iOS 7.1 to Fix Geolocation Issue That Broke Location-Based Apps

[banaslee]

Huh? "In iOS 7, when a user force quits the app, all location-aware background services were disabled."

Well, DUH.

When I force quit an app i *EXPECT* all processes used by that app to stop running.

If i want it to keep running, I don't force quit an app.

I'm amazed that people can't figure that one out.

So basically, with 7.1 any app that has location services running in the background can't be stopped without disabling location services for that app or rebooting the iPhone.

Bad idea Apple.

I'm sorry to break it down for you but you are wrong on your assumption that the app is running a process for this to happen.

What these apps do is requesting something like the following from the OS: "If this user ever moves significantly please notify me.".
This is like saying that an app shouldn't handle a URL after you kill it. The location tracking is done by the operating system even if you kill that app. The difference is if the app will be notified or not.

What you have to require the developers to do is to have a setting to stop tracking until next time you open the app or something similar. That will be easy for them to implement and for users to understand. Much better than assumptions.

 

[aismaiil]

Hmm... I mean... if someone force closes an app, I wouldn't necessarily say the old behavior was... wrong.

It kinda is. I used to close the Maps (and sometimes Google Maps) and the Reminder apps so that the phone doesn't download the full map all day long when I'm moving around, but I wanted it to keep tracking my location anyway in case I want Reminder to remind me to do smtg when I got home. I noticed a few months ago that it just wasn't tracking me anymore and it stopped reminding me of my to-do notes when I got home and I had no idea whatsoever why. I'm assuming it's bcuz of this issue

 

[joekun]

Fire up Waze, check traffic, if all looks good - tap menu button (bottom-left), then hit power button (bottom-right of menu).

When I do that I still see location services in use next to my battery indicator.

Alternatively: Fire up Settings app, hit General, look for Background App Refresh, uncheck Waze, if all looks good - do nothing more. App is in background = App uses no data/gps/location data.

Right, then if I'm navigating I have to leave the screen on or it won't prompt me, I actually did that for a while before I settled on killing it all together. My current way of shutting it down is quick, easy, and sure to stop battery drain.

But you know that Waze is living from community by reporting live traffic data, not just with jams?
Acting like this actually kills the service.

So by your logic I should ALWAYS have Waze running when I'm driving otherwise I'm killing the service Yeah, let me just run the app 2 hours a day and kill my battery completely.

 

[John.B]

People continue to misunderstand when and why to force-quit apps. I know many people who incorrectly think they need to do this routinely to manage their phone's memory use.

I do that to manage my iPhone's battery life.

YMMV.

 

[RMo]

Hmm... I mean... if someone force closes an app, I wouldn't necessarily say the old behavior was... wrong.

Exactly, except that many people think "force close" is just "close," and that doing so by double-tapping the home button and swiping away apps is something they need to do. As many here may know, iOS is designed to manage this for you. However, I understand why people do this: if you're using it as an app switcher, apps you don't want get in your way, so there is temptation to remove them (to say nothing about people's training on desktop computers where this is the norm).

 

[sbailey4]

It kinda is. I used to close the Maps (and sometimes Google Maps) and the Reminder apps so that the phone doesn't download the full map all day long when I'm moving around, but I wanted it to keep tracking my location anyway in case I want Reminder to remind me to do smtg when I got home. I noticed a few months ago that it just wasn't tracking me anymore and it stopped reminding me of my to-do notes when I got home and I had no idea whatsoever why. I'm assuming it's bcuz of this issue

Yep exactly. All worked fine until iOS7 "broke" it. Of course no mention of it so folks never knew that they NOW have to keep their apps open (well in recent list) for that to continue to work. Funny thing is that was assumed to be a bug with iOS7 and now iOS 7.1 fixes it. Turns out apparently that was a design change. Now folks are PO'ed because its back working like it used to. Cant please anyone these days I suppose.

 

[sumsingwong]

I can't believe all these stupid comments. If you quit an app, you want all services to quit, right? So all push notifications from those apps should also stop?

 

[MikhailT]

I'm sorry but this is not right. If you quit or force-quit an app then all the things that the app owns should go away. Things that the app does not own should remain.

What you're proposing is that system services used by the app should also be terminated. That's like saying, on OS X, that if you quit MS Word then the print subsystem (cups) should be terminated, because Word uses it.

I'm sorry but that is a weird and unhelpful proposal. We should not go there.

