When your iPhone GPS not working or failed, it could be due to a location bug or something on your iPhone system may be barring access to or causing conflict with location services.
Tackled in this post is a relevant issue on the new iPhone XR GPS that suddenly stops working. Read on to find out how to get rid of location bug and get GPS to work as intended on your new iOS device.
If you happen to find this post while looking for a solution to a different problem, then visit our iPhone XR Help Guides for we have already addressed some of the most common problems with this device. Odds are that we already published and posted articles that could help you with your problem. Just take a little time browsing through that page to find similar issues.
How to troubleshoot iPhone XR with GPS issues
Before troubleshooting, head over to your iPhone Settings-> Privacy-> Location Services menu to check if the location switch is turned on. If not, then you need to toggle the switch to activate location services on your phone. You may proceed with the following walkthroughs to rule out software-related errors from the underlying causes.
First solution: Check and manage location permission settings on your iPhone
You may have to consider reviewing location permission settings on your iPhone XR to ensure that everything is set as it should. Here’s how to access and manage this information:
- From the Home screen, tap Settings.
- Select Privacy.
- Then tap on Location Services. Make sure the switch next to Location services is turned on. If not, then toggle to turn on.
- Scroll down and then select the apps that you want to grant location permission for like Google Maps or other third-party GPS apps.
Location services must be turned on for your GPS app to use and access relevant information.
Second solution: Use the Airplane Mode tweak
GPS services can also be troubled by network problems and wireless radios errors. To rule this out, performing the Airplane mode trick can be considered among the first potential solutions. Here’s how it works:
- Navigate to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu.
- Then toggle the switch to turn Airplane mode on. Doing so will turn off network-related apps and services on the phone.
With Airplane mode enabled, perform a soft reset or reboot your iPhone XR with these steps:
- Press and hold the Side/Power button and either Volume Up or Down buttons simultaneously and then release both buttons when the Slide to Power Off menu appears.
- Drag the Power off slider to turn off your iPhone completely.
- After 30 seconds, press and hold the Side/Power button again until the Apple logo appears.
Wait until the phone boots up and then go back to Settings-> Airplane mode menu and then toggle the switch to turn the feature off again.
Third solution: Reset location and privacy settings on your iPhone XR
Incorrect settings particularly those that relevant to location and privacy are also among the possible culprits. If you happened to modify these settings before GPS started to act up, then those changes might have done something wrong. To clear out any previous errors, follow these steps to reset location and privacy settings to their default values or original configuration:
- Tap Settings from your Home screen.
- Select General.
- Scroll down to and tap Reset.
- Select the option to Reset Location & Privacy.
- Enter the correct passcode for your phone
- Then tap the option to confirm location and privacy settings reset.
Restart your iPhone when the reset is finished to clear cache and to refresh the operating system.
Fourth solution: Update your GPS app and iPhone software to the latest version
Installing updates can also help if the problem is attributed to system bugs or corrupted applications. Updates for apps and iOS usually offer fix patches to address different types of issues transpiring on an iPhone, thus implementing them is highly recommended.
- To check for new iOS update on your iPhone XR, go to Settings-> General-> Software Update menu.
An update notification will show up if a new update is available. Read and review the update details and then refer to the given instructions to proceed with the update download and installation.
Aside from iOS updates, installing all pending app updates on your iPhone XR may also help if app-related errors are to blame. If you are using a third-party map or GPS application, then this should be considered a must-do. Here’s how it’s done:
- To manually check for and install pending updates for your GPS apps, go to the App Store-> Update section.
After updating your iPhone software and apps, perform a soft reset to ensure all new changes are properly implemented. This will also clear all cache from the phone’s internal memory including corrupted temporary data that might have caused conflicts with the phone’s maps and location services.
Fifth solution: Reset all settings on your iPhone XR
If the location bug is attributed to system settings errors, then it will likely be resolved by performing this reset. Resetting all settings on your phone wipes all current configurations and customized options including server settings, network options and the like. Any settings error that caused GPS to fail will also be deleted in the process. Here’s how it’s done:
- Open Settings app from the Home screen.
- Then go to General.
- Tap Reset.
- Select the option to Reset all settings.
- Enter your passcode, when asked to continue.
- Then tap the option to confirm all settings reset.
Unlike factory reset, performing this reset won’t cause you to lose personal information as it doesn’t affect any saved data on the phone memory. After the reset, your iPhone should reboot. Wait until it boots up then head back to the settings menu to check and re-enable location services on your device.
Other options
If your iPhone XR GPS is still not working after exhausting all prior methods, then you are more likely dealing with a complex system error that requires more advanced solutions.
- Factory reset and iOS restore. If you wish to continue troubleshooting, then your remaining options would be a factory reset or iOS restore. You can try performing a factory reset first and if that doesn’t help, try restoring iOS via recovery mode or DFU mode. Both these iOS restore methods are carried out using iTunes, so you better secure a compatible Windows or Mac computer with the latest version of iTunes software installed beforehand.
- Escalate the problem. For further suggestions and more advanced solutions, you can escalate the issue to your device carrier or contact Apple Support instead. There’s a higher chance that the problem isn’t on your end but on the Apple server. Like any other Apple services, the AirDrop may also be experiencing some random errors due to server downtimes. You can confirm that with Apple’s customer care based on their system information.
If you suspect that the problem is related to some sort of physical or liquid damage, then you can just take your iPhone straight to the nearest Apple service center in your area and have it examined by an authorized technician instead.
I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your device. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!
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