Life360 Won’t Update – How To Fix

Life360 must update accurately and timely. As a robust family tracking app, Life360 has every tracking feature you could need to effortlessly keep tabs on family members and friends in your Circle. However, those features draw on real-time tracking data, which means you may experience a lag in your timely updates for several reasons. You may also experience complete failures for a variety of reasons as well.

There are many different problems that this popular app may run into, causing it to stop updating suddenly. Fortunately, many of these issues are easy to troubleshoot and fix. Keep reading to learn more about what could stop Life360 from updating and what you can do to get it going again.

Life360 Won’t Update – Troubleshoot Your Phone Hardware

There are many reasons that the Life360 app may not update. These problems could range from issues with your device, settings, other apps, or something going on in the Life360 app.

Low Battery Life

If you’re looking at a user’s location in Life360 and it doesn’t appear to be updating, it’s possible that the phone simply isn’t turned on, or the battery died. You could also see the same issue if the device is on but has a low battery. Many phones have built-in battery optimization settings that will turn off features as the battery starts to get very low, including location tracking.

You can either keep the battery charged above 20% (the average battery level for optimization) or customize the phone’s battery optimization settings so that location tracking is always on regardless of the battery status.

Internet Connectivity

If your phone is not connected to good Wi-Fi or does not have a strong cellular connection, you will see intermittent issues updates from users. Also, if the Wi-Fi speed is low enough, or it is a public network, the device may not be able to update Life360 on its location. Hotspots and Airplane Mode will also interfere with Life360 being able to update.

Life360 Won’t Update – Troubleshoot Your Phone Software

Sometimes Life360 can have difficulty updating due to problems with the phone software. Settings such as location services being turned off or limited can impact the app significantly. Also, if your phone runs an outdated software version, the app may suffer from issues.

Location Services

For Life360 to track users, location services must be turned “on” for that device. To turn “on” location services for iOS devices:

1. Open the “Settings” app on your phone.
   
2. Find “Privacy,” and click to open the menu.
   
3. Click on “Location Services.”
   
4. Find Life360 in the app list and click on it.
   
5. Select “Always.”
   

To turn “on” location services for Android users:

1. Open your “Settings” app and go to “Privacy.”
   
2. Tap on “Permission Manager.”
   
3. Tap on “Location.”
   
4. Find the Life360 app and tap on it.
   
5. Change the permission to “Allow all the time.”
   

This will allow the Life360 app to draw on location services at all times and keep the app updated.

Operating Software Updates

Both iOS and Android software are updated every year. While you can skip a phone update, you will likely notice that many of your apps will stop working after a while. This is generally because app developers will no longer support the older phone software version.

To make sure your iOS software is up-to-date on your iPhone:

1. Plug your phone in and make sure you have a good internet connection. Open your “Settings” app.
   
2. Find the “General” menu and tap on it.
   
3. Tap on “Software Update.”
   
4. If you see the “Download and Install” or “Install” options, your phone has an update available. Click on the option and complete the installation.
   
5. If you do not get either of these options, your phone is up-to-date.

To make sure your Android system is up-to-date:

1. Make sure you plug in your phone and have a steady internet connection. Open your phone’s “Settings” app.
   
2. Close to the bottom, tap on “About phone.”
   
3. Choose “Software Update.”
   
4. If you have an available update, your phone will alert you and prompt you to install the update. The phone will not prompt you to do anything if your phone is up-to-date.

No matter what phone you have, keeping the system up-to-date will prevent any issues with Life360 being able to update.

Life360 Won’t Update – Troubleshoot Other Apps

Several apps you may be using on your phone could significantly impact Life360’s functionality and ability to update regularly. Below are some of the most popular types that can interfere with the Life360 app.

Third-Party VPNs

VPNs are designed to hide your location and even block Life360 from that data. If the app doesn’t seem to be updating correctly, check and see if the user has a VPN. It will need to be turned “off” to provide accurate tracking information.

Third-Party Battery Saver Apps

Third-party battery apps will interfere with Life360’s ability to update locations because they typically operate by tricking your phone into turning on battery saver mode. This typically turns “off” location services.

Most battery-saver apps will let you exempt chosen apps from their functionality. Add “Life360” to this list to keep updates more consistent.

Third-Party Anti-Virus Apps

Many anti-virus apps prevent apps on your phone from running in the background. While that’s usually a good thing, Life360 must be able to run in the background. If not, a user must actively use the app for Life360 to update a location.

Fortunately, most third-party anti-virus apps will allow you to exempt the apps you trust; you just need to adjust your settings.

Life360 Won’t Update – Troubleshoot Your Life360 App

There are also issues within the Life360 app itself that could be impacting its ability to update. These can include user errors or an older version of the app that needs to be updated.

Two Devices Logged In

Double-check that the user isn’t logged into the same account on multiple devices. If you are using the same account across multiple devices, Life360 will not know which one to track accurately. It could either try to follow both devices or fail to track anything at all.

If the user needs to have Life360 active on two devices, they will need two separate accounts to be accurately tracked on either device.

Log In Status

If one of your Circle members isn’t updating, they may be logged out of their account. People can get logged out of their accounts for many reasons, such as the account password changing. Sometimes, the account may have logged them out without them knowing, and they simply need to re-enter their password.

Users in Your Circle

If a user suddenly disappeared, they may have been dropped from your Circle. If this was done by mistake, you could send them your Life360 invite code to add them back to your Circle. To add a person to your Circle:

1. Tap on “Add Circle Members.”
   
2. Click on “Send Code.”
   
3. Select the messaging app you prefer.
   

This will add a previously dropped Circle member back to your list.

Updated Life360 App

If your Life360 app won’t update or has broken down in some other way, make sure you are using the most recent version provided by the company. This will also ensure that you can access any new feature available to users.

The easiest way to see if you have the latest app is to head to your phone’s app store and locate Life360 in the store. If you need a new version, the store will usually notify you.

Life360 – Always “On” Protection

The Life360 app provides a critical service for friends and families. The last thing you want is to search for a loved one, only to find out the app didn’t update their previous location. Keeping up-to-date on your Life360 maintenance will only help you and your Circle.

Are you a user of Life360? Have you ever experienced the app not updating? Let us know what you did to fix it or even avoid it in the comments below!