Better Driver iOS app updates
We have a series of planned software releases to support the Better Driver app in it’s performance across all customer phone handsets. Below you find information on the most recent releases.
4.1.7 – October 2020
This release aims to improve the granular detail captured on each journey and also helps the users ensure the phone handset’s settings are correct for the app to work properly.
What changes will I see?
Visually there is only one change to the app on this release, and that is the app icon that sits on the handset homepage has been revised. However, users may be asked to tweak some of their handset permissions in regard to ‘Location Services’ and ‘Precise Location’ when they next visit the app. Below is some more information on the changes that have taken place in the background:
Due to GPS and location updates we should now be able to see hugely improved journey tracking and there should be no missing journeys. We encourage customers to open the app each morning to check their score and to ensure any configurations can take place in advance of a journey being made, to allow for accurate capture.
There will be clearer guidance within the app on how to configure power and location services to get the most out of the app. For us to accurately show your journeys we need to ensure we can interpret your journey data correctly on our system. In order to ensure this app update works correctly, we need phones to have ‘Precise Location’ on and ‘Location Services’ set to ‘ALWAYS’. If users notice that ‘Location’ at the top of the app is ‘red’, these settings will need to be amended.
Naturally phone manufacturers always want us to have the best battery life possible on our phones. However, in order to accommodate this the phone usually wants to shut down any apps that aren’t in use. As our app sits in the background it appears to not be being used, but it is just sitting idle waiting for a journey to take place. This release tells the phone that having the app on is critical and should stop it from being closed down.
4.0.3 – December 2019
This update aims to ensure your journeys are tracked as accurately as possible.
What changes will I see?
The changes have been made in the background of the app so it won’t look any different when you’re using it. These changes have improved the overall tracking of your journeys. We have worked with Apple’s iOS restrictions to ensure your journeys are as accurate as possible.
Below is a bit more information on the recent updates and what to expect. Please get in touch using LiveChat if you have any further queries.
Start location of journeys may be slightly delayed – This is due to the Significant Location Change service that Apple introduced as a power-friendly alternative for tracking apps that require location data. The SLC service delivers updates only when there has been a significant change in the device’s location. Therefore, this can cause some journeys to show as having a delayed start. We have introduced a new feature to assist with this service to give an accurate as possible journey and mileage capture.
Part of your journey route is grey – Due to Apple’s focus on optimising handset performance, they have introduced ‘App Suspension’. Put simply, the operating system will try to close any app if it is not open and in use on the phone. This will also happen if you have low memory on your phone but there will be no notification of this. Don’t worry though, our app will tell the phone that it is still needed and will kick back in on its own. To stop this showing as two journeys, it will then join them together and highlight the assumed route in grey. Therefore, this part of your journey may not be accurate.
Journeys under one mile – These journeys will record; however, they may be presented slightly different to what you are expecting. As it is a short journey, the app needs to identify the start of the journey, your location and start to record. This could mean that it may miss part of this short journey due to the time it has to start up and the data strength in the area.
