Do I have to set location to Always?

The short answer

Yes, if drives are to be logged by themselves. With location on Always, the iPhone wakes OdoTax when a drive starts, even while the app is closed. With While Using, iOS never wakes it, so drives are detected only while OdoTax is open.

Always does not make OdoTax record all day. It records only while a drive is under way; between drives the iPhone waits for the next one to start and sends no positions anywhere — see What location data do you actually keep?

The short answer

Yes, if drives are to be logged by themselves. With location on Allow all the time, OdoTax logs a drive that starts while the app is closed and the phone is in your pocket. With While using the app, drives are logged only while OdoTax is open.

Allowing it all the time does not make OdoTax record all day. It records only while a drive is under way; between drives the phone waits for the next one to start and sends no positions anywhere — see What location data do you actually keep?

What happens with "While Using"

No drive is detected unless OdoTax is open. OdoTax tells you: a card on Home and Drives reads Set location to Always, and in Settings → Tracking configuration the row Location set to Always is marked red and reads Only while the app is open. To change it:

1. Tap the card, or tap that row and then Fix it — the iPhone’s Settings open on OdoTax’s page
2. Tap Location
3. Choose Always, and leave Precise Location on

The same page is in the iPhone’s Settings → Apps → OdoTax. iOS may not ask about Always during setup: it can ask later, once OdoTax has used your location in the background. When it does, tap Change to Always Allow; with Keep Only While Using, drives are detected only while the app is open.

What happens with "While using the app"

A drive that starts while OdoTax is closed is not logged. OdoTax tells you: a card on Home and Drives reads Allow location all the time, and in Settings → Tracking configuration the row All-the-time location is marked red and reads Only while the app is open. To change it:

1. Tap the card, or tap that row and then Fix it
2. Choose Allow all the time — if Android opens OdoTax’s app page instead, tap Permissions → Location first
3. Leave Use precise location on

The same choice is in the phone’s Settings: find OdoTax, then Permissions → Location. On Android 9 and older there is no separate choice: allowing location is allowing it all the time.

Why each permission is asked

Each one does one job, and location is used only to log your drives. What each is for, and what saying no costs:

1. Location, while using the app — records the route a drive took. Without it OdoTax cannot detect or log drives
2. Location, always — catches drives that start while OdoTax is closed
3. Precise Location — with approximate location no drive can be recorded
4. Motion & Fitness — tells driving from walking, so a drive starts on time. Without it detection is slower and can start a mile or two into the trip
5. Notifications — tells you a drive is logged and ready to classify. Detection still works without it

Each popup is shown, with pictures, in How do I turn automatic tracking on?. More on the battery settings: Which battery settings keep tracking running?.

Why each permission is asked

Each one does one job, and location is used only to log your drives. What each is for, and what saying no costs:

1. Location, while you use the app — records the route a drive took. Without it OdoTax cannot detect or log drives
2. Location, all the time — catches drives that start while OdoTax is closed
3. Precise location — approximate positions are too coarse to map a route
4. Physical activity — notices a drive beginning without leaving GPS on all day. Without it detection is slower and can start a mile or two into the trip
5. Notifications — tells you a drive is logged and ready to classify. Detection still works without it
6. Battery, unrestricted — stops Android pausing detection to save power
7. Autostart, on Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo and Vivo phones — with it off, the phone stops OdoTax when the screen sleeps and drives go unrecorded

Each popup is shown, with pictures, in How do I turn automatic tracking on?. More on the battery settings: Which battery settings keep tracking running?.

If you would rather not

Saying no during setup is not final: the screen offers Open settings and Not now, and the choice can be changed later. A drive OdoTax did not record can be added by hand, in the app or in the web account — How do I add a drive by hand?. To stop recording for a while without touching the permission, pause it — How do I pause tracking?

On the web

Drives are recorded by the phone, so the permissions are set on the phone: open the iPhone or Android tab above. The web account shows every drive the phone has uploaded.