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Hide your live location on Polarsteps

Your privacy matters — and we totally get that sharing your exact whereabouts while you're out exploring the world isn't always something you want to do. That's why we've introduced the 'Location privacy' settings, which include a simple toggle that lets you decide if your followers can see where you are in real time.

What is live location privacy?

When you're on a trip, and if you have enabled the Travel Tracker, Polarsteps will track your location and automatically builds your travel route. By default, your followers can see your live location — the little pulsing dot on the map showing where you are.

With the live location privacy setting, you can hide that live location from your followers whenever you like. Here's what changes when you toggle your live location off:

  • Your live location dot (the pulsing red dot on the map) is hidden from followers
  • The route traveled since your last published step is hidden from followers
  • Your trip timeline and activity page will show the time of your latest published step instead of your last known location
  • Each time you publish a new step, a new part of your route becomes visible

Good to know: You and your Travel Buddies will always be able to see your live location, no matter what. This setting only affects what people who can access your trip see.

How to turn live location off or back on

It only takes a few steps:

  1. Open the Polarsteps app on your iOS or Android device
  2. Open an existing trip or create a new one
  3. Open the trip menu and tap Trip settings (top right of your screen)
  4. Scroll down and tap on 'Location privacy'
  5. Toggle the 'Live location' off or on

That's it! You're in control.

Things to keep in mind

  • The toggle works together with your trip privacy level, so it takes into account who you share your trip with ('only me', 'followers', or 'everyone')
  • This setting applies to current and future trips only. When your trip is finished, your whole route will become visible for those who can see your trip.
  • The visibility of your location is the same for people who can view your trip on any platform; the Polarsteps mobile app and our website, though changing this setting for your trip is only possible on the iOS and Android app.
  • If you are making a Travel Book after your trip, your entire route will be printed on the map page, regardless of the live location setting.