GPS and location accuracy#
Fyndi needs your position to work: it decides where you are on the map, whether you can start a route and whether you are allowed to complete a stop or collect a find. This screen describes how the app talks about the quality of your position and what to do when it is inaccurate.
The GPS pill#
In the top-left corner of the map a small pill labelled GPS appears. The rule is simple: when your position is good, there is no pill at all — the map stays clean. The pill shows up only when something is off, and its colour plus the text next to “GPS” carry the state.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| no pill | you have a fresh, good position (accuracy up to about 20 m) | nothing — everything works |
| GPS ±120 m (gold) | the position exists but is weak — you can walk with it, it may just jump in the city | move into open space if the accuracy does not come back |
| GPS (grey, at launch) | the app is still getting a fix — it has a few seconds for that | give it a moment, do not touch anything |
| GPS (red) | there is still no position | tap the pill to retry |
| GPS Getting your position… | a retry is running — this is the answer to your tap | wait a few seconds |
| GPS No position | the retry failed; there is still no position | leave the dense buildings and tap the pill again |
| GPS No access | the app has no location permission | a card with a button appears in the middle of the map — allow location |
| GPS off | location is switched off on the phone | a card in the middle of the map leads to system settings |
- Tapping the pill does exactly the same as the card button: it retries the fix, asks for permission or opens the right settings — depending on what is missing.
- The card in the middle of the map appears only for real obstacles that a button can remove: missing permission and system location switched off. A missing position has no card — waiting for GPS cannot be “fixed” with a button, so that state lives in the pill only.
- Patience window: after you open the map the pill stays neutral for a few seconds and does not raise an alarm; only after that it turns red. Opening the app never greets you with an error message.
- After losing the signal (a flyover, a tunnel, a lift) the position expires after about a minute — the pill then goes back to the “no position” state.
When your position is inaccurate#
The order that helps most often — quickest steps first:
- Step out into the open — dense buildings, courtyard wells and underpasses confuse GPS.
- Wait a dozen or so seconds without moving — your phone needs a moment to get a fix.
- Check your location permission in Settings — without it we cannot see you at all.
- Turn on location in your phone (precise mode) — a battery-saving mode with Wi-Fi alone gives you a “roughly there” position, good enough for the map but not for completing a stop.
- Open the map in a window for a moment and come back to the app — this helps after a longer stay inside a building.
| Situation | Can you complete stops? |
|---|---|
| Accuracy of a few to a dozen or so metres | Yes — that is normal phone accuracy |
| A position from a few minutes ago | No — the app waits for a fresh position |
| Accuracy in the hundreds of metres | Usually not — move closer to the marker and try again |
| No position | No — fix your position first (the steps above) |
Where the location permission lives#
- In the app: Account → Settings → the permissions section; there you will also see whether permission is granted or only “for this time”.
- In your phone: system settings → Apps → Fyndi → Permissions → Location. We recommend the “while using the app” option.
- Notifications are a separate permission — needed for the tour bar to keep working when you hide the app (Walking a route).
Documented for app version 0.120.1 (updated 2026-09-26).
Machine translation — the Polish version prevails.