Location tracking is the trail of positions the xMatix mobile app records while you are checked in, so your organization can see the route you travelled during the working day. It runs only inside a check-in session: you check in, the app records positions until you pause or check out, and your manager or dispatcher can then compare the path with your visits. This page is the field user's guide: what you see on the phone, which permissions it needs, and how to see your own path. Setting tracking up and reading other people's paths is covered in Location and the travelled path.
Overview
Tracking is off unless your administrator turns it on for the mobile app you use, and it applies only to users who have to check in. When it is on:
- the check-in screen tells you before you start that your location will be recorded,
- the app records a position at a set interval from check-in until you pause or check out,
- positions are queued on the phone and uploaded in batches, also after an offline stretch,
- you can open your own path for today from the session sheet.
Each position holds latitude and longitude, accuracy, the time the phone captured it and, where the phone supplies them, speed and heading. Nothing else from the phone is recorded.
When to use it
You don't start tracking yourself: it is part of the check-in session. You use this page when you want to:
- understand what the check-in screen asks for before you check in,
- grant the location permission so that check-in is allowed,
- take a break without being tracked (pause the session),
- check your own route for the day,
- work out why your path has gaps or check-in is disabled.
How xMatix handles it
Recording follows the session. Recording starts when you check in, stops when you pause, starts again when you resume and stops when you check out. Before check-in, after check-out, while paused, and in apps where tracking is off, nothing is recorded. Pausing also stops the one-time location stamps the app takes for other actions until you resume. If the app is closed while you are checked in, recording picks up again the next time you open it.
Android and iPhone record differently.
| Phone | How it records | Permission it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Android | In the background as well: with the app minimised or the screen locked, until you pause or check out. A notification stays visible while it runs: "xMatix is tracking your visit path" / "Location is recorded while you are checked in." | Location set to Allow all the time. Check-in stays disabled until it is granted. |
| iPhone | Only while the xMatix app is open on screen, one position per interval (never more often than every 15 seconds). Nothing is recorded while the app is in the background or closed. | Ordinary location access. The app never asks for Always and never blocks check-in for it. |
The check-in screen shows the same sentence on both phones, including the words "including when the app is in the background". On an iPhone the background part does not apply: expect your path to have gaps for the time the app was not on screen.
Fewer points when you stand still. On Android the phone skips a position when you have not moved the minimum distance your administrator set (25 metres unless changed), and it uses balanced rather than maximum accuracy, which keeps battery use down.
If permission changes during a session. On Android, if background access is missing when recording starts again (for example after you reopen the app), the app records only while it is open on screen, like an iPhone. If location access is switched off completely, nothing is recorded, but your check-in itself stays valid.
Uploading. Positions are uploaded in batches: when a batch is full, about once a minute while the app is open, when you bring the app back to the screen, when your connection returns, and when you pause or check out. Offline positions wait on the phone and are sent later in the order they were captured. Two limits apply on the server: positions more than 3 days old or more than 5 minutes in the future are skipped, and a batch can hold at most 500 positions.
Signing out discards positions that have not been uploaded yet. Signing out stops tracking and clears the location queue on the phone. These positions are not listed under Sync status or Pending changes, and the sign-out warning does not count them.
Prerequisites
- Your administrator has turned on location tracking for your mobile app, and your security profile requires check-in.
- Your user is linked to a resource record. Without one, View path travelled does not appear.
- On Android: location set to Allow all the time for xMatix. On iPhone: location access for xMatix if you want a path at all.
Procedure
Step 1 — Read the disclosure on the check-in screen
When tracking is on, the check-in screen shows an information card above the check-in steps:
"While you are checked in, your location is recorded roughly every minute — including when the app is in the background — and recording stops when you check out."
The time in the sentence comes from your app's capture interval, so it may read "every 2 minutes" or "every 30 seconds" instead.
Step 2 — Grant location access (Android)
If background location is not yet allowed, the check-in screen shows a Location access needed card: "Your location is recorded for the whole check-in session, which needs background location access ("Allow all the time"). Check-in stays disabled until it is enabled: Settings → Apps → xMatix → Permissions → Location → Allow all the time."
- Tap Allow. The app first shows its own explanation, xMatix records your location while you are checked in, with what is collected, when, why and who sees it.
- Tap Allow location to continue, or Not now to leave the permission unchanged (check-in stays disabled).
- Answer the phone's prompts. Allow location access first, then choose Allow all the time. On recent Android versions the phone opens its settings page for this second step.
- Return to xMatix. The app checks the permission again by itself and enables Check in once it is granted.
If the card offers Open Settings instead of Allow, the phone no longer shows its own prompt. Tap Open Settings, set Location → Allow all the time for xMatix, and come back to the app.
