Life360 Says I Was Somewhere I Wasn’t [Solved]
You are going about your day as usual when a family member suddenly texts you: ‘Life360 says you were at a hotel’. But you’ve been at the office all day, and are just driving home.
After a drawn-out conversation, you managed to convince them that Life360 made an error. Still, you are worried that the app will repeat the mistake, and your loved ones may start doubting you.
If Life360 says you were somewhere you weren’t, it’s probably because of a malfunction in the app. The error should disappear once you restart your Life360 app.
In this post, I’ll show you how to troubleshoot your Life360 app, so it doesn’t track your location wrongly anymore.
How to Fix ‘Life360 Says I Was Somewhere I Wasn’t’
Restart Your Life360 App
Just like any other app, the Life360 app malfunctions occasionally. When this happens, the app may lose its ability to track a user or show a wrong location.
Luckily, there is an easy way to fix this problem. Restarting the Life360 app often eliminates any functional error in the app.
To restart your Life360 app, close the app. Then, click on the Recent Apps button at the bottom left of your screen to clear your phone’s memory. Finally, reopen the Life360 app.
The app should display the correct location now. You can ask your circle member to check your location on the Life360 app.
If your location on the Life360 app is still wrong, move on to the next step.
Enable Location Settings
Did you turn off your Location recently? Then, you may have forgotten to re-activate the settings.
If your Location Settings are disabled, Life360 will display your previously tracked location as your current location. The app will only change your location if you enable your location settings again.
Follow these steps to activate your Location settings:
Android
- Pull down the top of your screen to reveal the Shortcuts menu.
- Scroll to the Location icon and turn it on.
iPhone
- Go to Settings.
- Choose Privacy.
- Then, select Location Services.
- Toggle the button beside the Location Services tab to enable the function.
- Next, scroll down until you find the Life360 tab.
- Turn on the button beside Life360.
- This will allow the Life360 app to read your location.
If Life360 still claims that you are in a different location after this, try the next tip.
Disable VPN
If Life360 is saying you’re in another country, your VPN might be responsible for the error.
As you may already know, Life360 depends on your phone’s location settings for all its data. Using a VPN to change your location can distort your location data. By extension, the VPN also affects the information your Life360 app receives.
To resolve this issue, disconnect your phone from your VPN and relaunch your Life360 app.
Your actual location should appear on your Life360 profile now.
Turn Off Power-Saving Mode
Life360 is not compatible with the Power-Saving mode on your phone. This is because the power-saving feature automatically de-activates your Wi-Fi and Location settings, two functions Life360 needs to operate properly. As a result, the app will be unable to perform its roles like location tracking or driver detection.
If you’ve already enabled power-saving mode on your phone, you’ll need to turn it off.
To disable Power-saving mode on Android, drag down the top of your phone’s screen to reveal the Shortcuts bar. Then, scroll through the list until you find the Power Saver icon. Tap on the icon to turn it off.
If you use an iOS device, open your Settings app and select Battery. Then, click on Low Power mode to de-activate the option.
If your Life360 doesn’t update your location after this, move on to the next step.
Ensure that You’re Only Logged in on One Device
Do you use several phones at once? Then, you may have logged into your Life360 account from all your devices.
If you lend one of your phones to someone, and the person visits an area without you, Life360 may assume that you are in that area. This may cause the app to keep switching the location on your profile based on the data from your devices.
Check if you have the Life360 app installed on more than one of your phones. If you do, you’ve probably logged into your account from those devices.
Log out of all the phones. Then, select the phone you always use and log into your Life360 account from the device.
Your Life360 app should stop showing the wrong location after this.
Clear Your App Cache
Have you been using your Life360 app for several months? Then, the app’s cache might be full. An overloaded cache might make Life360 display an incorrect location.
Every time your Life360 app finds someone’s location, the app stores the data in its cache. After a while, the cache will become so full that it can’t accept any more data. This means that the app will be unable to process the information it finds.
As a result, your Life360 app will display random information, which, in most cases, is untrue.
To resolve this problem, you’ll need to clear the cache in the app.
Here’s how to clear the cache in your Life360 app:
For Android
- Open the Settings app on your phone.
- Tap Apps or App Manager.
- Search for the Life360 app on the list and select it.
- Next, tap Storage and Cache.
- Then, tap the Clear Cache button to delete the cache on the app.
For iPhone
- Tap the Settings app to open it.
- Click on General.
- Then, select iPhone Storage.
- You’ll see a list of apps.
- Look for Life360 on the app list.
- When you find the app, click on it and swipe to the left.
- Tap Offload App to remove the cache on the app.
After clearing the cache on your Life360 app, restart it. Then, check the location displayed on the app.
If Life360 is still saying that you are in a different location, try the next tip.
Update Your Life360 App
When was the last time you updated your Life360 app? 2 months? You can’t remember?
If you don’t update your Life360 app frequently and there are new updates, the older version you have may malfunction—leading to issues, such as detecting wrong location.
You can fix this issue by updating your Life360 app. This may also improve the app’s performance.
Go to the Play Store or App Store and download the latest version of the Life360 app.
Once you’ve updated the app, open your Life360 app and check the location on your account.
Is the app still saying you were somewhere that you weren’t? If it is, you’ll have to delete and re-install the app on your phone.
Your new Life360 app should show your correct location.
Wrapping Up
If your Life360 app says you were somewhere that you never visited, applying the steps above will fix the app. But if none of the tips resolves the problem, contact the Life360 Support team for further assistance.