Best Practices for Using MeTrail
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Enable app permissions: Set location permissions to "Always" and turn on notification alerts to receive arrival and departure alerts.
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Add Frequently Visited Locations: On the Location List screen, add all of your frequently visited locations so that your location is automatically recognized when you enter them.
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Start Recording Tracks: Return to the home screen to start automatically recording your personal tracks.
How does MeTrail record my location?
MeTrail uses iOS location services to obtain geolocation information through Apple's official mapping service. When you enter or leave the fenced radius of a location, MeTrail records that location information.
How is MeTrail low-power?
MeTrail uses smart location technology to acquire an accurate location only when needed to ensure low power consumption. Normally, MeTrail does not continuously record location in the background, but uses other methods to record location when needed, which consumes similar power as a normal application.
How can I improve the accuracy of my location recording?
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Enable permissions and notifications: Ensure location permissions are enabled and notification alerts are turned on.
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Add Frequently Visited Locations: Add frequently visited locations to the location list for automatic recognition.
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Confirm Reminder: Check if you receive a reminder when you arrive or leave to confirm that the location record is accurate.
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Adjust coordinates: If the location is inaccurate, use the coordinate adjustment function to correct it to improve the accuracy of the location library.
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Repeat to improve: Repeat step 4 continuously to gradually improve the location accuracy.
What are the "flexible boundaries" of a location?
MeTrail uses the radius of a geofence to determine a user's location. For example, if the radius of the geofence is set to 700 meters, the system will assume that the user is still at location A when the new geocoordinates are within a 700-meter radius of the recorded location A.
For larger locations such as "airports", "shopping centers", etc., a larger fence radius can be set. This way when moving within these locations, MeTrail will record it as the same location. This problem can be solved by setting "Flexible Boundaries" for these locations to increase the radius of the fence for more accurate recording.
Why are there consecutive identical records in the track log?
This happens because iOS detects a change in location and the MeTrail app determines that the user is still in the same location based on the set geofence radius, so it records the same track again.
How long does it take to record tracks when arriving at or departing from a location?
After arriving at a new location, trajectory recording usually occurs within 30 minutes. When leaving and arriving at the next location, trajectory is also recorded within 30 minutes. If you keep moving after leaving a stationary point, the system will record the trajectory for a period of time when you stop. The timing of recording mainly depends on the system, so there may be some delay.
Does the low battery mode also record tracks?
Yes, low battery mode does not affect the recording of tracks. However, please make sure that the Location permission is always enabled.
Can I merge consecutive tracks with the same location?
Yes, you can merge two consecutive complete track records if they are identical.
Can I record tracks without enabling location alerts?
Yes, you can.
How do I export recorded track data?
MeTrail allows you to export recorded track data to common file formats such as CSV, JSON, TXT, etc. for further analysis or data backup.