How Uber appears to know the place you’re – even with restricted location permissions

Is the ride-hailing app secretly monitoring you? Probably not, however this iOS characteristic could make it really feel that manner.

09 Oct 2025
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3 min. learn

If you land at an airport, it’s possible you’ll be greeted with a notification in your telephone that reads:

For privacy-conscious customers who solely enable apps to entry their location whereas the app is in use, this could really feel unsettling. How may Uber know the place you’re for those who restricted the app to entry your location solely whereas in use?

After seeing the message a number of occasions, I lastly checked Uber’s permissions, sure it was set to solely “whereas utilizing the app” on each my private and enterprise telephone. And certainly, Uber’s location entry was set precisely as supposed: “whereas utilizing the app”.

And but, each gadgets displayed the identical notification each time I landed, and getting this permission flawed on two gadgets appeared extremely unlikely. (As an apart, why there are different choices past this one is baffling. Why do any automotive service or meals apps must know your location when you’re not actively utilizing them – aside from to trace you for business causes?)

The one different cause for what some would possibly view as a privateness infringement may very well be a characteristic referred to as “Background App Refresh”, which permits an app to run and replace its content material even if you’re not utilizing it. Alternatively, this could be towards the precept of limiting location entry to solely whereas the app is in use, and it appears implausible that any app, particularly on iOS, can be allowed to bypass such a basic privateness management.

So, how does Uber (and maybe different apps) know the place you’ve simply landed?

The reply lies in a characteristic referred to as “UNLocationNotificationTrigger” that Apple offers to builders. This characteristic permits an app to fireside a pre-configured notification when the machine enters or exits a specified geographic area, equivalent to an airport. That manner, it successfully circumvents the intent behind the “whereas utilizing the app” setting.

So, to reply the query above instantly: no, Uber or different apps don’t know your location if you land. The notification is generated domestically in your telephone when it detects that you simply’ve entered the pre-defined airport’s geofenced space.

Alternatively, the notification’s wording is deceptive: it makes it really feel like Uber is actively monitoring you and is providing steering. In actuality, it’s solely if you faucet the notification and open the app that your machine shares your location with the app.

There are reliable causes for geofencing, after all. For instance, a household security app could notify mother and father when their baby’s machine enters or exits a delegated secure zone equivalent to a faculty or house. Or to make use of one other instance, a smart-home app may remind you to modify off the lights if you depart the home.

Nevertheless, utilizing the identical mechanism for what can solely be seen as promoting is, in my view, an overreach. On this occasion, Uber is promoting its companies as quickly as I’m throughout the boundaries of the airport. Think about strolling via a excessive road and having each retailer’s app ping you to come back inside, principally ignoring your determination to share your location solely if you’re utilizing their app.

It could appear smart for Apple to tighten the foundations round location-triggered notifications and limit them to non-advertising functions. This may be sure that the notifications are restricted to performance that serves the consumer and isn’t used for monetization functions.