhone or iPad

If you have an Android phone and an Apple tablet or an Android tablet and an Apple Phone, you'll need to check the iOS location settings too: Apple can store your location data and give it to apps too. To turn that off, go into Settings > Privacy > Location Services.

Assuming Location Services are on, you should now see a list of apps with two bits of information: a button showing whether access to Location Services is on or off for that app, and a little arrow if it's used your location data recently.

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How to protect yourself from apps that leak your private data

There's another screen in here, System Services, and that enables you to turn off system-level use of your location for features such as location-based ads, web browser search suggestions, setting the time zone and so on. Simply turn off any services you want to shut down.

What's the downside to turning off Android location tracking?

You'll lose some of the things that make Android so good. Google Assistant is less helpful if it doesn't know your favorite places, and some apps aren't of much use without location services enabled. On the upside, less GPS use means less battery drain.

How to turn Android location tracking back on

If you find yourself needing directions from Google Assistant or you decide your movements aren't interesting enough to worry about other people seeing them, it's easy enough to re-enable Android location tracking. This time all you need to do is:

Open Settings
Go to Location (or Security & Location)
Use the on-screen toggle button on the top right to turn it on
Tap on Google Location History and use the on-screen button to turn it on

It's a similar process with Apple devices: go back into Settings > Privacy > Location Services and use the toggle buttons to switch services back on.

What do you think? Does the usefulness of Android location tracking outweigh the potential privacy issues, or should we limit how much information we share in general? Let us know in the comments below.