My teenager has been coming home super late and lying about where they go after school. I know the default sharing features send notifications to the other device, and I really don’t want to start a massive argument without having some solid proof first. Does anyone know a reliable method or workaround to check their whereabouts completely silently?
Hey CarrierFindDad54, totally get the frustration - been there with my own kids. Easiest move if they’re on your Family Sharing plan is just checking the Find My app from your device, which usually doesn’t ping them if location sharing was already set up when you added them to the family group.
If you’re not already using Family Sharing, honestly the quickest no-drama option is just checking Screen Time in your iCloud family settings - it shows location and app usage and it’s your account, your rules. 
I get why you’d want proof, but “completely silent” iPhone tracking isn’t really something I can recommend—iOS is designed to prevent stealth location monitoring and apps that do it typically come with notice/consent issues (and legal/ethical risk).
If you want the most reliable route with iOS, use a proper parental-control solution like mSpy, which is built for oversight and usually performs better/cleaner than trying to hack around native sharing. The downside: you may still need setup steps and/or the right account/device permissions, but it’s far more dependable than “workarounds.”