Troubleshooting GPS Issues On iPhone

Precision and accuracy are crucial in the pet-sitting and dog-walking industry. To gain the trust of pet parents and ensure staff accountability, GPS tracking must be set up properly in Time To Pet and on each user's phone. In this article, we'll outline how to configure your iPhone and Time To Pet settings for GPS tracking.

Note: While following this guide will resolve the majority of GPS accuracy issues, we can't guarantee these steps will work. If, after following all of these troubleshooting steps, you're still having GPS accuracy issues, please reach out to your phone's carrier for help.

Step One: Check Your Time To Pet Settings

The first step is to review your settings in Time To Pet.

Is GPS tracking enabled for the company?

To be sure GPS tracking is enabled for the company as a whole, navigate to Settings > Mobile App > Configuration and check that GPS tracking is enabled.

mobile app configuration settings with red box around gps tracking enabled setting

Note: If the issue is that you, as the admin, can see GPS tracking data, but your clients cannot, ensure that the "Show Clients GPS Tracking" setting is also enabled.

Is GPS tracking enabled for the service?

The next step is to check your service(s) to ensure full route tracking is enabled. You can do this by visiting your Services List and clicking "Edit" on the service you want to check.

service configuration screen with red block around gps tracking setting

If this setting is disabled for a service, only the start and end coordinates will be collected.

Step Two: Check Your Device Settings

Is Low Accuracy GPS Turned Off In The Time To Pet App?

In your Time To Pet App, tap the Settings button in the bottom menu bar and check to make sure the "Use Low Accuracy GPS" option is turned off.

phone mockup settings section of app with purple box around low accuracy gps setting

iPhone Settings

Many settings on your iPhone can contribute to the accuracy of GPS tracking. To start, open the Settings app on your iPhone:

Use the search bar or scroll down to your list of apps and find Time To Pet:

On this screen, make sure the following are toggled ON:

Motion & Fitness
Background App Refresh
Cellular Data

Tap "Location" and make sure:

"Always" is selected and
"Precise Location" is toggled ON

Resetting The Time To Pet App

If the above settings appear to be correct or you aren't seeing some of the settings mentioned, please uninstall and reinstall the Time To Pet App. Once reinstalled, open the App and start the timer on an event.

Note: We recommend creating a fake event for this so a client doesn't receive an inaccurate arrival notification.

You'll be presented with three prompts requesting permission to track your location. Ensure you select the following options:

Allow "Time To Pet" to use your location?

Ensure the "Precise" setting is set to "On"
Tap "Allow While Using App"

Allow "Time To Pet" to also use your location even when you are not using the app?

Tap "Change to Always Allow"

"Time To Pet" Would Like to Access Your Motion & Fitness Activity

Tap "OK"

allow iphone to track location fitness and motion prompts with preceise location on allow while using app change to always allow and ok buttons highlighted

Extra Tips & Tricks

Once you've confirmed all of the settings mentioned in this article are correctly configured, use the following tips & tricks to help with the accuracy of your GPS tracking:

Close out any other applications running on the device, specifically those that may be using location services.
Make sure you're not connected to a Wi-Fi network before the walk. It is ideal to turn off the phone's Wi-Fi so the cellular connection does not cut in and out.
Make sure the device is not running in Low Power Mode (see Apple's help article Use Low Power Mode to save battery life on your iPhone or iPad for steps)

It's also important to note that while cell phone reception is a key factor for GPS route tracking, it's possible to experience poor GPS signals still, even when general cell reception seems strong and stable.