DOBIEROAndroid 12 and later and iPhone let you decide whether an app sees your phone’s precise position or only an approximate one. For DOBIERO the difference matters.
What do precise and approximate location mean?
Precise location shows your phone’s position. On Android 12 and newer it is usually accurate to about 50 m, sometimes a few metres. According to Google’s help, approximate location is an area of about 3 km².
Apple calls it approximate location. According to the developer documentation it usually deviates by 1–20 km, and the system refreshes it at most a few times per hour. It keeps the country and region, and usually the city.
Do not compare these numbers directly. For Android it is the area of a region, for iPhone the distance of the deviation.
How do I change accuracy on Android?
Since Android 12 you change accuracy separately for each app.
- Open Settings, then Apps, and select DOBIERO.
- Choose Permissions, then Location.
- Turn the “Use precise location” switch on or off.
- Changing from precise to approximate restarts the app’s process.
How do I change accuracy on iPhone?
With Precise Location off, the app gets only approximate location. According to Apple it can be enough for apps that do not need precise location.
- Open Settings, choose Privacy & Security, then Location Services.
- Select DOBIERO.
- Turn the “Precise Location” setting on or off.
Access levels on iPhone
Accuracy is a separate setting. Location access on iPhone has four levels. Some apps offer only two options.
- Never
- Ask Next Time Or When I Share
- While Using the App
- Always: the system may launch the app in the background even when it is closed. DOBIERO asks for this level in the second setup step.
What does this mean for DOBIERO?
DOBIERO needs precise location. Android requires precise-location permission for geofencing, and with approximate location alone DOBIERO does not register a geofence, so reminders stay off.
On iPhone DOBIERO also requires Precise Location. Without it, it turns reminders off and asks you to turn the option on in settings. DOBIERO assesses places nearby up to 150 m and takes measurement uncertainty into account, so a location that is off by kilometres is no use for this.
Can an app ask for precise location?
On Android 12 and newer an app can ask to go back to precise location, and the system shows a separate prompt.
On iPhone, after you choose approximate, an app can ask for temporary access to precise location. That access is temporary and expires on its own, but not while you are using the app. The request never succeeds when the app runs in the background. Only you can change it permanently, in Settings.
How can I see when an app uses location?
On iPhone a black or white arrow in the status bar or Control Center means an app is using Location Services. A blue pill in the status bar appears when an app with “While Using the App” access uses location in the background. With “Always” access the system occasionally reminds you about background location and shows a map of places.
On Android 12 and newer the Privacy dashboard helps: Settings, Privacy and security (on some phones Privacy), Privacy dashboard.