Location Safety In Case of an Emergency

This month we saw the devastation that occurred in many parts of the world brought on by natural disasters: Hurricane Harvey and Irma in the US, floods in South Asia, and the recent earthquake in Mexico. They all contributed to very dangerous situations for local residents. While there is nothing worse than a family trying to contact loved ones in times like these, we at Life360 try to be a useful tool to help with communication, connection and peace of mind. Here are some ways you can use Life360 to help before, during and after the next emergency.

1. Check in: If you ever need to give a status update to your family, simply tap “Check in” and you share your location with your family, letting them know that you’re safe and sound.

2. Help alert: Incase of an immediate emergency, send a “Help Alert” and we’ll notify your emergency contact list with your location via email, in-app notification, text and a phone call. Often during these times phone lines may get jammed as families try to contact one another, but Life360 uses such a small amount of data that your location and safety status gets through to our system so we can keep sending out your info until everyone in your family gets it. Make sure you’re prepared by setting up your emergency contact list now.

3. Monitor battery life: In addition to location, Life360 also lists the battery life of users and notifies circle members. When your phone goes into low-power mode, it turns off certain GPS functionalities that degrade location accuracy. Stay charged!

4. Increase location accuracy by keeping your Wi-Fi on: Turning on WiFi on your device dramatically improves location accuracy, even if you are not actively connected to a WiFi network. Your device uses the WiFi sensor to detect nearby WiFi  base stations and narrow your exact location based on that information.  With WiFi on, your device can quickly locate you within the bounds of a building, but with WiFi off your location accuracy can be off by more than a mile, as your device needs to rely on less precise location inputs (e.g., the location of cell phone towers).