Three gates
Location can be enabled for the device and still unavailable to one app.
Outdoor navigation sits behind several controls. The operating system needs Location Services or Location switched on. The particular app then needs permission. Finally, the permission may specify accuracy and when access is allowed. A change at any one level can alter the position shown on the route.
The phone or watch must allow its location services to operate.
The navigation app must have the permission it requested for the current task.
The system may provide a close position or a deliberately broader area.
Permission and platform rules can change what is available after switching apps or locking the display.
Permission does not guarantee a good satellite fix. It only lets the app request the location the system can provide. Sky view and receiver conditions still affect accuracy.
Close route comparison
Approximate location can be too broad for a narrow path.
Apple lets a user turn Precise Location on or off for an app. Android 12 and later lets a user grant precise or approximate location when an app asks for both. Approximate access is useful for services that need only a general area, but an outdoor navigation screen often needs to compare your position with a line only a few metres away.
A large location circle or a marker centred on the wider area can therefore be a privacy setting rather than poor satellite reception. Check the permission before concluding that the receiver is faulty. Do not change access for unrelated apps as part of the diagnosis.
After the screen changes
Foreground and background are operating-system concepts, not quality grades.
Permission while an app is in use normally covers active interaction. Continuing location work after the screen locks or another app opens can involve additional platform rules and app implementation. On Android, a user-visible foreground service is one recognised pattern for navigation or fitness work that continues while another app is open. Background location is a separate permission and should not be assumed to be necessary for every navigator.
Apple offers choices such as While Using the App, Allow Once and, where an app requests it, background access. The exact choices shown depend on the request and system version. Grant only the level needed for the feature you have chosen, and read the explanation supplied with the request.
It would be wrong to say that every route app requires Always
or Android background location. The correct setting depends on what that app actually does when navigation is active.
A clean diagnosis
Check access before changing battery and map settings.
- System
Confirm device location is on.
Use the operating system's privacy or location settings, not an icon inside the map alone.
- App
Read the permission currently granted.
Check whether access is denied, one-time, limited to active use or allowed in another stated mode.
- Detail
Check precise or approximate access.
Enable precise access only if it is appropriate for the navigation task and you accept the app's stated use.
- Test
Repeat one controlled route check.
Observe the marker with the app open, then in the exact screen state you intend to use.
If permission is correct but the position still wanders, continue with how accurate phone GPS is rather than widening access further.
Sources & scope
What this answer is based on.
- Apple Support: privacy and Location Services
- Android Developers: request location access at runtime
- Android Developers: location use for real-world scenarios
The permission descriptions follow current Apple and Android documentation. Individual apps decide which permissions they request and how an active navigation session runs.