Find My iPhone Keeps Jumping Locations – Why Does This Keep Happening?

One of the primary reasons iPhones have Find My is so that you can locate your device if you misplace it. This feature can be used to track down your phone without the needing to toss your couch cushions or look under the car seats. Therefore, it can be a head-scratcher when you turn on your Find My service only to find it doesn’t seem to know where your iPhone is either. It keeps jumping locations like it’s trying to figure things out as well.

As frustrating as this can be, resolving the issue can be simple. Keep reading to see how you can fix Find My iPhone’s location problems.

How to Fix Find My iPhone Location Issues

There are several reasons why your Find My app may be acting up. We will address some of them here and look at solutions that can be used to locate your devices. It should be noted that these fixes only work if you actually have the phone with you. When trying to find a missing iPhone, it providing a wrong map location will make the problem much harder, if not impossible to solve.

Therefore, all these fixes are only useful for finding other devices or while setting up the feature.

Find My iPhone Isn’t Activated

The Find My feature on the iPhone must be turned on to locate it. If you haven’t activated the app, you’ll, unfortunately, be unable to use it to find your smartphone. The app can’t find something that it doesn’t know to look for in the first place.

The Find My feature can’t be turned on remotely, so you might have to depend on the kindness of strangers to get your phone back. Whether you retrieve your lost iPhone or buy a new one, it’s essential to activate the Find My app using the steps outlined below.

1. Go to “Settings” on your iPhone and click on your device name.
   
2. Press “Find My,” then toggle it to the ON position.
   
3. Tap “Find My Network” if you want to locate your phone even when it’s offline.
   
4. Hit “Send Last Location” for the device to send its location to Apple when it’s about to run out of charge.
   

Your Find My app should now be working correctly next time you misplace your device.

Your iPhone Is Turned Off

Your phone has to be on for the Find My app to be operational. If it isn’t, the location information won’t be displayed accurately. When using the Find My app or feature on other iOS devices or on iCloud, the system will report the iPhone’s last known location.

If you need to use your iPhone to find other devices, charge it or put it in “Low Power Mode” to get the location feature working again. To activate this feature, go to “Settings,” “Battery,” then toggle on “Low Power Mode.”

Network Issues

GPS services rely on the strength of their signal to determine their whereabouts. However, they also depend on Wi-Fi and cellphone service providers to ensure they get the correct location information. Therefore, it might be challenging to get a good location read if your phone is far from a cell tower. It can also be challenging to get an accurate position near something like a mountain range that could be blocking the GPS signal.

If your iPhone isn’t able to get a good signal, it probably won’t be able to send a precise location to the Find My app. Here’s how to boost your phone’s internet connectivity.

1. Head to “Settings” on your iPhone and press “Cellular.”
   
2. Select “Cellular Data,” then click the “Voice & Data” tab.
   
3. Switch to the strongest data option available, like 3G or LTE if that’s available.
   
4. You could also scroll to the “Data Roaming” section and activate it for better connectivity, but only when abroad.
   

Boosting your network connection should enable your Find My app to function correctly.

Outdated Software

Software is a crucial component of the functionality of a mobile device. If your iPhone or Find My app is out-of-date, you might have problems getting an accurate location. It could also be that the program’s latest version has a bug that’s preventing the correct location from appearing. If this is the case, your whereabouts issue can be traced back to when the phone or app was last updated.

Check out how to update your iOS software.

1. Head to “Settings” on your device and click “General.”
   
2. Navigate to “Software Update” at the top of the screen and check if there’s an update available. Press on any available update to bring your iPhone up to date.
   

With your software updated, your Find My app should now be in good working order.

Privacy Concerns

Other than navigation tools, there are lots of other apps that require Location Services. Many people might not like all these programs knowing where they are at all times. They, therefore, restrict location access for privacy and security purposes.

If Location is turned off, your Find My feature won’t work properly. The steps described here will show you how to turn on Location Services.

1. Go to “Settings” on your iPhone.
   
2. Press “Privacy” then “Location Services.”
   
3. Toggle the slider to the ON position.
   
4. Scroll to locate the “Find My” app. Select “Always” to allow the app to access your location even in the background.
   

The Find My app is all set to receive accurate location information from your phone.

Date & Time Information Isn’t Correct

Your Find My app might not work correctly if you have the wrong date and time on your phone. You can rectify the situation using the method shown here.

1. Open “Settings” on your iPhone.
   
2. Press the “General” tab and scroll to “Date & Time.” Input the correct time and date information. Preferably, use the automatic time options.
   

These steps should get your Find My app working correctly again in some cases.

Enable Fetch New Data

Find My iPhone will need to constantly update location information to provide accurate data. If your phone isn’t able to fetch new data, it will not be able to refresh the Find My app information. Check out how to enable the fetch new data feature.

1. Head to “Settings” on your iPhone.
   
2. Press “Mail” then “Accounts.”
   
3. Click “Fetch New Data” and enable “Push.”
   
4. Select “Automatically” to complete the process.
   

The Find My app should now be receiving accurate location information from your device.

No More Disappearing Acts

Find My is a helpful feature that allows you to locate your iPhone if it gets lost. This feature works great for the most part, but it’s highly dependent on the internet and GPS location services to function correctly. If there are issues with Location Services or network connectivity, you might receive inaccurate information. This guide shows you how to identify and rectify Find My location problems.

Does your Find My app keep jumping locations? How did you rectify the problem? Let us know in the comments below.