What is a marked location on apple maps

Q: Why is there a random marked location on my iPhone?

Buried in your iOS location settings is a feature called Frequent Locations. This is plotting the places you often go, including complete addresses and even a map. If something about that feels not great to you, heres how to find and disable it.

Q: How do I see all marked locations on Apple Maps?

Heres a look at how to view and edit the list of locations tracked through Location Services..

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Bubbles show you where you have visited.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Your iPhone knows where you are, and it remembers where you have been. It keeps a record of your frequent hangouts — aka “significant locations” — and uses this data to make location-based suggestions using Siri and to power other features. Don’t panic, though: This data is kept on your phone, not collected by Apple.

Table of Contents Show

How to find significant locations on your iPhone
How to remove significant locations from your iPhone
How to switch off iPhone location tracking entirely
Like a diary
How to add your current location to a contact
How to view recent searches in Maps
How to drop a pin in Maps on iPhone and iPad
How to delete a pin in Maps on iPhone and iPad
How to add favorite locations in Maps on iPhone and iPad
How to view favorite places in Maps on iPhone and iPad
How to delete favorite sites in Maps on iPhone and iPad
Always save your favorite places for quick access later
Why is there a random marked location on my iPhone?
How do I see all marked locations on Apple Maps?
How do I mark a location on Apple?
How do I see my marked locations?

Maybe you want to switch it off anyway, though. Perhaps you’re having an affair and don’t want your suspicious spouse to find out where you and your lover hook up. Or you’re an undercover cop and don’t want your visits to the police station to show up on your phone. Today we’ll see how to access your recent locations data, remove it, and switch it off altogether.

How to find significant locations on your iPhone

Significant Locations settings’ are buried pretty deep. You’ll find them in Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations. You must authenticate yourself to see them, using your passcode, Touch ID or Face ID. Once you’re in, you’ll see a list of the towns and cities you have visited. Each one will have the number of sub-locations, and the date or date range of your visits.

The city you live in will probably have the most entries, but you may be surprised at which other spots have been recorded. To view the locations on a map, just tap the name of a city.

The data can be either fascinating or scary, depending on your point of view. You’ll see a map showing circles indicating your most-visited locations. Below the map is a list, ordered by frequency of visit. Tap on one of these locations and you’ll see yet another list (and map) detailing the exact times of your visits.

How to remove significant locations from your iPhone

There are two ways to remove significant locations: the nuclear way, and the surgical way. At any spot in these lists of data, you can tap the Edit button at top right, and then remove entries. Depending on how deep you are in the list hierarchy, you can separately delete individual visits to a single location or remove an entire city from your history.

In our example of an undercover cop, the officer might choose to just remove the police station visits and leave the rest, although that means removing each and every future visit as well to stay “clean.”

How to switch off iPhone location tracking entirely

The nuclear option is to switch off significant locations. This is done by toggling the button at the top of the significant locations settings. However, if you do this, you lose out on some iPhone features. For example, the Maps widgets won’t work properly without access to this data. As ever, you must decide if the tradeoff is worth it. Given that accessing this data requires physical access to your iPhone (or iPad), as well as your passcode or fingerprint, you may consider the data safe. Or not.

Like a diary

For some folks, the significant locations data could be a fun way to see what they were up to in the past. For others, it could even prove useful, helping to remember client visits or track down that amazing restaurant you visited a few times while on vacation. Alternatively, the very existence of this kind of information on your iPhone might terrify you. Go take a look at what your iPhone has recorded, and make up your own mind.

Apple Maps on Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom on top of a MacBook

(Image credit: iMore)

Did you just park your car and want to remember where you parked for later? Or maybe you just want to remember where your friends and family are, or your new favorite business. Apple's Maps app can help you out! All you need to do is just name and save where you currently are, so you can reference it later. No more circling the parking lot the next time you're at the happiest place on Earth!

But how do you name and save such locations in Apple Maps? Don't worry, it's pretty easy on iOS, and gives you the best iPhone experience you could ask for, including on the upcoming iPhone 14.

How to add your current location to a contact

You can quickly add the current location to any Contact you have on your iPhone or best iPad. It's a great way to collect or update the addresses of the places you go to or the friends you visit.

Launch Maps from the Home screen on your iPhone or iPad
Tap the current location button.
Tap on the blue dot, which represents your current location.

To add your current location to a Contact, launch the Maps app, tap the current location button. Tap on the blue dot, which represents your current location.

(Image credit: iMore)

Swipe up on the lower panel, then tap the ... button.
Tap on Add to existing contact.
Tap on a contact you want to use.
Type in your contact's complete address information. It should auto-fill but make sure everything is right.
Tap on Update in the top right corner.