The app remembers on this phone that you have read its explanation, so you normally see it only once.
Step 3 — Grant location access (iPhone)
The iPhone app never asks for background location and never disables check-in for it. When the app first needs your location (for a check-in stamp, for example), it shows xMatix uses your location; tap Allow location and then allow access in the phone's prompt. Without location access, check-in is still possible unless your organization requires a location for the check-in itself, but no path is recorded.
Step 4 — Check in and confirm recording
Check in as described in Attendance. Recording starts straight away.
- On Android, look for the notification "xMatix is tracking your visit path". While it is showing, recording is running.
- On iPhone, recording runs while the app is on screen. Keep the app open during the parts of the day you want on your path.
Step 5 — Pause and resume
When your administrator allows pausing, open the session sheet (tap the floating session button, or open the side menu and select Check out) and tap Pause session. Recording stops and the session timer freezes. Tap Resume session to start again under the same check-in. If your administrator switches pausing off while you are paused, Resume session still appears so you are never stuck.
Step 6 — View your path for today
- Open the session sheet (floating session button, or side menu → Check out).
- Tap View path travelled. A map opens with your path.
- Read the summary at the top of the map: the number of points, the distance in kilometres and the time between the first and last point, for example "42 pts · 11.3 km · 3h 5m". Before anything has been uploaded it reads "No location points yet".
The map shows today's path from midnight on your phone, not from your check-in time. It shows only positions that have already reached the server, so the last few minutes may still be waiting on the phone. While the map is open it refreshes every 30 seconds. Use the refresh button to reload it now and the centre button to fit the whole path on screen. Offline, the map keeps the last path it loaded and says "Offline — showing the last loaded path."
Step 7 — Check out
Open the side menu and select Check out, then complete the check-out steps. Recording stops, and any positions still on the phone are uploaded (or wait for your connection if you are offline). On Android the notification disappears.
Step 8 — Before you sign out or hand over the phone
Positions waiting on the phone are discarded when you sign out. Before signing out, make sure you are online and keep the app open for about a minute after check-out so the last batch uploads.
Fields
The trail has no form for the field user. Each recorded position carries:
| Field | What it means | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Latitude and longitude | Where the phone was | Stored against your own resource record. |
| Accuracy | The phone's own estimate of the error, in metres | Low accuracy (indoors, weak signal) shows as zig-zags on the map. |
| Speed and heading | How fast and in which direction the phone was moving | Only when the phone supplies them. Not recorded by iPhone capture. |
| Recorded time | When the phone captured the position | Positions more than 3 days old when they reach the server are skipped. |
Business rules
- Tracking runs only when it is on for your mobile app, your profile requires check-in, and you are checked in and not paused.
- Android records in the background and blocks check-in until Allow all the time is granted. iPhone records only with the app on screen and never blocks check-in for location tracking.
- Pausing stops the trail and the app's one-time location stamps until you resume.
- Positions are always stored against the signed-in user's own resource. You cannot record for someone else.
- Positions older than 3 days or more than 5 minutes in the future are skipped by the server. A batch holds at most 500 positions, and a batch that is sent twice is recorded once.
- View path travelled shows uploaded positions from local midnight today.
- Signing out discards positions that are still waiting on the phone.
- A change your administrator makes to tracking reaches the phone the next time it fetches the app configuration, and takes effect at your next check-in or resume.
Example
A field sales rep starts the day on an Android phone. The check-in screen reads "While you are checked in, your location is recorded roughly every minute …". Check in is disabled and a Location access needed card is showing. The rep taps Allow, reads the explanation, taps Allow location, allows location, and sets Allow all the time on the settings page the phone opens. Back in xMatix, Check in is enabled, and after checking in the notification "xMatix is tracking your visit path" appears.
At 13:00 the rep opens the session sheet and taps Pause session for lunch, and the notification disappears. At 13:45 they tap Resume session. At 15:00 they tap View path travelled: the map shows the morning's three outlets, a gap over lunch, and the summary "96 pts · 18.4 km · 5h 50m". At 18:00 the rep checks out from the side menu while online, waits a minute, and then signs out.
Training
Practice exercise
In a sandbox app with tracking switched on and a test user who must check in:
- On an Android test phone, sign in, follow Step 2 to grant Allow all the time, and check in.
- Walk for ten minutes with the app minimised and the screen locked.
- Open the app, open the session sheet and tap View path travelled.
- Tap Pause session, walk for five more minutes, tap Resume session, then check out.
Expected result: the notification is visible from check-in to pause and from resume to check-out. The path shows your first walk, a straight jump or gap over the paused stretch, and the summary counts only uploaded points. Repeat on an iPhone with the app in the background: the path stops while the app is off screen.
