Location & Battery (Why They Matter)
Understand why the app uses your location and asks for battery permission — and what it actually records.
Field Pro records your route while you work so your visits, orders, and points line up with where you actually were. Getting your location and battery settings right keeps all of that accurate.
What the app records, and when
While you're signed in, the app keeps a light record of your route in the background — even with the screen off. It does this in a smart, low-effort way:
- Lighter most of the day, so it's easy on your battery.
- Denser during a visit, so your time at an outlet is captured well.
- Stopped when you sign out (and when you clock out for the day).
Note: Your route is recorded only while you're signed in and on duty. Sign out — or clock out at the end of your day — and the app stops recording. It isn't watching you on your own time.
The app also grabs your exact spot at key moments: starting a visit, registering a new outlet or lead, logging a lead visit, and saving a location.
📷 [SHOT: location-1] — mobile — Permissions screen showing background location set to "Allow all the time" — caption: "For your route to record, background location must be set to 'Allow all the time.'"
The "On duty" notification (Android)
On Android, while the app is recording your route you'll see an ongoing "On duty" notification. This is required — Android shows it whenever an app uses your location in the background, so you always know it's on. Tapping it opens the app (and takes you to your active visit if you have one).
Note: You can't swipe the "On duty" notification away while you're on duty — that's normal and expected. It clears on its own when you sign out or clock out.
📷 [SHOT: location-2] — mobile — Android "On duty" ongoing notification in the notification shade — caption: "The 'On duty' notification means your route is recording. Android requires it."
Keeping your route and points accurate
Two settings make the difference between an accurate route and a patchy one:
- Background location set to "Allow all the time" — so the route keeps recording with the screen off, between stops.
- Battery left unrestricted for the app — so your phone doesn't put the app to sleep and stop the recording.
Warning: If battery is restricted for Field Pro, your route can stop recording when the screen is off — and your points will drop, because the app can't confirm where you were. Leave the app unrestricted.
Best practice: Set background location to "Allow all the time" and leave the app's battery unrestricted. The app guides you through both when you first set up — keeping them on means your route and points stay accurate without you thinking about it.