It is weird and unhelpful because you misunderstood what I said.

I said any processes related to the app, or in better words, any threads created by the said app should be terminated. If the app spawned a separate thread related to using some kind of location or downloading something in the background, it should be terminated when I force kill the app. That does NOT mean the GPS should be killed or the network should be turned off. That's just silly.

 

[Parasprite]

When I do that I still see location services in use next to my battery indicator.

I've noticed this, but it disappears within a few seconds.

Right, then if I'm navigating I have to leave the screen on or it won't prompt me, I actually did that for a while before I settled on killing it all together.

Which is why Waze offers a handy button to turn off data/GPS. Something I wish certain other major map app makers would do...

My current way of shutting it down is quick, easy, and sure to stop battery drain.

Provided you don't install 7.1, that is.

Not that this is an answer to your problems, but I'm somewhat surprised that you don't have some sort of car charger.

 

[MacFly123]

People continue to misunderstand when and why to force-quit apps. I know many people who incorrectly think they need to do this routinely to manage their phone's memory use.

I can not agree with this more! And it is a HUGE pet peeve of mine haha! I see so many people all the time swiping all their apps closed. A lot of people think it effects their battery life. IMHO this is probably one of the BIGGEST misconceptions about iOS devices among people in the wild.

 

[DominicEllison]

Hi,
I guess there is nowhere Apple's fault. Its the random users over expecting a lot. The features of iOS 7 are up to mark..

Thanks

 

[rablat]

I can't believe all these stupid comments. If you quit an app, you want all services to quit, right? So all push notifications from those apps should also stop?

Wrong. At least in the sense of location based reminders. Prior to iOS 7 you could create a reminder to go off at a specific location and close the reminder from the task bar and the geofence would still be set and go off at specified locale.
And they are still broken in 7.1 Beta 5

 

[Zxxv]

Wrong. At least in the sense of location based reminders. Prior to iOS 7 you could create a reminder to go off at a specific location and close the reminder from the task bar and the geofence would still be set and go off at specified locale.
And they are still broken in 7.1 Beta 5

They don't go off because they are set to when you leave not arrive. When you have created a remind me when I get home reminder using Siri open the reminder and you'll see its set to when yob leave. Change it to when you arrive and it should go off.

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I can't believe all these stupid comments. If you quit an app, you want all services to quit, right? So all push notifications from those apps should also stop?

No. When you have push set up closing only resets the app. A reboot. If push and badges etc are off then yes the app closes when closed. It's why if you leave badge numbers on your battery will still go down because the app is running. As far as I'm aware turning ALL the notifications off for an app shuts it down.

 

[rablat]

They don't go off because they are set to when you leave not arrive. When you have created a remind me when I get home reminder using Siri open the reminder and you'll see its set to when yob leave. Change it to when you arrive and it should go off.

I've checked to make sure it's set to when I arrive and they still don't work. Hope it's fixed in the final release of 7.1

 

[sumsingwong]

I'm getting Find Friends notifications every time a family member arrives or leaves a geofences location now.

 

[adnbek]

I prefer the old behaviour better (7.0.x). If I have the app open in the background, I'd like it to be location-aware such as Google Maps or Waze or some other apps that need location data. But if I force-close the app, it's because I want it terminated completely. Makes sense, no?

How am I supposed to manage it now if it's always going to be on? I understand that I can disable background app refresh to stop it from running in the background but then it only works if left open all the time. I can't switch to different apps or go back to the home screen and keep them functional.

The old behaviour made sense. This doesn't.

 

[thegrants82]

I prefer the old behaviour better (7.0.x). If I have the app open in the background, I'd like it to be location-aware such as Google Maps or Waze or some other apps that need location data. But if I force-close the app, it's because I want it terminated completely. Makes sense, no?

How am I supposed to manage it now if it's always going to be on? I understand that I can disable background app refresh to stop it from running in the background but then it only works if left open all the time. I can't switch to different apps or go back to the home screen and keep them functional.

The old behaviour made sense. This doesn't.

The old way was broke, 7.1 fixed it.

 

[adnbek]

The old way was broke, 7.1 fixed it.

Ah! Since you put it that way... now I'm convinced.

 

[rablat]

The old way was broke, 7.1 fixed it.

Agreed and now they work as they should.
I mean if I tell Siri to create a location based reminder, I don't want to then have to open the reminders app to have it in task bar for it to go off.