How to Turn of Facebook's 'Nearby Friends' Location Tracking Feature

What is Nearby Friends?

Nearby Friends is a recently released feature on the Facebook mobile application for iPhone and Android. This allows you track your friends by using the precise location of their phone's GPS. Also, you can be notified if a friend is nearby, or a friend can send you their location. But maybe you're like me, and would not like to have your location shown publicly to others. Many have this feature on and do not know it, as it is buried into the 'More' section of the application.

Step 1: How to Turn Off Nearby Friends

1. Open the Facebook application (Nearby Friends is only a feature on iPhone and Android smartphones)

2. Tap the 'More' icon. (You might even have to tap 'See More...' to find the button for Nearby Friends.)

3. Tap 'Nearby Friends'. If the feature is on, you will see a list of friends, separated by how close they are to you. (See first picture for example) If the feature is already off, there will be a button for you to turn it on.

4. Tap the 'Settings' icon in the top right of the screen.

5. Use the toggle to turn Nearby Friends off.

Step 2: How to Turn Off Location History

For most people, Facebook is always tracking your location, because that is what the app requests before you use it. Many times we just tap Accept, not knowing what that entails. Facebook builds a history of precise location in the app, even when you are not using it.

To adjust Location History:

Tap 'More'.

Tap 'Nearby Friends'.

Tap the 'Settings' icon.

Tap 'Location Settings'.

Tap to turn 'Location History' on or off.