Friends popping out of iPhone

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poet’s Department, her 11th studio album, just dropped — and “Black Dog” is getting people talking about location tracking.

In the melancholic song, Swift revealed that her ex forgot to revoke her access for tracking his location, allowing her to see him walking into a bar called Black Dog.

With all of this hoopla about location tracking, you may be wondering how to do it yourself.

How to use your iPhone to track your friends’ location

First off, it’s important to note that you cannot track anyone’s location without their permission. As such, before you can go about tracking anyone’s location, the person will receive a prompt to allow you to access their whereabouts.

Here’s a quick how-to on how to keep tabs on your loved ones — for safety, of course.

1. Tap on the “Messages” app.

Red arrow pointing to Messages app in iOS

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

2. Tap on the friend or loved one you’d like to track.

3. Tap on the “+” button.

Red arrow pointing to plus sign in iOS

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

4. Hit “Location.”

Red arrow pointing to vocation in iOS

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

5. You may get an “Allow ‘Messages’ to use your location” prompt. Hit “Allow While Using App.”

Allow prompt for location tracking

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

6. Tap on the blue arrow to send the location request.

Red arrow pointing to blue arrow on iOS

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

If your location request is accepted, you’ll get a notification and see a small map that lets you see your loved one’s current whereabouts.

UI of location tracking in Messages

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

You can click on it to grab directions or share it with someone else.

©

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