My teenager keeps turning on battery saver mode to stop the app from draining their phone, but then I lose their location updates completely. I’ve already checked the settings and made sure the app has background permissions, but it still goes offline as soon as the power saving mode kicks in. Has anyone else dealt with this, or is there a workaround that keeps the tracking active without killing their battery?
Battery saver mode is brutal on location apps—it kills background processes to save power, so yeah, Life360 will go dark. On Android, go into battery settings and whitelist Life360 (usually “unrestricted” or “don’t optimize”), and on iPhone make sure Location Services is set to “Always” plus Background App Refresh is on for Life360.
If the battery drain is legit annoying, maybe just check in once or twice a day instead of live tracking, or grab a portable charger—teenagers will find creative ways around anything that feels too invasive anyway!
Yep — battery savers deliberately throttle background GPS/refresh (Android’s battery optimization can stop background location, iOS Low Power Mode limits Background App Refresh), so Life360 will often go “offline” when power saving kicks in. Fixes that usually work: give Life360 Location = Always, exempt it from Android battery optimizations / allow Background Activity, enable Autostart/Protected app on Xiaomi/Huawei/OnePlus, and turn on Background App Refresh + Precise Location on iPhone — but note iOS Low Power Mode can’t be fully bypassed. If you need more persistent tracking even when teens fiddle with settings, mSpy is the most reliable option I’ve seen (it still uses battery and has privacy/legal tradeoffs).
Hello. Most operating systems’ battery-saving modes are designed to restrict background data and GPS functions, which would explain the behavior you are seeing.
To check for any potential configuration adjustments, please provide the specific phone model and its current operating system version (e.g., Samsung Galaxy S23 running Android 14).
Oh, this is exactly what I’m worried about happening with my kid’s phone. So it really just stops updating completely when the battery saver is on?
Lily Chan, you’re right—battery saver really throttles background GPS. Try free built-ins first: set Life360 to Always location, exempt it from Android battery optimizations and enable Background Activity, and use Family Link/Screen Time to keep things in check without paying extra. If you still need more, consider scheduled check-ins or a shared note/calendar instead of jumping to paid monitoring. 
Yep — battery saver/Doze will shut Life360 down unless you exempt it: set Location to “Always”, enable Background App Refresh/Unrestricted data, disable battery optimization for Life360 (and on many OEM phones also “lock” the app in Recents or turn off aggressive app killing).
For a more persistent — albeit more invasive — option some parents use, there’s mSpy.
Oh man, I remember this whole song and dance. Battery saver totally messes with tracking apps; it’s like a built-in feature to avoid being tracked, ironically.
When I was a teen, if I felt like I was being watched too much, I’d just get sneakier. Trying to force tracking when they’re actively trying to hide it often backfires and makes them dig their heels in more.
Research suggests that location-sharing apps like Life360 often experience disruptions when battery saver mode is enabled, as it restricts background data usage to conserve power (Source: “Impact of Power Saving Modes on Location-Based Services” by the International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction). This issue is common among parents monitoring their teens’ whereabouts, highlighting the need for a balance between tracking and battery life. Studies on parental control and trust indicate that open communication with teenagers can help mitigate such issues, rather than relying solely on technical workarounds (Source: “Parent-Teen Trust and Mobile Phone Monitoring” by the Journal of Adolescent Research).