How to enable Location Sync for employees in the field

This article explains how to turn on Location Sync, which allows Knowify to capture an employee's GPS location every 5 minutes while they're clocked in to a job via the Knowify mobile app. 

Location Sync is off by default and must be enabled by an admin before any location data is collected. 

What is Location Sync?

When Location Sync is enabled and an employee clocks in via the Knowify mobile app, Knowify begins recording their GPS location every 5 minutes. Those location points are visible as a breadcrumb path via the "Resource last seen" layer on the Activity Map, and attach to the time entry when the employee clocks out. 

Note: Location Sync only runs while an employee is clocked in. Knowify does not collect location data when an employee is clocked out. Location data is only captured for time entries created by the employee on their own device. Entries created by a foreman or office staff on behalf of someone else will not have breadcrumbs.

Location Sync gives your office and project managers clearer context behind time entries by sharing the path they traveled while checked into a job. This helps verify job activity, reduce payroll disputes, and improve coordination and dispatching. Here's how to enable it for your team: 

Step 1: Enable Location Sync at the company level

1. Go to Admin > Customize > Time Tracking.
2. Find the Sync employee location every 5 minutes while checked in setting.
3. Check the box to enable it.

Enabling this setting makes Location Sync available to turn on for individual employees. It does not automatically activate location tracking for anyone — you'll still need to enable it per employee in Step 2.

Step 2: Turn on Location Sync for individual employees

1. Go to Admin > Users and open the employee's record.
2. Find the Sync location every 5 minutes while this employee is checked in toggle.
3. Turn it on.

Repeat this for each employee you want to track. No location data is collected for any employee until this has been explicitly enabled on their individual record.

Step 3: Make sure employees have configured their device settings

For Location Sync to work, each employee must grant Knowify permission to access their device location in the background. This is a one-time step completed on their phone.

iOS setup

1. Open Settings > Knowify > Location.
2. Set Allow Location Access to Always
3. Enable Precise Location.
4. Go to Settings > Privacy > Motion & Fitness and enable Motion & Fitness.
   

Android setup

1. Open Settings > Apps > Knowify > Permissions. 
2. Set Location to Allow all the time. 
   
3. Enable Use precise location. 
4. Enable Physical activity in device settings. 
    
5. Go to Settings > Battery > Battery optimization, find Knowify, and set it to Unrestricted. This ensures location syncing continues when the app is running in the background.

Note: If an employee's device cannot provide a GPS signal (dead zone, airplane mode, permissions not configured correctly), Knowify logs an unavailable event at that timestamp rather than skipping it. The time entry will still show a record, but some points in the trail may show as unavailable.

 

Step 4: Reviewing an employee's synced location

Once enabled, Knowify displays mobile users' synced location as a "breadcrumb path" on their time entries, and on the Activity Map. For more details, see the following articles: 

• How to review an employee's synced location path on a time entry
• How to review employee location on the Activity Map

Troubleshooting tips

If breadcrumbs aren't appearing on a time entry or via the Activity Map, check the following:

1. "Location sync disabled by admin" on the time entry map — Location Sync needs to be enabled in Admin > Customize > Time Tracking, and then turned on for the individual employee.
2. "Location sync disabled by user" on the time entry map — The employee's device settings are restricting location access.
3. Confirm the employee has set Allow Location Access to Always and enabled Precise Location on their device.
4. Confirm Motion & Fitness (iOS) or Physical activity (Android) is enabled.
5. Check Android battery settings — Knowify must be set to Unrestricted.
6. Confirm the employee was clocked in via the mobile app. No data is captured for manually entered time.