Apple released the first iOS 27 developer beta Monday, adding a new Hide Location button in the Find My People section. Users tap to hide their location from selected contacts for 12 hours, after which the previous sharing state returns. The toggle changes to Unhide Location when active directly on the same screen. Users can also re‑enable sharing manually before the timer expires.

The silent hide registers as “No Location Found” on the other party’s device, avoiding any explicit notice. This approach sidesteps the awkwardness of an outright denial and aligns with similar features on competing platforms. The feature arrives as Apple readies a public beta next month and plans a September launch, signaling a broader push to give users granular control over data sharing.

Consumers can disappear from family or work circles, useful for vacations or check‑ins. Developers will need to handle the “No Location Found” state in apps that rely on positioning. Apple’s move underscores a trend of giving iOS users nuanced privacy tools rather than binary on/off sharing. Privacy advocates have praised the silent mode, noting it reduces pressure to disclose whereabouts while preserving Find My functionality.