| Important: The steps in this article have been updated to reflect app version 8.2.0, please update your app today for the best Canary experience. | |
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Canary can use your phone’s location to automatically switch between Away, Home, and Night modes when you arrive or leave your device’s location. Location services use a combination of technologies: Cellular signal, Wi-Fi, and GPS.
When you initially set up your device, the Canary app will ask you to update your phone’s location settings, but you may need to make further adjustments to ensure the highest detection accuracy.
Note: If you use the Canary app on multiple devices, make sure that you only enable geofencing on your primary device. Geofencing is turned off by default on tablets.
Turn-on location services and set Location Mode to High accuracy
The Canary app will not be able to detect your location at all if location services are disabled on your phone.
To verify that Location Services are enabled:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap on Location.
- Confirm that Location is set to On.
- Confirm that the Mode is set to High accuracy.
Is Auto-mode switching enabled?
To verify that auto-mode switching is enabled:
- Open the Canary app.
- Tap the gear icon in the top right corner of the Home Screen.
- Scroll down to Take Action
- Tap Manage my modes
- Confirm that the Auto-mode switching toggle is green.
Note: To learn more about customizing modes, visit Modes overview.
Turn on Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is one of the primary technologies the Canary app uses to determine your location. If your Wi-Fi is disabled, your location won’t be tracked as accurately.
To verify that your Wi-Fi is enabled:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Wi-Fi.
- Make sure the Wi-Fi toggle is On.
Turn on Wi-Fi Scanning
By enabling this feature it can improve your location accuracy by allowing all apps and services to scan for Wi-Fi networks even when Wi-Fi is off.
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Wi-Fi.
- Tap the menu icon in the top right corner.
- Tap Advanced.
- Make sure that Scanning Wi-Fi available is set to On.
- Additionally make sure Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep is set to On.
Android 6.0 or later:
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Location.
- Tap the menu icon in the top right corner.
- Tap Scanning.
- Make sure that Wi-Fi scanning is set to On.
Note: Setting Wi-Fi scanning to on can use additional battery but it should not be significant.
Make sure to allow all Canary app permissions (Android 6.0 or later)
In addition to your Android phone location settings you will need to verify you have allowed access to your location from the Canary app. During setup, the Canary app should have asked permission to use your location. If you originally declined permission to use your location, or made any other changes to your phone’s settings, you may need to enable location services for the Canary app in your phone settings.
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Apps.
- Tap Application Manager.
- Tap Canary.
- Under permissions make sure everything is allowed, enabling anything that is currently disabled.
Note: This will ensure the Canary app always has access to Android’s location services. Setting the Canary app to always use your location can use additional battery but it should not be significant.
Do not Restrict Background Data (Android 6.0 or later)
The Canary app requires Background data to be allowed in order for Auto-Mode Switching to work correctly. By making sure Restrict app background data is off, even if the Canary app is suspended in the background it can check for updates and new content.
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Data usage.
- Select the Canary app from the menu.
- Make sure that the Restrict app background data is Off.
Note: For Android 7.0 + background data limiting can be found within Data usage under Cellular data usage.
Disable Battery Savers/Optimizers (Android 6.0 or later)
Battery optimizers such as “Doze” greatly reduce the amount of power that your Android phone uses but these savers can indirectly impact Auto-Mode Switching detection.
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Battery.
- Tap the menu icon in the top right corner.
- Select Battery optimization.
- Where it says not optimized tap that and change to all apps.
- Scroll until you see Canary app and tap it.
- Change to Don't optimize.
Note: To get here faster, just use the Settings search function and type “Doze”. You’ll see that Battery Optimization will be your top choice.
When Data saver is on and Wi-Fi is not available, the Canary app may be unable to send and receive data in the background. To avoid this, you can either turn off Data saver completely or by selecting the Canary app to continue receiving background data even with Data saver enabled.
Turn off Data saver (Android 7.0 or later)
To turn off Data saver:
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Data usage.
- Tap on Data saver.
- Make sure the Data saver toggle is Off.
To exempt the Canary app from Data saver:
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Data usage.
- Tap on Data saver.
- Tap Unrestricted data access.
- Select the Canary app from the menu.
- Make sure the Data saver toggle is On by dragging the toggle to the right.
Enable Cellular Data
Location services uses local cellular towers to determine your current location. Which tower your phone is connected to and the strength of your phone's cellular signal can help determine the accuracy of location services.
- Open your Android phone Settings.
- Tap on Data usage.
- Make sure the Cellular data switch is set to On. (This may also be called Mobile Data or Wireless Data)
Note: This will help ensure your home switches as quickly as possible when arriving if Wi-Fi is turned off.
Additional troubleshooting tips