FAQ: Check-in and out on iPhone

Modified on Thu, 24 Nov 2022 at 07:24 PM

Why is My Check-in and out Not Working on my iPhone?

GPS Check-In Check-Out is a function on the Staff Dashboard that enables you to record the time and geographic location when you started and ended a client visit or walk.

If you or your sitters experience any issues with accessing this function, or the accuracy of the co-ordinates obtained from using this function, there are a number of steps that are essential to check before you report the issue to Support as a fault. In the majority of cases, the issue will be resolved after following one or more of these steps.

Understanding how your iOS device determines and provides your location to Pet Sitter Plus

This is important to understand, as you need to consider your (or your sitter's) actual location when you try to check-in or out. It is based on a combination of the following:

GPS Satellite (GPS provider) - Very accurate, but works only outdoors and can take between several seconds to several minutes to establish a fix
Cell Tower (Mast) (Network provider) - Fast; works anywhere you have a cell signal; but accuracy is highly variable depending on signal strength and interference, distance from cell towers, obstacles, and the number of cell towers in range of your iPhone
WiFi Location (Network provider) - Fast; requires a WiFi connection; often inaccurate

Depending upon whether your phone is connecting via the GPS (Satellite Trilateration), Cell Tower 'Mast' (Triangulation) method or via WiFi will affect the accuracy of the co-ordinates that are delivered to your iPhone to pinpoint your location, and subsequently sent to Pet Sitter Plus to record your geographic location at any given moment in time.

In the majority of cases, GPS will provide a very accurate location, within a few feet, of where the iPhone is when you check-in/out. However, due to other factors as mentioned above, there will no doubt be occasions where the data provided to Pet Sitter Plus is not as accurate as we would like it to be.

There is current research on ways to provide an enhanced, more computationally accurate positioning system to the centimeter that will allow cell phones to provide consistently accurate data in the future. We do not know when this will be available, but we would expect it to be 'standard' in the newest phones on the market when it is made available.

If your location is occasionally inaccurate within a half mile (under ~1km) - especially while indoors and/or in hilly and/or urban areas - please consider the information above.

Step 1: Check that the Check-in Check-out function is switched on in Pet Sitter Plus

Navigate to Admin > Settings > Staff Dashboard & Monitor Settings

Toggle ON "Use Check-in/Check-Out feature."
Click "Update".

Step 2: Ensure you have an adequate network signal to connect your iPhone to Pet Sitter Plus

Navigate to your iPhone's Settings > Mobile Data

Check the number of bars on the icon at the top of the iPhone screen.
If you are not sure your iPhone is connected to a network, check your "Mobile Data" is switched ON.
In "Carrier" you can also check that you are able to receive 3G, 4G and 5G signals. Anything before that will not work with Pet Sitter Plus.
If you are able to connect to WiFi, you should check this option is switched on.

Step 3: Check that the iPhone's Location setting is switched to ON

Navigate to your iPhone's Settings > Privacy > Location Services

When GPS tracking tries to find your iPhone and log its geographic location it won't be able to find it if this setting is not switched on. You will be able to see the "Check-in" button on Pet Sitter Plus, but when you click it you will see the spinning timer as it tries – and fails – to connect.

Check that the option for "Location Services" is switched to ON.

Step 4: Check that the Browser App's Location setting is switched to ON

Navigate to your iPhone's Settings > Chrome App

After Step 3, there is another "Location" setting that must be checked to ensure your check-in will work.

Firstly, check which browser you are using to access PSP. Our top recommended browser is Chrome, as we rarely have any issues with accessing PSP using this browser, both on the mobile and desktop interfaces.

Note: If you are experiencing browser issues, change to Chrome before carrying out any further testing.

In the Settings, scroll down to your apps near the bottom, and select the Chrome app.
In the Chrome settings, check that the option for "Location" is switched to "Whilst Using the App".

Step 5: Check your GPS Location in Google Maps

Checking your position on Google Maps is a good way of assessing if your phone is able to give accurate co-ordinates of your geographic location.

Tap the Google Maps app
Check that Maps has an accurate location for you

Step 6: Refresh Location Services

If you have tried the above options and you are still experiencing issues, try the following:

Open your iPhone's Settings.
Scroll down to Privacy > Location Services.
Tap the On/Off switch to turn location services Off.
Restart your device (power off and on).
Open your device's Settings again.
Tap the Location Services On/Off switch to turn location On again.

Step 7: If none of the above fixes the issue for you...

If you have tried the above options and you are still experiencing issues, try the following:

Re-boot your iPhone.
Check your operating system is the latest available version.
Check your Chrome App is the latest available version.
Clear your browsing history from Chrome.
Delete the Chrome App and re-download it from the app store.

Step 8: If all else fails...

In some cases, it may be necessary to reset your iPhone to factory settings.

This is usually a last resort, and in almost all cases reported to us, following and checking the above processes has usually sorted out all our clients' issues.