Location Services not working for Google Maps

Hey there,

When Google Maps or Safari don’t appear in the Location Services list, it usually means they haven’t actually requested location access yet, or the system blocked the request before it could appear. This makes the apps look like they’re allowed, but iOS hasn’t officially added them to the list.

Here are the most common reasons this happens:

• Location Services is on, but the app never completed its first permission prompt (for example, if the prompt was dismissed, interrupted, or blocked by Screen Time).
• Safari uses a separate setting and won’t appear in the main list until a website requests your location.
• Google Maps won’t show in the list until it successfully triggers the “Allow location access?” pop-up.

To fix it, open each app directly and force it to trigger the permission request:

1. Google Maps: Open the app → try starting navigation or tapping the blue location dot → it should force the permission pop-up to appear again.
2. Safari: Go to a website that needs your location (for example, maps.google.com or weather.com) → Safari will ask for location access on the website level. Once you allow it, Safari will appear in the Location Services list.

If nothing asks for permission, check Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Location Services, because restrictions there can prevent apps from requesting access at all.

Once the permission is successfully requested, both apps will show up in the list, and the location should start working normally.

For how Location Services works and why apps might not show up until they’ve requested permission, see this official article: About privacy and Location Services in iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS - Apple Support (CA)

Best regards.

By far the easiest way to cause poor performance, instability, overheating and crashing is to install ANY third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers, Virus scanners, Bit Torrent, or a VPN that you installed yourself. Some of those can also cause confusion over your location.

¿Are you running anything like that?

What results do you get from the mac's built in Maps application?

check

safari >settings > websites > location

if not too fussy about revealing your location, you can set the default to "Ask".

for each specific website, you can specify.

on older Macs, with older macOS re-installing macOS was common debugging technique for a wide variety of possible issues.

Since MacOS 11 Big Sur, MacOS (which has Never modified its own code) is run from a crypto-signed System Snapshot that is not writable by any ordinary means. If that MacOS image changes for any reason, it very quickly is detected and you are alerted.

Old practices die hard, but re-installing modern MacOS in the face of amorphous problems is generally no longer productive.

you could experiment by setting default to 'allow', but that may not be a prudent way to leave it set up.

¿Did you already allow:

settings > Privacy&security > location services > Safari. ... and slid the slider to ON?