On several recent rides I've had SWTracker/Spotwalla fail. The tracking gets interrupted and fails to resume. Thankfully none of these rides needed to be certified; but my wife likes to track my progress to make sure I reach my destination. I know it's not an SWTracker/Spotwalla problem. It's my phone. Can't seem to pinpoint the problem. Is it when I make a phone call, send a text, etc., that tracking is interrupted? Then tracking does not resume for the remainder of my ride. I have used SWTracker successfully for many certified rides with no problems at all. But now I can't understand the problem with my own phone.
SWTracker/Spotwalla fails. iPhone problem?
- Thread starter craydds
- Start date
It has to be how you have SWTracker setup as I make/receive phone calls, text, take photos and navagate on my iPhone while SWTracker in on in the background.
On the main screen make sure you have selected "Enable Tracking" and all three circles are green.
Open the "Application Setup" page and ensure the two circles are green, That there is a device listed under "Device Selection" and the "Enable Auto Track Mode" is also enabled. I use tracks as well so I have "Enable Track Overlay" enabled.
I almost always have SWTracker running on my phone in the background weather I'm on a ride or not. I just disable "Tracking", "Auto Track", and "Track Overlay".
On the main screen make sure you have selected "Enable Tracking" and all three circles are green.
Open the "Application Setup" page and ensure the two circles are green, That there is a device listed under "Device Selection" and the "Enable Auto Track Mode" is also enabled. I use tracks as well so I have "Enable Track Overlay" enabled.
I almost always have SWTracker running on my phone in the background weather I'm on a ride or not. I just disable "Tracking", "Auto Track", and "Track Overlay".
On the phone, go to Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Location Services -> SW Tracker. Under "Allow Location Access", set it to "While Using the App". Do not set it to Always.
With that setting, when it is using the GPS, it will show the time in the upper left with a blue circle around it. Every time you glance at the phone, if you don't see that blue circle around the time, then something is wrong.
I've used SW Tracker this way for years, and it has never failed me.
With that setting, when it is using the GPS, it will show the time in the upper left with a blue circle around it. Every time you glance at the phone, if you don't see that blue circle around the time, then something is wrong.
I've used SW Tracker this way for years, and it has never failed me.
Setting it that way the SWTracker will only work when it is displayed on the screen. If he also uses his phone for navigation and is displayed the map it will not track his location which is the purpose of using it in the first place. This is exactly what he is describing above. Mine is set to “Always”. Below is from Apple on what the difference between “Always” and “While Using the App”.
- While Using the App: Allows access to Location Services only when the app or one of its features is visible on screen. If an app is set to While Using the App, you might see your status bar turn blue with a message that an app is actively using your location.
- Always: Allows access to your location even when the app is in the background.
I understand how you'd get that conclusion from the way Apple described it, but it's not correct. Try it...
On my phone, SW Tracker only has "while using the app" location permissions, and I've been using it that way for years with no problems. I've got dozens of maps on Spotwalla that were created that way, with no gaps in tracking. And I can always verify it's still tracking me because the time in the upper left shows in blue (on previous versions of iPhone, it was the blue status bar when in other apps). And once SW Tracker is running on my phone, I switch to Google Maps or Spotify.
ETA: This page explains it a little better: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203033
"Some apps ask to use your location only while the app is in use. An app is considered "in use" when you’re actively using it in the foreground, or when it is using location in the background, in which case a blue pill will be displayed in your status bar."
On my phone, SW Tracker only has "while using the app" location permissions, and I've been using it that way for years with no problems. I've got dozens of maps on Spotwalla that were created that way, with no gaps in tracking. And I can always verify it's still tracking me because the time in the upper left shows in blue (on previous versions of iPhone, it was the blue status bar when in other apps). And once SW Tracker is running on my phone, I switch to Google Maps or Spotify.
ETA: This page explains it a little better: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203033
"Some apps ask to use your location only while the app is in use. An app is considered "in use" when you’re actively using it in the foreground, or when it is using location in the background, in which case a blue pill will be displayed in your status bar."
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