No Location Found vs No Location Available Explained

If you are an iPhone user, you’ve likely used the Find My app on your device. This app helps you locate your lost or misplaced iPhone. However, many users encounter issues with the Find My app, including errors such as ‘No Location Found’ or ‘No Location Available.’ Consequently, there is widespread curiosity about the difference between the ‘No Location Found’ and ‘No Location Available’ messages in the Find My app.

Though these two terms might look similar, they are different. They indicate different errors. If you don’t know the clear difference between the two, it can be pretty frustrating and confusing. But not anymore. In this article, we’ll discuss: no location found vs no location available.

No Location Found vs No Location Available: What’s the Difference?

The Find My iPhone app is a great tool to get your iPhone’s location if it has been misplaced or lost. But sometimes you face errors while using the app. Sometimes you see “No Location Found” and sometimes you see “Location not available.” These two may seem the same, but they are not. Both errors signify the same issue: your iPhone can’t be found but in different scenarios. Let’s discuss them in detail.

1. What’s “No Location Found” in the Find My app?

Find My app primarily uses GPS, cellular, and Wi-Fi signals to locate your iPhone. These signals help approximate the device’s location, which is then shown on a map in the app.

However, if your phone lacks a Wi-Fi connection, is switched off, or its battery is drained, the Find My app will indicate a “No Location Found” message. This error indicates a technical error, because of which the app is not able to get the location of your iPhone. Other than the ones mentioned, there can be other reasons behind this issue.

• Location Permission: When you are setting up the Find My app for the first time, you get the option to give permission to share location access. If you haven’t given permission, you will get this error. Similarly, if you have a Family Sharing feature enabled and some other family member has disabled location sharing, the Find My app won’t be able to locate your device.
• iCloud Settings: If you have switched to a different iCloud account from the one that you used while setting up the Find My app, it will not be able to get the location of your iPhone as it is not synced with the new account.
• App Glitches and Updates: There are instances where the servers of the Find My app are down because of maintenance. Or, if you are using an outdated version of the app, you can face the same error. So, update the app and check if the issue is resolved.

2. What’s “Location Not Available” in the Find My app?

When you see “Location Not Available,” it means the other person has stopped sharing their location with you. They’ve manually gone into their Find My app and turned off the sharing option. This is not a technical error, but manual work.

It is done so that no other person can see your location. If you have lost your iPhone and are now seeing “Location not available,” that’s probably because someone has found it and has manually stopped the location sharing.

The “location not available” error that you get on the Find My app can have many other reasons. Here are some of them discussed:

• Signal Interference and Poor Coverage: You might just be in a place where your phone can’t catch a decent signal. The phone may be in remote areas or those annoying dead zones like tunnels. When your phone can’t connect to the network, the Find My app won’t be able to locate your device and show you this error.
• Physical Damage to Device: If your phone got damaged or broke, that could mess with the location-finding ability of the app. So, the location sensor might not work, and Find My App won’t get accurate info.
• Incorrect Date and Time Settings: Sometimes incorrect date and time settings on your iPhone can hinder the location-finding ability of the app. Though it may sound weird, the Find My app may show you this error if your time and date settings are incorrect.

How do I fix the “No Location Found” error in the Find My app?

Now that we know about the issue, let’s see how we can solve it.

• Enable Find My: Ensure the Find My app is activated in settings under “Privacy” > “Location Services.” Select “Always” for Find My.
• Check the Apple Server: Keep an eye out for notifications about service interruptions or visit Apple’s System Status site for updates. If the servers are down, then they are probably working on the issue, and it will be solved in no time.
• Update apps: Using outdated apps may cause glitches and interrupt performance. So, it is highly recommended to update these apps regularly. Head on to the App Store and update the app as soon as possible.

Conclusion

That’s all about the No Location Found vs No Location Available error on the Find My app. I hope the doubt between the two issues is clear. If the error is persistent, follow the steps mentioned in the app to fix it. In case of any doubt, do let us know in the comment section below.

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