In this article you will learn:
- how to customize your phone settings
- how to avoid the most common problems with GPS records
- apply specific solutions for your phone model
Before you save your activity for the first time, Activy will guide you easily through the main adjustments. However, for most Android phones, this will not be sufficient or fully understandable (it looks a bit different in each model). Therefore, please also read the instructions below.
(1) App access to GPS location - easy
Before the first activity, the application will ask you to grant location permission. Remember not to change these settings. Without this, no location sample will be saved and your activity will always be 0.00 km.
If the application has not saved a single GPS sample, it is a sign that these settings on the phone may have been reset.
Make sure you have high location accuracy turned on in your phone settings under location or privacy.
Different paths are possible depending on the model and Android version. Usually it's one of these three:
- phone settings > applications > Activy > permissions > enable for location
- phone settings > location > permissions > search for Activy and turn it on
- phone settings > applications > from the menu in the upper right corner "application permissions" > location > search for Activy and turn it on
(2) Phone battery settings - more difficult
This is the culprit behind most problems with GPS activity recording. It manifests itself in a suddenly interrupted route, switching off the application during activity or not saving the route in any way. The phone's operating system simply recognizes that it will be better to turn off everything that is running in the background for the sake of your battery.
Turn off battery/energy saving settings, battery management systems and battery optimization on your phone and allow exceptions for the Activy app. Sounds hard? Don't worry, we've prepared detailed instructions for you.
Expand the instructions for your device model and find the one for your Android version:
SAMSUNG Android 11 and 12
(1) Disable power saving mode
- Go to Phone settings -> Care. battery and device (or Device care) -> Battery
- Make sure Power Save Mode (Energy Saver) is turned off.
(2) Make an exception for Activy
- Then go to the menu “Background usage limits”
- disable the setting “Enter unused app. in tr. sleep.”
- Then go to "Never put the app to sleep"
- Using the “+” icon in the upper right corner, open the list of applications, select Activy and confirm your choice with the Add button.
(3) Disable optimization automations (optional)
- Go to Phone Settings -> Battery & Device Care (or Device Care)
- Click on the 3 dots in the upper right corner and select Automation.
- Make sure all settings on this screen are disabled.
SAMSUNG Android 10
(1) Disable power saving mode
- Go to Phone Settings -> Device Care -> Battery -> Power Mode
- Enable the High Performance mode by confirming your choice with the “Apply” button.
- Also, make sure Adaptive power saving mode is on. power is turned off.
On some devices, High performance mode is not available - in this case, select Optimization mode.
(2) Application Power Management
- Go to Phone settings -> Device care -> Battery -> Application power management
- Make sure Adaptive Battery is disabled.
(3) Disable automatic optimization
- Go to Phone settings -> Device care and click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Select Advanced and make sure that Automatic optimization is turned off.
SAMSUNG Android 7 and 8
(1) Add Activy to unmonitored apps
- In Battery settings go to Unmonitored apps
- Click Add applications and in the expanded list, select Activy.
/w=3840,quality=80,fit=scale-down)
(2) Disable power saving modes
- Go to Phone settings -> Device maintenance -> Battery
- Make sure your phone's power saving mode is off.
- Then click on the three dots in the upper right corner -> Advanced settings -> Application energy monitor
- Make sure this feature is off.
HUAWEI Android 8, 9/EMIUI 8, 9, 10
(1) Battery Settings
- Go to Phone Settings -> Battery
- Make sure that both Performance Mode, Energy Saving Mode and Ultra Saving Mode are turned off.
- Then select "Launching applications"
- Turn off automatic management for the Activy app.
- In the drop-down menu that will appear on your screen, enable (check) all options.
(2) Additional security while recording the route
Each time you use the application, on the main screen, from the bottom bar, click the square (view of running applications) and then drag the Activy application to the bottom and when the padlock icon appears next to it - select it.
XIAOMI Android 7+/MIUI 11+
(1) Battery Saver Settings:
- Go to Phone Settings -> Battery (or on some devices Battery & Performance)
- Make sure the “Battery saver” mode (also Ultra battery saver on some models) is turned off.
- Then select the Battery heading in the top bar.
- Select “App battery saver”.
- In the list, select the Activy application and in the expanded menu select "Save energy"
- Then click on the "Unlimited" option
(2) Additionally for MIUI 12.5
- Go to Phone Settings -> Battery
- On the bar below the battery image, select Performance mode, then confirm your choice.
(3) Additional Settings
- Go to Phone Settings -> Battery & Performance
- Then click on the "gear" in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Make sure that “Turn off mobile data when device is locked” and “Clear cache files when device is locked” are set to “Never”.
One Plus (soon)
(3) What else is worth remembering?
- Avoid “Battery saving” or “Low battery” mode.
Almost ****always negatively affect the GPS record, regardless of the state of charge
- the operation of the GPS module can be turned off
- GPS signal quality decreases or samples are collected much less often than normal
- Make sure the GPS is turned on properly before takeoff
Before starting, it is worth giving the GPS module time (up to 1 minute) to obtain a full signal and calibrate it. It's worth checking coverage from time to time.
- Avoid running multiple apps at once while saving
The phone's operating system will often disable one of these apps to save battery life or free up cache space.
- If you receive a phone call, check if the GPS recording is still working
Unfortunately, the phone prioritizes the phone call and can disable the background operation of other applications during it. After the conversation ends, check whether the GPS recording is still working
- GPS works poorly or not at all? Restart phone or GPS, update software
Repeated problems with the hardware can also be helped by a standard restart of the phone or turning off and on the GPS, GSM and Wi-Fi signals, or updating the software. In the worst case, the GPS module in the phone itself may be damaged.
(4) Accuracy of the GPS track (expand)
The accuracy of the GPS recording is a hardware issue and the share of the mobile application is very small. If you adjust the phone settings, the accuracy will depend mainly on:
- Access to the signal from satellites affected by:
- density and height of buildings
- tree density
- current cloud cover
- Quality and condition of the GPS module in the phone - GPS is an electronic module built into your phone. Not every model will be of good quality. Top brands and models have better equipment, often using additional GLONASS and GALILEO modules.
- Battery status - using GPS costs a lot of energy, so the older the battery, the more often the phone will limit its use
- simultaneous use of other memory-intensive processes in the application (e.g. listening to music) may also reduce the frequency of location samples or turn off GPS
- Availability of sources other than GPS - phones can also use location using transmitters and even WiFi routers
- Phone storage locations - avoid hiding your phone deep in your bag, especially next to other devices or metal items
(5) When is it a problem with the Activy app and not my phone? (expand)
If any of the following problems occur:
- for iOS, the track record stops during the process and the application does not turn off
- the application jams when recording with GPS, the buttons do not respond to clicks, time flows strangely
Report this problem to us with a detailed description at help@activy.pl - we will try to help! This will also be valuable information for further improvement of the application
Do not kill my app ;) This is a problem for all apps
The above troubleshooting solutions do not only apply to Activy, but to all applications that use GPS recording.
We also encourage you to read the guides on the website https://dontkillmyapp.com/, where the method of dealing with the automatic closing of applications by phones of various brands is explained. Since this problem is dealt with by dedicated experts, the solutions on this website may be more up-to-date than those proposed in our article.
