On Thursday December 15th we looked at Location Services on smartphones, which Apps use them and why, and how they can be really useful.
Firstly, Chris had a look at the pros and cons of location tracking: https://www.springwise.com/pros-cons/location-tracking/ Among the positives are being located during emergencies, finding your phone, car, children, and spouse. Negatives include ad targeting and profiling, and in the case of children – inadvertently sharing locations with stalkers.
Chris then looked at Location settings on Android phones, which Apps used them and which apps didn’t. We saw how apps’ permissions had up to four settings: Allowed all the time / Allowed only while in use / Ask Every Time / Not Allowed . These settings are made automatically when the app is installed but can be changed by the user. Some apps don’t work properly if you disallow location. Strangely, the “Alert Cops” App on Chris’s phone was not allowed to use location settings, even though it is designed to report and receive information about police emergencies, and the App won’t work properly without it. So it’s worth checking through the apps and adjusting settings as necessary. This article explains the settings on Android phones: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3467281?hl=en
iPhones have similar settings as explained in this article: https://www.imyfone.com/change-location/location-services-on-iphone/
Margaret demonstrated how she used Google Maps location settings to keep track of where her husband was (and vice versa!). She also demonstrated “Share my Location” with Chris – This could be useful if you want to meet someone, and they need to know where you are. https://support.google.com/maps/answer/7326816?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid
If you let Google Maps record your location it can create a timeline of your trips and holidays and link them with your photos on Google Photos to create digital memories. Most modern cars also use location services through GPS.
Most people felt happy with location settings being used on their phones, and had no problem with targeted ads (non- targeted ads are an annoyance). Chris felt that Google Maps had got worse recently, and other’s pointed out problems they had experienced with Maps. We talked about how users can submit corrections and edits (though sometimes they don’t take effect!)
Sometimes location settings don’t work as they should this article explains what to do: https://www.guidingtech.com/top-ways-to-fix-location-services-not-working-on-android/
We had a little look at What three Words : https://what3words.com/how-to which is an alternative way of telling someone of a location – The Club’s new premises using this service is : https://w3w.co/understate.sparingly.raspberries
(Post Script: Chris’s problem is that Google maps has her street number wrong – and refuses to change it – What Three Words enables her to send directions to the correct address and its location using Bing and other map services …. Google STILL gets the house number wrong!)
Christine Betterton-Jones – Knowledge Junkie