We purchased two Apple Watches for both of our sons to be able to communicate and track them when they are with friends or at school. One of my sons, I could track his precise location. The watches are put to the exact same settings. I’ve double and triple checked. My other son’s Apple Watch only gives me his Approximate Location. How can I fix this because it’s driving me insane.
They both have the Apple Watch 6.
Apple Watch Series 6
Hey there sunshineandrain_,
Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities. To get started, did you set up location sharing with your family using the steps in the following resource: Share your location with your family - Apple Support
Share your location with a family member
You can share your location in Settings or the Find My app, and you can stop sharing your location at any time.
If you already set up a Family Sharing group
In iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 or later:
1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings.
2. Tap Family.
3. Tap Location Sharing.
4. Under Share Your Location With, tap to choose which family members to share your location with.
In iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 or earlier:
1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings.
2. Tap your name, then tap Family Sharing.
3. Tap Location Sharing.
4. Tap Share My Location.
If so, does your son have an iPhone that the Apple Watch is set up with? If he does, in Settings > Privacy > Location Services, is Precise Location enabled here as well? If not, try enabling this setting and test the issue again.
Check out this link for more details: Turn Location Services and GPS on or off on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
How to share your specific location
With iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, some apps can use Precise Location to get to your specific location. To share only your approximate location — which may be sufficient for an app that doesn’t need your exact location — turn Precise Location off. Here's how:
1. Go to Settings > Privacy, then select Location Services.
2. Select an app, then turn Precise Location on or off.
Learn more about privacy and Location Services.
Let us know if that's able to help.
Have a great day!
Hey there sunshineandrain_,
Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities. To get started, did you set up location sharing with your family using the steps in the following resource: Share your location with your family - Apple Support
Share your location with a family member
You can share your location in Settings or the Find My app, and you can stop sharing your location at any time.
If you already set up a Family Sharing group
In iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 or later:
1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings.
2. Tap Family.
3. Tap Location Sharing.
4. Under Share Your Location With, tap to choose which family members to share your location with.
In iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 or earlier:
1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings.
2. Tap your name, then tap Family Sharing.
3. Tap Location Sharing.
4. Tap Share My Location.
If so, does your son have an iPhone that the Apple Watch is set up with? If he does, in Settings > Privacy > Location Services, is Precise Location enabled here as well? If not, try enabling this setting and test the issue again.
Check out this link for more details: Turn Location Services and GPS on or off on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
How to share your specific location
With iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, some apps can use Precise Location to get to your specific location. To share only your approximate location — which may be sufficient for an app that doesn’t need your exact location — turn Precise Location off. Here's how:
1. Go to Settings > Privacy, then select Location Services.
2. Select an app, then turn Precise Location on or off.
Learn more about privacy and Location Services.
Let us know if that's able to help.
Have a great day!
sunshineandrain_,
If you're continuing to have issues after working through the steps provided, we'd suggest contacting Apple for support: Get Support
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Take care!
I have done all of this. We have a Family Sharing group and everyone’s location is accessible, except my son’s Apple Watch. His iPads give his precise location as well as my other son who also has the exact same Apple Watch.
Their Apple Watch settings are identical, yet one shows the precise and the other one shows approximate, which really defeats the purpose of us getting him the watch if we don’t know where he is.
Approximate Location only?
