Go through this handy guide if a Circle member has stopped updating their location.
NOTE: These steps apply to the person whose phone has stopped updating location, not your phone.
1. Check the basics
Don't worry! There are a few easy-to-fix reasons why you might not see a Circle member's location:
- They closed Life360 as an active app on their phone. Ask them to open Life360.
- They turned off their phone or the battery has run out or is below 20%
- They are in an area where there is no, or very poor, network connection - two bars of signal strength or less - so Life360 cannot find their location
- Their phone is in Airplane mode
- They are on a VPN or using a mobile hotspot
2. Check your Circle member's phone settings
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iOS location setting needs to be set to "Always". Using the setting "While in Use" will not allow the app to work correctly or maintain location accurately.
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Low Power Mode on iOS: Low Power mode reduces or turns off background app refresh which will prevent Life360 from running. When enabled, the battery icon at the top of your phone will appear yellow. Disable Low Power Mode to maintain your Life360 connection.
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Cellular Data - Life360 must be allowed to use cellular data to function properly.
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High Accuracy Mode needs to be on for Android devices.
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Permissions setting on Android: turn on ‘Location’
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Disable the App Optimization mode on Android for the Life360 app. This needs to be done to allow Life360 to run in the background and update regularly.
3. Make sure they are logged in as the correct person, not with your email or account info
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Is your Circle member logged into the Life360 app with their mobile phone number? Make sure they are. If the member is logged into Life360 with your phone number, then they are logged in as you. This will cause their location to update on your profile instead of theirs. Have the member log out of the app and log in with their phone number.
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Is the member logged into more than one device? Some users have a second device with Life360 on it. To be located correctly, a member should only be logged in to one device at a time. Otherwise, you may show as "stuck" at one location, or "bounce" between two locations. If you need to use Life360 on another device, we recommend you create a separate account.
4. There are some 3rd-party apps that stop Life360 from updating location
There are apps that stop applications from running in the background. These "App Killers" and "Task Managers" are usually advertised as battery-saving apps. If your Circle member does have one, they will need to go into the "Task Manager" app and give Life360 permission to run.
There are also anti-virus apps and parental control apps that prevent Life360 from updating. If you have one or the other member has one, give permission for Life360 to run.
5. Update Life360 to the current version
Make sure the newest version of the Life360 app is installed on each phone. You can see if there is a new version by searching for Life360 in the app store. Our team works day and night to improve the app. Each update includes improvements!