what is the nubmer on the privacy and location line in settings
When I turn on location settings there is a number (30) right before the little arrow. What is that number for?
iPhone 12 Pro Max, iOS 18
That indicates the number of applications installed on your system that have requested, and been granted access to Location data - i.e. apps that 'know' where you are.
If you tap into that section you'll see a list of apps that have requested location data, along with options to enabled or disable access to each one.