TL;DR: You need more than GPS tracking. Learn about the ultimate way to ensure your employees are at the job site when clocking in.
A Message from Our Chief Technology Officer about GPS Tracking
According to our Chief Technology Officer, "A common misconception is that the satellites are tracking your location but in reality the satellites are just transmitters, it's the GPS receiver on your phone that's actually doing the work of calculating your position and tracking your location (an oversimplification). GPS works best when you have clear line of site to the sky, anything that can cause the signals coming from the satellite to be delayed or disrupted can result in a reduction of accuracy of a given read or track."
He goes on to say that many factors can disrupt the signals coming from the satellites to a person's phone.
Factors That Affect GPS Tracking Results for Employee Clock-ins
Being indoors
Tall buildings and skyscrapers
The sun (yes, the sun’s magnetic field is one of the things that can have the biggest impact on GPS).
The weather
Our bodies. No disrespect intended, but our bodies are mostly big bags of water and are actually a significant source of signal disruption. Simply carrying your phone in your pocket can result in lower accuracy GPS tracking.
Other GPS Factors to Consider
The temperature of the phone can impact functionality.
Power Saving Mode reduces GPS functionality
The Chronotek app needs to run in the background while on the clock.
The phone's operating system and the Chronotek app should be current.
Set location tracking to "Always" instead of "Only while using the app". We do NOT track employees when they are off the clock, but this setting is optimal to provide the best track.
For Android phones, set to High Accuracy. Go to Settings > Additional Settings > Privacy > Location > Set to High Accuracy.
GPS Troubleshooting Tips for iPhone and Android Phones
iPhone
Turn the device off/on.
Turn GPS/Location services off/on and ensure location for Chronotek is enabled: Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Location Services at the top should be toggled On. Toggle off and back on again to refresh. Next, find the Chronotek app in the list and set it to Always.
Turn Airplane Mode on then off again to reset all wireless radios:Go to Settings > Toggle Airplane Mode On and then Off again.
Disable battery saver settings or apps: Go to Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode should be toggled off. Locate any battery saver apps and make sure the permissions are set to not include the Chronotek app.
Clear the cache on the phone to free up storage space and maximize operating speed. Here's how to clear information from your device:
To clear your history and cookies, go to Settings > Safari, and tap Clear History and Website Data. Clearing your history, cookies, and browsing data from Safari won't change your AutoFill information.
To clear your cookies and keep your history, go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data, then tap Remove All Website Data.
Android
Turn the device off/on.
Make sure the Location Services is enabled for the Chronotek app:Go to Settings > Apps > Chronotek > Permissions > Toggle Location ON. If it’s on, toggle it off and then back on to refresh Location Services.
Set location settings to high accuracy: Go to Settings > Additional Settings > Privacy > Location > Set to High Accuracy.
Disable battery savings apps or settings.
Clear the cache. Here's how:
Open the Settings of your phone.
Tap the Storage heading to open its settings page. If your phone runs Android Oreo or earlier, you'll want to open the App Manager settings page.
Tap the Other Apps heading to see a list of your installed apps.
Find the application you want to clear the cache of and tap its listing.Tap the Clear cache button.
A well-known saying of our CTO is, "We report what the phone gives us." Hopefully, these tips will help you get your employees' phones set to provide the best GPS tracks possible.
For help on other topics, check out our Help Center.😎 Be sure to bookmark it!
Take a peek at our new platform, Chronotek Pro.
