Mobile phone tracking required app permissions

Mobile phone tracking required app permissions

Hey there! We're stoked to help you get the most out of your tracking adventures. To make sure everything runs smoothly, we just need to make sure your phone is set up right. So, let's talk about app permissions for iPhone and Android. Don't worry, it's not rocket science. Whether you're a tech pro or just figuring things out, we're here to make it a breeze. If you need to check you've given all the need

Info
Both iPhone and Android can require between 200 to 1000 metres of movement before GPS tracking activates, especially if you have been stationary for a while. This is part of the phone's built in power saving and cannot be adjusted by changing settings. We recommend using the Snap to Road feature to clean up the small jump at the start of your journey.

Choose your type of phone

  1. iPhone
  2. Android


iPhone Permission Requirements

You can access and modify all the settings below by opening your phone's settings, scrolling down until you locate Track My Ride. Here, you'll find all the current permissions and have the ability to make changes as needed.



1. Allow Notifications
With Notifications enabled, the app will:
      ✔ Allows alerts to be received, giving access to timely information on your fleet and team.
      ✔ Allows you to be notified about emergency notifications raised by other team members.
      ✔ Tracking Schedule can be adjusted remotely.
      ✔ Gives transparency for when your phone receives a location ping.
Info
Allowing Notifications allows more transparency to you and alerts you on important information when you need it.

2. Set Location permission to "Always" 
With Location set to always enabled, the app will:
      ✔ track your activities consistently in the background.
      ✔ receive GPS coordinates when you open another app or when your screen is locked.
Info
Having Location set to Always allows our app to operate automatically in the background.

3. Enable Precise Location
With Precise Location enabled, the app will:
      ✔ receives precise GPS coordinates.
      ✔ tracks trips which reflect the route you travelled.
Info
Precise Location is crucial to ensure to have accurate tracking. Remember if you do not want to be tracked for any particular reason you can easily pause tracking in the app.

4. Allow Track My Ride to access Motion & Fitness
With motion and fitness enabled, the app will:
       ✔ optimise tracking for walking vs driving activities.
       ✔ help conserve battery when not moving.
       ✔ improve overall tracking performance.
Info
This allows our app to detect when your phone is not in motion to automatically pause live tracking and help conserve your phone battery.

5. Allow Track My Ride to access Background App Refresh
With Background App Refresh enabled, the app:
      ✔ keeps Track My Ride running once your phone is locked, set and forget.
      ✔ keeps tracking your activities when you are using another app.
Info
Allowing background refresh ensures Track My Ride can continue running in the background even when you are using other apps.

6. (Optional) Turn off Low Power Mode
With low power disabled, the app will
      ✔ Allow the app to function using background app refresh and not be terminated unexpectedly.
      ✔ Keep activities accurate and up to date
      ✔ Allows automatic tracking to continue operating when your phone is low on power.
Info
Ensure you don't miss any of your GPS tracks when your phone automatically enters Low Power Mode.



Android Permission Requirements

You will find all settings below and be able to edit them by opening up your phone's settings > Apps > scroll until you find Track My Ride. Here you will see all the current permissions and be able to edit them.




1. Allow Notifications (for Android 12 and higher)
With Notifications enabled, the app will:
      ✔ Allows alerts to be received, giving access to timely information on your fleet and team.
      ✔ Allows you to be notified about emergency notifications raised by other team members.
      ✔ Tracking Schedule can be adjusted remotely.
      ✔ Gives transparency for when your phone receives a location ping.
Info
Allowing Notifications allows more transparency to you and alerts you on important information when you need it.

2. Set Location permission to "All the time" 
With Location set to always enabled, the app will:
      ✔ track your activities consistently
      ✔ receive GPS coordinates when you open another app or when your screen is locked
Info
Having Location set to "Always" allows our app to periodically request Android for its recent location.

3. Enable Precise Location ( For Android 12 and higher )
With Precise Location enabled, the app will:
      ✔ receives precise GPS coordinates
      ✔ tracks trips which reflect the route you took
Info
Precise Location is crucial to ensure to have accurate tracking. Remember if you do not want to be tracked for any particular reason you can easily pause tracking in the app.

4. Allow Track My Ride to access Physical Activity ( also known as Body Sensor on some Android Devices )
With Physical Activity enabled, the app will:
       ✔ improve overall tracking performance
      ✔ help conserve battery when not moving
Info
This allows our app to detect when your phone is not in motion to automatically pause live tracking and help conserve your phone battery.

5. (Optional) Disable Battery Saver and other similar power saving modes
Idea
If you encounter issues with your mobile tracking not capturing your paths, even when the phone has a clear view of the sky, check if Battery Saver mode is turned on.
Different Android phone manufacturers call this feature by different names. It can be known on your device as Battery Optimization, Doze or Deep Sleeping Apps. Unfortunately, these settings terminate background apps including fitness apps and mileage tracking apps such as Track My Ride to ensure your phone's battery lasts as long as possible. Under normal circumstances you don't need to adjust Android's Battery Saving options, but if you're experiencing gaps in your tracking data, or delays in your tracking starting this is the first thing to check for. 

When Battery Saver is activated, it can result in gaps in your tracking data and missed journeys as your phone has kept the Track My Ride app suppressed to save battery. If you experience this, check if Battery Saver (Or other similar named) mode is enabled. You may need to disable this mode or exclude the Track My Ride app from battery optimisations to resolve the issue.

Follow the guide at https://www.digitalcitizen.life/battery-saver-android/ to help troubleshoot whether Battery Saver is currently running on your phone, where you can optionally disable this functionality.

Additionally for Samsung phones, they can also restrict the power on an individual app basis. To find if this is the case on your Samsung Phone, follow these steps :
  1. Find the Track My Ride app.
  2. Press and hold on the icon and press the tiny (i) to open the App Info page.
  3. Click the Battery row.
  4. Ensure the Track My Ride app is not set to Restricted.
    1. If it is, change it to Optimised or Unrestricted.
      Testing has shown that even set to Optimised the TMR app still operates correctly. If you still encounter issues, change this value to Unrestricted.
              


The permissions check page

When you first setup mobile tracking in the TMR app, we will guide you through which permissions you need to grant the app. You can always check if your phone settings are configured correctly on the permissions check page too.

  1. Open the Track My Ride app
  2. Navigate to the Mobile Tracking page.
  3. Tap Settings > Check Permissions
If everything is correct, they will be marked with a green check as shown below.




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