Life360 Not Updating Location For One Person? – Fix Guide

It is very odd when you check life360 not updating location for one person?

Something might be happening with the person or their phone, which could represent a safety issue for your family or your company.

To fix Life360 not updating location for one person, check the location permissions of the phone/app and ensure it has enough battery for that. Further, airplane mode must be disabled, the app must be up to date with all its files in full integrity, and the phone must work well.

Most ways of ensuring that Life360 updates location correctly are very straightforward, meaning you will face little to no hassle.

The harsh part about the issue is that you don’t know what’s happening with the other person’s phone.

Life360 Not Updating Location For One Person – Reasons

Apps are always susceptible to bugs, especially when they need access to some of the phone’s tools.

That is the case with Life360, which uses GPS to constantly update the user’s location. 

Why won’t my Life360 update location? There could be several reasons behind it.

Even without proper examination, some reasons already come into mind because of the app’s nature.

However, let’s take a very close look and investigate. The main reasons are this:

✅ Low Battery

Life360 is always working in the background, consuming battery to access the GPS’s precise location. When the battery gets low, it can stop working.

✅ Disabled Location Sharing

The person whose location is not updating might have disabled location sharing.

✅ Permissions Not Set

Any app that accesses personal info such as location requires the user to toggle on permissions.

✅ Connectivity Issues

The person is in a place where the app can’t communicate with the network.

✅ Airplane Mode Activated

The airplane mode disables many phone functions, including GPS tracking.

How To Fix Life360 Location Update Issues

When someone’s Life360 won’t update location, you must talk to them to figure out what is going on.

If they don’t know what is happening, you can apply some of the solutions below. 

On the other hand, it could be that the person is purposely hiding their location. In such a situation, it is better to ask why it is that. 

All members in the circle must remember that Life360 is a safety measure for families or workplaces where employees constantly have to go out for errands.

1. Allow Location Permissions For Life360

Apps such as Life360 will usually ask for permissions once you install and open them for the first time.

However, it is feasible to think that something went wrong along the way, and now the permissions are all wrong.

In that case, let’s check how to fix the permissions.

On Android

Android users looking to set the permissions straight on their phones will do the following:

1. Open the “Settings” app.
2. Scroll down and tap on “Apps.”
3. Click on “Life360” on the list of installed apps.
4. Now choose “Permissions.”

The next screen will show you all the permissions you can set for the app.

You can toggle the switches for the permissions you wish to allow or disallow. Then, allow the permission for “Location.”

On iOS

If you are an iPhone user, the process to set up the correct permissions looks a bit different:

1. Open the “Settings” app
2. Scroll down and choose “Privacy.”
3. Select “Location Services.”
4. Click on “Life360” 

iOS will give you two options for the location permissions:

• While using the app
• Always

Suppose it is set to “While using the app,” that will lead to the mistake already happening.

So it is necessary to set it to “Always,” as that will allow the app to update your location uninterruptedly.

2. Carry A Power Bank

Here is a solution for people whose phones always get low batteries when they are on the go: power banks.

Also, such a solution is great for companies with employees that are out for errands all the time. 

A power bank is simply a device that stores electricity and is charged like a phone. However, its purpose is to be used like a portable charger. 

So, whenever you are on the go and the phone has a low battery, all you have to do is plug the phone into the power bank.

3. Disable Airplane Mode

Airplane mode is great for many purposes, such as battery saving or avoiding data roaming.

However, airplane mode will get in the way when it comes to apps that must access the user’s location all the time.

So whenever you must know where your circle members are, ask them to do the following:

1. Open their phones;
2. Swipe down from the top;
3. Tap on the airplane icon if it is active;

Once they do that, Life360 will regain its capacity to share locations correctly.

4. Check For User Block

One of the features of Life360 is being able to block another person from a circle.

Certainly, an employee wouldn’t do that, but a family member might think of doing it.

When you block another person, that person can’t see your activity. 

If you talk to that person and sort things out, then they must do the following:

1. Open the Life360 app;
2. Tap on the “Menu”;
3. Select “Settings”;
4. Tap on “Privacy”;
5. Tap “Blocked Users.”;
6. Tap the person to be unblocked;
7. Tap on “Unblock User”;
8. Confirm.

Note: Blocking someone on Life360 is a drastic move, and it is not effective for long. It is easy to notice when you've blocked someone if other users communicate.

5. Person Logged Into Two Devices

Suppose you are trying to ensure your employee or family member is safely moving towards the place they must.

Do you know whether they have one or more phones? 

A person can log into Life360 from two different phones and the location update will keep working but there is a trick to it.

Life360 will only display the first phone’s location. 

So if someone has two phones, or has just acquired a new phone, they must log out of the phone that they don’t carry around.

6. Reset The GPS

One possible solution when the Life360 app is unable to update the location is to reset the phone’s GPS. 

How To Reset GPS On Android

Android users will have to do the following:

1. Open the Chrome browser;
2. Tap on the 3 vertical dots;
3. Click on “Site Settings”;
4. Check that the location setting is turned to “Ask first”;
5. Click on “Location”;
6. Select “all sites”;
7. Find “ServeManager”;
8. Tap on Clear and then Reset;

How To Reset GPS On iPhone

iPhone users will have to follow a different route to reset their GPS settings:

1. Open the Settings app;
2. Select “General”;
3. Tap “Reset”;
4. Choose to “Reset Location & Privacy”;
5. Choose “Reset Settings”;
6. Type the phone’s PIN if asked.

After the procedure, your phone should start updating the location and share it with Life360 again.

That way, all the members in the circle will be able to check where you are in a timely manner.

7. Turn Off Battery Optimization

Similar to airplane mode, the battery optimization mode will interfere with a lot of apps that require constant access to the internet and GPS.

People might activate it because the phone asks them if they want it so the battery will last longer.

Deactivate On Android

Deactivating goes like this for Android users:

1. Go to “Settings”;
2. Select “Battery” or “Battery & performance”;
3. Look for “Battery optimization” or “Optimize battery usage”;
4. Tap on it;
5. Select “All apps” from the drop-down menu;
6. Find Life360 and tap on it;
7. Toggle off the switch next to “Optimize battery usage” for that app.

Deactivate For iOS

Here is how iOS users can disable the battery optimization for Life360:

1. Go to “Settings” on the iPhone;
2. Scroll down;
3. Select “Battery”.
4. Toggle off the switch next to “Low Power Mode”.

What We Learned

Sometimes you might check your Life360 not updating the location for one person.

In such a situation, it is not you that must do something but the other person. Because if your Life360 still receives data, it is that other person’s transmission that is failing. 

Read Next: Can Life360 See What You Do On Your Phone?