How to Stop Tracking on iPhone 17 Pro Max: The Settings Apple Hides

Step 1: Disabling Apple Intelligence (If You Don’t Want AI Watching Everything)

If you want to know how to stop tracking on iPhone 17 Pro Max, you first have to realize that your new $1,200 device is a surveillance tool out of the box.

When I first unboxed my iPhone 17 Pro Max, honestly, the hardware blew me away. The screen is gorgeous. But the moment I finished the setup, I got a notification that made my stomach drop. My phone offered to “summarize” a private email from my bank.

I didn’t ask for that. And you probably didn’t either.

Therefore, if you want to know how to stop tracking on iPhone 17 Pro Max and actually reduce Apple’s data collection, you have to start with its most aggressive feature: Apple Intelligence. Apple claims this runs on “Private Cloud Compute,” which supposedly deletes your data after processing. That sounds reassuring—until you remember that “cloud” basically just means “someone else’s computer.”

Once your data leaves your phone, you are no longer in full control of it—and that alone is a huge privacy risk. Plus, do you really want an AI scanning every screenshot and text message just to give you a “smart” suggestion? I sure don’t and if you think i have android device that’s not much better so better see our guide to stop unnecessary app on android.

The “De-AI” Process

So, let’s kill this feature before it learns too much about our habits. It’s actually buried a bit deeper than it used to be in previous iOS versions, which is annoying.

Here is what we need to do:

1. Open your Settings app.
2. Scroll down until you see Apple Intelligence & Siri (they merged them this year).
3. Look for the toggle that says “Apple Intelligence” at the very top.
4. Turn it off.

When you do this, your phone might give you a warning saying, “You will lose advanced features.” Ignore it. In fact, your phone will likely run faster without that background process eating up your battery and RAM.

Disable Contextual & On-Screen Analysis

Unfortunately, turning off the main toggle isn’t enough. There are other sensors that track what you are doing to provide “context.” I like to break this down into two parts so we don’t miss anything.

1. Kill the Siri Context Stay in that same Apple Intelligence & Siri menu. Look for “Siri Responses.” inside that menu, make sure “Always Listen for ‘Siri'” is disabled. If the phone is constantly listening for a wake word, it is processing audio buffers locally. We want to minimize that.

2. Stop the Camera Sensors (Attention Aware) Next, go back to the main settings and find Face ID & Passcode. Scroll down to “Attention Aware Features.”

This feature uses the TrueDepth camera to check if you are looking at the screen before dimming it or expanding a notification. While it’s convenient, it means your camera sensor is active way more than it needs to be. If you are ultra-paranoid like me, I usually toggle this off too.

This is not speculation—Apple documents these behaviors in its own privacy disclosures, just without explaining the real-world implications. Consequently, by disabling these specific features, you aren’t just saving battery; you are stopping the device from building a “contextual profile” of your daily life.

Step 2: The “System Services” Deception

Now that we have nuked the AI, we need to talk about location tracking on the iPhone 17 Pro Max—because this is where Apple collects the most behavioral data. Most people think if they deny Instagram or Google Maps location access, they are safe. Wrong.

The biggest tracker on your phone isn’t usually an app you installed; it is the operating system itself.

Apple hides its own tracking tools deep in a menu that 90% of users never even look at. They call it “System Services,” which sounds important and necessary, right? Well, that is a trick. Many of these services exist primarily to collect usage and location data, not to provide features you actively requested.

Here is how to find them and which ones to kill immediately.

Finding the Hidden Menu

Grab your iPhone and follow this path. It’s a bit of a maze, so stay with me:

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
2. Tap on Location Services.
3. Scroll all the way down to the bottom. (Most people stop at the list of apps).
4. Tap on System Services.

You will probably see a bunch of purple arrows here. That means your phone has been pinging your location recently. Now, let’s clean this up.

The “Significant Locations” Trap

This is arguably the most invasive setting on the entire iPhone. Inside the System Services menu, find “Significant Locations” and tap it. You will need FaceID to enter.

Basically, this feature tracks everywhere you go, how often you go there, and how long you stay. Apple says this is “end-to-end encrypted,” however, if someone ever gains access to your unlocked device, this data provides a detailed timeline of your daily movements.