To add your current location to a Contact, swipe up on the lower panel, then tap Add to existing contact. Choose the contact to use. Added address or make adjustments as needed, tap Update at the
top
right.

(Image credit: iMore)

Once an address is in the Contacts app, you can tap it at any time to bring up the location again in Maps.

How to view recent searches in Maps

If you often find yourself traveling to the same place, you can easily pull up a list of locations you have searched for recently.

Launch Maps from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
Tap on the search bar at the bottom of the screen.
Choose the previous location on the list.

To review a recent search, launch the Maps app, tap on the search bar, choose the previous location

(Image credit: iMore)

How to drop a pin in Maps on iPhone and iPad

You can drop a pin at any point in the Maps app except when using guided directions. The effect is more natural to see when you are zoomed in on the map a little already, not to mention easier to make sure you drop a pin in the right place! This is also a great way to remember where you parked your car if you don't have Bluetooth or CarPlay.

Launch the Maps app from your Home screen.
Tap and hold on the location where you want to drop the pin.

To drop a pin in Apple Maps, tap and hold on a location. It's that simple!

(Image credit: iMore)

Just like that, you have dropped a pin, giving you some information on the location. Depending on how close it is to your current location, you can see how far it is away from you either by driving or walking. If you drop a new pin, it will replace the old pin you added earlier.

How to delete a pin in Maps on iPhone and iPad

When you drop a pin, it will stick around until you remove it.

Launch the Maps from your Home screen.
Tap the pin you want to delete.
Swipe up on the lower panel.
Tap the delete icon.

To remove a pin, launch the Maps app, tap on the pin to remove. Swipe up, then Tap the delete icon

(Image credit: iMore)

How to add favorite locations in Maps on iPhone and iPad

Favoriting a location allows you to bookmark it, so it's much quicker to find while searching. Less time mapping equals hitting the road sooner, which also means getting to your destination quicker. You can favorite any location. So whether you type in an address, drop a pin, or select a business, the steps are mostly the same.

Launch the Maps from your Home screen.
Find the location you want to favorite. You can do this in a few different ways.
- Typing the address into the search bar.
- Dropping a pin.
- Tapping on a location already on the map. This is what we did for this example.
Swipe up on the lower panel.
Tap on Add Favorite. You may have to scroll down to see it.

To add a location to your favorites, launch the maps app then find the location. Swipe up, then tap on Add Favorite.

(Image credit: iMore)

How to view favorite places in Maps on iPhone and iPad

Launch the Maps app from your Home screen.
Scroll down, and then tap See All under Favorites. You can also click on your favorite from the recent list.

To view favorite locations, launch the Maps app, then scroll down and tap See all to see your Favorites.

(Image credit: iMore)

A list of all your favorite locations will now appear. Tap on any site to bring it up on the map.

How to delete favorite sites in Maps on iPhone and iPad

Launch the Maps app from your Home screen.
Scroll down and tap See All/More under Favorites. You can also click on your favorite from the recent list.

To view favorite locations, launch the Maps app, then scroll down and tap See all to see your Favorites.

(Image credit: iMore)

Scroll to left on the location to delete.
Tap Delete.

To delete a favorite, scroll to the left on the location to delete. Tap delete.

(Image credit: iMore)

Always save your favorite places for quick access later

We all go to many places every day, and sometimes we just want to save them for quicker access later. No matter what the situation is, Apple Maps makes it easy to name and save your favorite spots for later. After all, saving them means faster access, which means less time searching for it. Who doesn't want to save some time?

As you can see, it's pretty easy and straightforward to name and save locations in the Apple Maps app. Once you do that, just tap on those locations to easily get turn-by-turn directions and more. And don't forget to drop a pin to prevent yourself from circling the parking lot asking yourself, "where did I park?"

Updated August 2022: Updated to reflect newest iOS.

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed.

When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.

Why is there a random marked location on my iPhone?

Buried in your iOS location settings is a feature called "Frequent Locations." This is plotting the places you often go, including complete addresses and even a map. If something about that feels not great to you, here's how to find and disable it.

How do I see all marked locations on Apple Maps?

Here's a look at how to view and edit the list of locations tracked through Location Services..

Open the 'Settings' menu on your iPhone by tapping the icon on your home screen. ... .

Tap 'Location Services.' ... .

Press the 'Significant Locations' option..

How do I mark a location on Apple?

Drop a pin In the Maps app on your Mac, Control-click a location, then choose Drop Pin. Maps drops a pin at the location on the map. You can have only one dropped pin on the map at a time. If the pin isn't where you want, remove it, then drop a new pin.