The Crowd-Sourced GPS
In order to provide real-time traffic data for Apple Maps, Apple relies on crowd-sourcing. By default, your iPhone silently monitors your physical GPS location, calculates how fast you are moving down the highway, and uploads this speed and location data to Apple’s servers. This hidden background process is known as “Routing & Traffic.” Apple uses millions of these anonymous data points to determine if there is a traffic jam on a specific road. While this helps other drivers, it forces your phone’s battery to constantly power the GPS chip, and it means you are constantly transmitting your physical movements to a corporate server. If you prefer absolute privacy, you must disable this telemetry.
How to Turn Off Routing & Traffic Location Services
You can permanently sever the operating system’s connection to the crowd-sourced traffic database via the Privacy settings.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Privacy & Security.
- At the very top of the screen, tap on Location Services.
- Scroll all the way down to the absolute bottom of the app list and tap on System Services.
- Scroll down to the “Product Improvement” section.
- Locate the toggle switch labeled Routing & Traffic.
- Toggle this switch to the Off position (the green background will disappear).
A Private Commute
The change is instantaneous. The iPhone will completely terminate the background daemon responsible for tracking your highway speeds. Apple Maps will still function perfectly when you need driving directions, but your device will permanently cease acting as an unpaid, battery-draining data node for Apple’s global traffic algorithm.