Quick reference
- Tracking runs only between check-in and check-out, and not while paused.
- Android: background recording, needs Allow all the time, notification while running.
- iPhone: records only while the app is on screen. Gaps are expected.
- Check-in disabled on Android? Tap Allow, or Open Settings → Location → Allow all the time.
- Pause session / Resume session are in the session sheet when your administrator allows pausing.
- View path travelled shows today's uploaded positions since midnight.
- Check out online and wait a minute before you sign out, or queued positions are lost.
Permissions
| What | Who |
|---|---|
| Be tracked | Users whose security profile requires check-in, in a mobile app with tracking on. |
| See your own path | Every signed-in user with a linked resource record. |
| See someone else's path | Users whose role sits above that user's role in the role hierarchy, typically managers. Security profiles and administrator rights don't widen this. |
| Turn tracking on and set the interval, batch size and minimum distance | Setup users who can edit mobile apps. See Location and the travelled path. |
Configuration
Your administrator sets tracking per mobile app under Setup → Design Studio → Apps → Mobile Apps. The settings that change what you see on the phone:
| Tab | Setting | Effect on the phone |
|---|---|---|
| Location Tracking | Enable location tracking | Off: no disclosure, no background permission request, no path, no View path travelled. |
| Location Tracking | Capture interval (60 seconds by default) | How often a position is recorded, and the time quoted on the check-in screen. |
| Location Tracking | Batch size (20 by default) | How many positions are queued before a batch is sent. |
| Location Tracking | Minimum distance (25 metres by default) | On Android, the distance you must move before another position is kept. |
| Profiles | Check-in required | Only users in these profiles check in and are tracked. |
| Settings | Allow pausing check-in | Adds Pause session to the session sheet. |
The full administrator procedure, limits and defaults are in Location and the travelled path, and the rest of the Mobile App record in Configuring the mobile app.
Common problems
"Check in is greyed out and says it needs 'Allow all the time'"
Tracking is on and the Android phone doesn't allow background location. Tap Allow (or Open Settings) and set Location → Allow all the time for xMatix, then return to the app. If the phone's management policy won't allow it, ask your administrator: there is no per-user exception, only switching tracking off for the mobile app.
"I tapped Not now and nothing happens"
Not now leaves the permission as it was. Tap Allow on the card again to bring the explanation back.
"My path has gaps"
Common causes: an iPhone with the app in the background, a paused session, standing still (Android skips positions under the minimum distance), positions not uploaded yet, or positions older than 3 days when they finally uploaded. Open the app online and refresh the path.
"View path travelled is missing from the session sheet"
Tracking is not on for your mobile app, or your user is not linked to a resource record. Ask your administrator.
"The map says No location points yet"
Nothing from today has reached the server yet. Check that you are checked in and not paused, that you are online, and on iPhone that you have kept the app open. Wait about a minute and refresh.
"My manager says my path stops early"
Positions still on the phone when you signed out are discarded. Check out while online and keep the app open for about a minute before you sign out.
Common questions
Can the app track me after I check out or off shift?
No. Recording starts at check-in and stops at check-out, and it also stops while your session is paused. Outside a session nothing is recorded. On Android the notification "xMatix is tracking your visit path" is visible for as long as recording runs, so you can check at a glance: if it isn't showing, the app isn't recording your path. On iPhone recording happens only while the app is open on screen.
What happens if I refuse the location permission?
On Android, when tracking is on, check-in stays disabled until you allow location Allow all the time. On iPhone, check-in is not blocked by tracking: without location access no path is recorded, though your organization may still require a location for the check-in itself. You can change the permission at any time in the phone's settings; the app checks it again when you return.
Who can see my path?
You can see your own path for today with View path travelled. Other people see it only when their role sits above yours in your organization's role hierarchy, which usually means your manager and their managers, for example on a dispatch map or a visit plan. Security profiles don't widen this, and administrator rights don't show every path automatically.
Does tracking drain the battery?
Recording location always uses some battery. The app limits it by recording on an interval rather than continuously, using balanced rather than maximum accuracy, skipping positions on Android when you haven't moved the minimum distance, and uploading in batches. On iPhone, recording happens only while the app is on screen.
Is anything recorded besides my position?
No. Each position holds the coordinates, their accuracy, the time and, where the phone provides them, speed and heading. Separately, some actions stamp a single location on the record they create, such as checking in or out, starting or finishing a visit or task, or tapping "use my location" on a form. Those are one-time stamps, not part of the trail.
Related topics
- Location and the travelled path — setup, limits, who can read paths and how managers use them
- Attendance — checking in and out
- Configuring the mobile app
- Working offline: sync status and recovery
- Capturing data on mobile — location fields and photo location stamps
- Troubleshooting the mobile app