Location: Always, While Using, Never

[GreyOS]

Anyone have a decent explanation of how all this works, perhaps from a dev perspective?

All the apps I have are either (Never or Always) or (Never or While Using). Are these the two choices that devs have or is it possible to have all three options?

There are a few apps I can think of which can provide useful features if allowed to run Always but could still provide other useful features only While Using, so it seems a shame to deny this level of choice to users (eg I have a bus app I have to set to Always to let it know my location, I only really need it while using, but perhaps others need it always). Or perhaps that choice should be in the app itself rather than defaulting to privacy settings...

(I bring this up cos said bus app's 'Background Location' has used 20% of my battery in last 24 hours and I've only actively used it a few minutes! It doesn't have a switch in Background App Refresh meaning background location is distinct from background app refresh, and the only control of it seems to be through the privacy settings)

 

[GreyOS]

Bump, just in case...

 

[ParagJain]

Always - Will keep looking for location as long as the app is open (or running in background)
While Using - Will lookup for current location when the app is open. (Suppose to save battery)
Never - No access to location. (Suppose to save maximum battery)

 

[GreyOS]

Always - Will keep looking for location as long as the app is open (or running in background)
While Using - Will lookup for current location when the app is open. (Suppose to save battery)
Never - No access to location. (Suppose to save maximum battery)

Yeah, sorry, I understand those definitions. Not really what I was asking but thanks.

To clarify, I'm asking whether apps can offer all three option or if they're limited to offering Never and then either While Using or Always, as this is all I'm seeing with my current apps.

I ask because it seems like there could be many apps that benefit from having access always, but still have a lot to offer if only having access while using. But users don't have this level of choice. So in order to make use of 'while using' features they have to grant 'always' access. it should perhaps be down to the developer to offer these granular options in their app, but just wondering what they options are in the privacy settings.

Cheers

 

[AllergyDoc]

It seems this feature needs a fix. Here's what another member posted:

"There's a new option if the app developer supports it: "Never" "Always" and now "While Using App". E.g. see the settings for Apple's Camera app.

Odd behavior with settings though: When I did a clean update to go to IOS 8, the new option is there. When I restored my backup, its back to just "Never" and "Always".

Hopefully this gets fixed in an update."

 

[GreyOS]

It seems this feature needs a fix. Here's what another member posted:

"There's a new option if the app developer supports it: "Never" "Always" and now "While Using App". E.g. see the settings for Apple's Camera app.

Odd behavior with settings though: When I did a clean update to go to IOS 8, the new option is there. When I restored my backup, its back to just "Never" and "Always".

Hopefully this gets fixed in an update."

Cheers!

Managed to find this pic

Showing three options available. Can confirm I only see Never and While Using the App for the App Store.

I really hope this is a bug then and they plan to reintroduce the 3 options for everything that supports it in future.

 

[dcorban]

I am also confused. Some apps prompt me to allow "always" and some are "while using". I pretty much want every app except the core services to be "while using". However, many don't seem to offer this option.

It also made it seem as though apps were specifically wanting to access location "always", which seems ridiculous. I believe it really just means to give permission to access location "always", not that the app actually does so.