App Location settings constantly changing from "Always," to "While Using."

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Level 1

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App Location settings constantly changing from "Always," to "While Using."

I've been using a tracking application called "FollowMee" for years and it has worked flawlessly.

A few months ago, my wife and I upgraded our iPhones because of the 3G switch over. My new iPhone XS works great with the app.

My wife's iPhone 7plus keeps switching the app from "Always" to "While Using." If she doesn't check it, the app won't track.

The app people claim it is a new feature of the operating system. This doesn't make sense, since both phones are using 15.3.1 and my phone doesn't switch and hers switches all the time.

I've tried several fixes from the internet, but nothing seems to help. I've even tried locking location settings so they can't be changed, but they change anyway, and then I have to unlock the phone to change it to the correct setting. I'm even considering buying her a new phone, but since I don't know the cause of the problem, I'm afraid that even that won't fix the problem.

Any ideas?

iPhone XS, iOS 15

Posted on Apr 8, 2022 12:38 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 9, 2022 3:44 PM in response to elfishly

Thanks for walking through those steps and updating us. We do notice from your first post, the iOS version installed is outdated at 15.3.1. Our current iOS 15 version is 15.4.1. We would recommend updating the iOS to the latest, then checking for further updates to that app. That will often resolve many issues.

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Reply back if needed.

Take care.

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Answer 2

Jaym_8

Community Specialist

Apr 9, 2022 12:50 PM in response to elfishly

Hello elfishly,

If you need to change the location settings for an app, you can do so in Settings > Privacy Location Services. Scroll to the app in the list and select the location access you'd like to use in that app.

About privacy and Location Services in iOS and iPadOS

If an application is not saving the location settings, you can try checking for available updates.

How to manually update apps on your Apple device

If there are no updates available or it still won't save your location settings, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the application.

Delete apps on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Cheers!

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Answer 3

deggie

Level 10

167,775 points

Apr 9, 2022 3:50 PM in response to elfishly

Does your wife have a work email on her phone? When you purchased this used phone was it completely wiped by the previous owner?

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Answer 4

elfishly Author

Level 1

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Apr 9, 2022 3:34 PM in response to Jaym_8

I've already deleted and reinstalled the App which doesn't fix the problem.

The application has no problem remembering the settings. It is just that every three or four days, the settings change from "Always" to "while using the app."

The people who wrote the app say this about the problem

In iOS 13 and up, Apple has changed the phone behavior. It starts to prompt user for any background tracking app. This message will pop up every several days. This is the iOS behavior designed by Apple and there is no workaround.

So they claim the operating system is switching the App from "Always" to "while using the app."

What I don't understand is why this is happening on my wife's iPhone 7 Plus and NOT on my iPhone XS. It has exactly the same version of the App and the OS.

The only difference is between the two phone is the hardware. Is there something about the iPhone 7 plus that causes the OS to change settings?

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Answer 5

elfishly Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 9, 2022 5:19 PM in response to deggie

There is no work email on the phone.

I think it was completely wiped. The phone required that we go through the complete setup procedure, starting with setting a language. There are only four apps installed on it and we installed all of them.

I'm not very familiar with the Apple operating systems, so I don't know you could have hidden apps running the back ground.

I was also wondering if there was a log file somewhere that would show operating system actions. There is in Windows and it allows you to see which applications have taken certain actions. If iOS has this type of log, I might be able to track down what processes are changing the settings.

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App Location settings constantly changing from "Always," to "While Using."

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