My advice:

• Tap Clear History.
• Toggle it OFF.
• Don’t look back.

Apple’s tracking is bad, but at least it stays on the device. Google is a different beast entirely. If you also use Android devices, you need to read our report on the Google Maps Location Tracking Scandal to see the difference between ‘on-device’ and ‘cloud’ surveillance.

Other Services You Should Disable

While you are in this menu, you should turn off almost everything else. Here is a breakdown of the big ones I always disable to lock down my iPhone 17 Pro Max privacy settings:

• Location-Based Alerts & Suggestions – Apple uses your real-time location to push contextual prompts you didn’t ask for. Disable it.
• Routing & Traffic – Your phone passively contributes location data to Apple Maps to help them build traffic data. This helps Apple, not you.
• Apple Ads – Location-based ad profiling exists even on premium iPhones. Turn it off to stop them from targeting you based on where you shop.
• iPhone Analytics – This sends diagnostic data (including location info) back to headquarters. Why waste your battery for them?

The One Setting You Must Turn ON

Ironically, the most important setting in this menu is the one that is off by default.

Scroll to the very bottom of the System Services page and turn ON the toggle for “Status Bar Icon.”

By doing this, you force the iPhone to show you that little arrow icon in the top status bar whenever any system service checks your location. You will be surprised how often it pops up even when you aren’t doing anything. Apple documents these services in its privacy disclosures, but it does not clearly explain how much location data is generated or how frequently these checks occur.

Step 3: The “Trust But Verify” Method

We have toggled a lot of switches so far. But in the world of data privacy, you should never blindly trust a toggle. You need proof.

Luckily, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a built-in “snitch” feature that tells you exactly what your apps are doing behind your back. It’s called the App Privacy Report, and ironically, most people leave it disabled because they don’t know it exists.

If you really want to stop iPhone 17 Pro Max app tracking and see which apps are quietly abusing your data, you need to turn this on immediately. It is the only way to see if that “Flashlight” app is secretly sending your data to an advertising server.

How to Activate the Snitch

1. Go back to Settings > Privacy & Security.
2. Scroll all the way to the very bottom (past the Analytics section).
3. Tap App Privacy Report.
4. If it says “Turn On App Privacy Report,” tap it.

Note: If you just turned it on, it will be empty. That is normal. It needs a few days to collect data. But once it populates, it is shocking.

What to Look For (The Red Flags)

After using your phone for a day or two, come back to this menu. Here is how to read the evidence:

• Data & Sensor Access: This shows you precisely when an app accessed your camera, microphone, or location. If you see a weather app accessing your microphone at 3 AM, that’s a massive red flag. At best, it’s sloppy engineering. At worst, it’s spyware. Either way, delete it.
• App Network Activity: This is the juicy part. It lists every website domain that your apps contacted.

The Test: Open an app that shouldn’t need the internet (like a basic calculator or offline notes app). Use it for a minute.

The Reality: Check the report. You will often see background connections to domains owned by Meta, Google, or third-party ad and analytics networks—even when the app appeared idle.

Basically, this report is your best weapon. Apple provides this report as a transparency tool, but it does nothing to block these connections automatically—the responsibility is pushed back onto the user. However, once you see the proof, you can delete the offenders and replace them with privacy-focused alternatives.

FAQ: Common Questions About iPhone 17 Privacy

I know some of these settings might seem aggressive. Here are the answers to the questions I get asked the most after people nuke their settings.

Conclusion: You Are Renting the Phone, But You Own the Data

At the end of the day, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is an incredible piece of hardware. But out of the box, it is designed to serve Apple’s business model first, and your privacy second.

By following this guide, you have taken back some control. You aren’t just a passive user anymore; you are an admin.

Remember, privacy isn’t a “set it and forget it” thing. Apple updates iOS constantly, and sometimes those updates “accidentally” toggle these settings back on. So, bookmark this page and check your Privacy Report once a month.

Don’t let the shiny titanium frame distract you from what’s happening under the hood. Stay paranoid. Stay safe.