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Location Tracking FAQs

How do I stop the app from sharing my GPS location? (E.g. I’m off shift)

  • Log out of the app completely. Your location will not be sent to IronSight’s servers.

  • Go “Off Duty” (that is, log out of a unit) using the Stop button in the bottom-right corner of the app

    • There is one exception to when you are Off Duty: if there is a geofence setup in IronSight and you pass into or exit the geofence, your location will be shared when Off Duty. To stop sharing your GPS location completely, log out of the app.

My mobile device says IronSight has been accessing my location in the background for the past three days. Is that true?

  • IronSight shares your location only while you are logged in as explained above.

  • If you logged into the app during the past three days, IronSight has accessed your location (again, only while you were logged in) which prompts the message to be shown on your mobile device.

  • At no time does IronSight access your location when you are logged out of the app.

Why don't I see the trip I expected?

IronSight records breadcrumbs when the driver goes on duty and stops tracking when they go off duty. When on duty, we use high-accuracy location tracking for detailed trip reports and to report unit current location to dispatchers. Tracking occurs when the device is active onscreen, as well as when the app is in the background or terminated. 

There are a few edge cases to be aware of:

  • The user does not need to be online for tracking to work; breadcrumbs are stored when there is no connectivity and delivered when back online. However, when offline for extended periods, breadcrumbs older than 2 days may not ever be delivered.
  • To preserve battery life, we stop tracking temporarily when we detect the device has not moved recently. Once it moves again, tracking resumes. This optimization requires motion & activity permissions. Coordinators may notice that stopped trucks appear inactive because they’re not reporting locations regularly. Locations are not immediately updated once starting to move, so maps may show small gaps after restarting.
  • In rare cases, we’ve found that our Flutter framework can lose authorization credentials which causes location tracking to stop until the next time the driver goes on duty.
  • Trip map segments show differently on mobile and web, but rely on the same underlying location data. Generally, we draw a line between two consecutive points. Sometimes this results in paths that look improbable; going through buildings or fields.
  • Breadcrumbs are only shown on a job’s map when the job was active. We do not show driver activity before job start, when paused, or after the job was completed.
  • When multiple drivers are on duty for the same resource, we show breadcrumbs from all drivers, which typically results in zig zag trip maps.

In some cases beyond our control, IronSight cannot get a reading at all. In other cases, we get a location but it is too inaccurate to use. Phones selectively use WiFi, bluetooth, cellular, position/movement sensors and GPS to get accurate location data in the most power-efficient way possible. GPS takes a lot of power, so the phone prefers other less-accurate techniques before enabling it. While IronSight has done everything it can to force accurate tracking through GPS, there are some fundamental limitations of GPS technology itself and how Android and iOS work:

  • Low-power modes. The OS may take readings less frequently and prefer non-GPS methods.
  • User preferences. At any time, the user may change the location tracking permissions. We prevent them from doing anything in IronSight when they don’t have accurate location tracking on, but this doesn’t prevent them from disabling tracking for periods of time.
  • Quitting the app. IronSight does record location while in the background, but tracking doesn't restart right away resulting in gaps.
  • Low-memory scenarios. If IronSight is backgrounded on a device with limited memory (older or cheaper devices), location tracking may be completely disabled
  • Powering off. We can’t record locations when the device is off.
  • Clear view of the sky. GPS can be easily obstructed by buildings, mountains, trees or tunnels. The size of the truck, window tinting, cab material and the positioning of the phone can affect accuracy. Ideally, the phone is screen up on the dash with a clear view of the sky, as GPS signals travel well through un-tinted glass.
  • Device quality. Certain GPS chips and antennas work better than others. Some modern devices may have dual-frequency GPS which generally performs better in more complex conditions.
  • Atmospheric conditions. Heavy cloud cover, rain, or snow can interfere with GPS signals, leading to reduced accuracy or gaps in extreme situations.
  • Network connectivity. GPS can take time to find a fix without access to the internet. Without cell signal, locations might be low-accuracy or unavailable.

Why doesn't the actual distance on a job match what actually happened?

Calculating actual job distance uses an on-device odometer. We calculate the difference between the odometer when the job was completed from when it was started. If the job is paused, we use the same technique for all active segments. Job distance reflects the total distance travelled by all operators on a job. Note that a driver using multiple phones can result in unexpected distances.