Life360 Says Location Permissions Off But They’re On [Solved]
Your circle members keep telling you that they can’t track you anymore because Life360 says your Location Permissions are Off. Yet, you have never turned them off since you started using the app. Now, you’re looking for a way to solve the issue.
If this is you, you are on the right page. In this post, I’ll show you how to fix your Life360 app if it says Location Permissions Off when they are on.
Let’s dive in.
What Does Location Permission Off Mean on Life360?
When Life360 says Location Permissions Off, it usually means that the user has disabled location settings on their phone. The Location Permissions Off message might also mean that the user has denied Life360 permission to view their location.
Nevertheless, there are a few cases where Life360 might say location permissions are off even when the user hasn’t performed any of the actions above. We’ll discuss how to fix this problem in the next section.
How to Fix Location Permissions Off on Life360
Restart Your Phone
One possible reason Life360 might say Location Permissions Off when they are on is a functional error on your phone.
Most phones malfunction after you’ve used them for a while, and your phone is no different. When a phone is acting up, the apps on the device won’t work properly.
Luckily, there is an easy way to fix this issue. A simple restart should get your phone in order.
Just turn off your phone and turn it back on. Then, ask your friend or family member to check your account from their Life360 app.
If the app still says Location Permissions Off, move on to the next step.
Turn Off Airplane Mode
When someone tries to find you on Life360, the app locates you by searching for and connecting to cell signals around you. If your phone is on Airplane mode, the device will lose access to cell signals in your location. As a result, Life360 won’t be able to find you.
This may cause the app to assume that your location settings are off—hence the message: Location Permissions Off.
Ask your family members about the time they tried to track you. If you had turned on Airplane Mode then, it’s probably the reason why Life360 displayed the notification.
But if you’re sure you didn’t activate Airplane Mode, continue to the next tip.
Disable Your VPN
Are you using a VPN app on your phone? Then, the app might have automatically de-activated your location settings. As such, Life360 will not be able to view your location.
If you have a VPN app, open the app and disconnect it from your phone. Then, close the app and turn on your phone’s location settings.
Follow these steps to activate Location settings on your phone:
For Android
- Open your Settings app.
- Select Location.
- Then, toggle the switch beside Location to On.
For iPhone
- Tap on your Settings app to open it.
- Next, click on Privacy and Location Services.
- Choose Location Services.
- Then, slide the button beside the Location Services tab to the On position.
After activating your location settings, check if Life360 has removed the Location Permissions Off message from your profile. If not, try the next tip.
Activate the Location Permissions for Life360 Properly
I know you’ve activated location permissions for the Life360 app, but did you activate it correctly? The option you select when allowing your Life360 app to view your location can determine how long the app will be able to track you.
Here’s what I mean:
When you go into the Permissions page for Life360, the system will ask you to choose between three options to allow Location Permissions. On an Android phone, these options are:
- Allow all the time
- Allow only while using the app
- Ask every time.
With iPhones, the options are a little different, but they mean the same thing.
If you select any other option apart from Allow all the time, Life360 will lose the ability to view your location after a while.
For instance, choosing Allow only while using the app means that Life360 will display Location Permissions Off on your account if you aren’t logged into the app.
Go into the permissions page for your Life360 app and allow location permissions correctly.
Here’s how to do that:
Android
- Open your Settings app.
- Click on Apps or App Manager.
- You’ll see a list of all the apps on your phone.
- Find Life360 on the list and select it.
- This will take you to the App Info page.
- Tap Permissions.
- Then, click on Location.
- Finally, tap Allow all the Time to activate location permissions permanently.
iPhone
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Privacy and Location Service.
- Then, select Location Services.
- Next, click on Share My Location.
- Toggle the button beside Share My Location to the On position.
- You’ll also see an option named Find My iPhone.
- Activate this setting.
- Now, return to the Location Services page and scroll down.
- You’ll see all the apps that require location access.
- Tap on the Life360 app.
- Then, select Always.
Now that you’ve activated Location Permissions properly on your Life360 app, the Location Permission Off message should disappear from your account.
However, if you still get this message, try the next tip.
Clear Your App Cache
Whenever you track someone with Life360, the app stores the data in its cache. If this cache gets full, your Life360 app may start lagging. This will mess up the app’s settings, thus causing it to malfunction. The Location Permission Off message might be a sign of the malfunction.
To fix this issue, you’ll need to clear your app cache.
Take these steps to clear the cache in your Life360 app:
On Android
- Tap the Settings app.
- Click on Apps.
- Then, select Life360.
- Choose Storage and Cache.
- Finally, tap on the Clear Cache button to delete the app cache.
On iPhone
- Open your Settings app.
- Select General.
- Then, tap iPhone Storage.
- This will reveal a list of apps.
- Search for Life360 on this list.
- When you find the app, click on it and swipe to the left.
- Finally, select Offload App to clear the app cache.
Update the App
Life360 may also display Location Permissions Off because you’re using an outdated version of the app.
When your Life360 app is outdated, the app’s security and performance drops. This makes it easy for bugs to impair the app’s settings. The result of this damage is that Life360 shows wrong information like Location Permissions Off when they’re still on.
You can solve this problem by updating your Life360 app.
To update the app, open your Google Play Store or App Store and search for Life360. Then, tap the app in the search results to go to the download page. Finally, click on the Update button to update your Life360 app.
Once you’ve updated your Life360 app, the app should resume working properly. And it should stop displaying Location Permissions Off.
If you still see the notification after updating the app, chances are the update didn’t remove the bugs. In that case, you’ll need to delete and re-install Life360 on your phone. Deleting the app will eliminate all the bugs in the system.
Once you download a new version, Life360 should be able to track you.
Wrapping Up
If you apply all the tips as we’ve stated here, Life360 will stop displaying Location Permissions Off on your account. However, if none of the tips fixes the issue, you’ll have to contact Life360 Support for extra assistance.