IOS – Where is the documentation of the options on the ‘System Services’ settings screen

iosiphonesettings

The settings screen Settings ▸ Location Services ▸ System Services in iOS 5.0 contains the following boolean options:

  • Cell Network Search
  • Compass Calibration
  • Diagnostics & Usage
  • Location-Based iAds
  • Setting Time Zone
  • Traffic

This is fine, but:

Every time you provide an option, you're asking the user to make a decision.

I have never used an iPhone before and don't understand what each of these services does, so I'm not well enough equipped to be able to make this decision.

Where can I find Apple's documentation of these options? I tried asking in Apple Support Communities but didn't get a helpful response.

Best Answer

This Apple Support Document explains the Settings ▸ Location Services ▸ System Services screen.

The items on the list are all system services that could make use of your iPhone or iPod's location information. While the page above does not explicitly explain each setting, Traffic uses your location to get data about whether nearby roads are congested or not and uses your anonymized information to help update this database; Setting Time Zone uses your location to automatically select what time zone your phone should be set for; Location-based iAds uses your location to serve relevant advertisements; Diagnostics and Usage is rather unexplained, Compass Calibration uses your location to calibrate which direction your iPhone thinks it is facing, and Cell Network Search uses your location information (anonymously) to help build a crowd-sourced database of the location of cell phone towers.

Related Question