Geofence not working

[ReiWei]

So, it's petty much all there in the title.

Up to this latest release, my geofence triggers worked every single time, perfectly. Now, they almost never work, and I either have to check my location in MacroDroid or, usually, restart my phone entirely.

As they worked one day, and not the next, and that day coincided with the new version update... I'm going to go ahead and assume it's not my phone (though my pos z fold 3 does indeed seem to be causing a lot of issues.)

Any ideas on how to get the fences to work consistently, am I the only one experiencing this (I did a search, and didn't find anything)?

Thank you for any help anyone may provide.

 

[MacroDroidDev]

I have not had any other complaints about this happening with the latest MacroDroid update so I'm fairly sure it's not related to the update unless you have some very specific usage pattern that only applies to you. Firstly are you certain the problem is with the triggers not firing or could it be somehow the actions are not working as they used to (You can check you system log to verify this).

The Geofences rely on functionality in Google Play services to function so it can be some update to the Play Services libary that screws things up from time to time. One thing you can try is clearing the application data of the Play services library and rebooting as this can sometimes resolves these kinds of issues.

If all else fails you can change to use the location trigger. In theory it might use a little more battery but if you have an update rate of 5 minutes or slower I think any difference will be negligible.

 

[shantnu]

I am facing similar problem and I have noticed in the system log that my geofences are getting disabled automatically. I have not been able to determine any pattern/reason when and why geofences are disabled. Since the geofence is disabled it does not trigger the macro.
Just FYI, I checked and the app has got location access at all times and also the location is enabled.
Can you please check why geofences are getting disabled by themselves?

 

[ErikM66]

I've been having the same problem for about 2 weeks. In the past, Geofence worked without any problems. I checked and all location permissions and location services are turned on. Therefore, use the location trigger for the time being. I work on Android 14 (Samsung A55).

 

[Alex Heil]

I have similar Problem with my yet old Samsung A7-2018 (SM-A750F) and Android 10.
Since couple of Months, some updates before, it stops to set the geofence where I am positionend.
Sometimes it keeps the last geofence from which I am yet outside as valid, and does not update position id I enter another one.
It seems like it just "thinks" position hasn't changed!
I tryed to switch positioning OFF/ON, but this does not seem to help. Sometimes it looks like to get fixed wihout any action from my side.
Thou, the best way to get geofences working properly again is restarting the phone.

 

[Shiffo]

It's not working reliable for me either. But never used it before, so i cant confirm whether it would have worked for me on early versions.
As @shantnu said the log does shows that it sometimes disables but re enables right away for me.

In my case aparently the location doesnt update when it should therefore it doesnt trigger.
Tested using goblal contraint "test constraint" geofence area entry/exit, shows incorrect values

 

[MacroDroidDev]

I've been having a good look into this and have found a scenario where I believe the Geofence subscription removal takes too long to happen so in some case where it is quickly removed and added again, the add actually happens first and the removal second meaning there is no Geofence subscription enabled when it should be.

I'm going to put a fix into the next beta update 5.44.4 which should hopefully be available in the next few days.

 

[Shiffo]

So, it's petty much all there in the title.

Up to this latest release, my geofence triggers worked every single time, perfectly. Now, they almost never work, and I either have to check my location in MacroDroid or, usually, restart my phone entirely.

As they worked one day, and not the next, and that day coincided with the new version update... I'm going to go ahead and assume it's not my phone (though my pos z fold 3 does indeed seem to be causing a lot of issues.)

Any ideas on how to get the fences to work consistently, am I the only one experiencing this (I did a search, and didn't find anything)?

Thank you for any help anyone may provide.

It still doesn't work for me even with the new patch. Did it work for the rest?
Have a nice day

 

[Nawepej]

I can confirm I also have the same geofence triggering issues.

 

[mick28]

Me too switched to location and my phone battery now hates me LOL

 

[MacroDroidDev]

But do you see the same issue with 5.44.4 / 5.44.5?

 

[shantnu]

Just one more observation. I have noticed that my geofences are automatically disabled if I use the macro to display a bubble notification which can be cleared. The text of bubble notification is Disable Wifi.
However if instead of Display Notification, I use Floating Text then my geofences are not automatically disabled.
Not sure if there is any link between the two and if yes then what is the link between these two.

 

[Shiffo]

But do you see the same issue with 5.44.4 / 5.44.5?

In my case yes

 

[Shiffo]

I've been having a good look into this and have found a scenario where I believe the Geofence subscription removal takes too long to happen so in some case where it is quickly removed and added again, the add actually happens first and the removal second meaning there is no Geofence subscription enabled when it should be.

I'm going to put a fix into the next beta update 5.44.4 which should hopefully be available in the next few days.

An update: i've had a macro running for testing the geofence for a few days, and only worked after a reboot or on some other rare cases.
But yesterday i also created a macro using location trigger. Now the geofence trigger works.
I guess it means that (at least in my case) the location itself wasn't updating properly so the geofence didnt trigger correctly.
Hope it helps figuring out the problem

 

[Shiffo]

So, it's petty much all there in the title.

Up to this latest release, my geofence triggers worked every single time, perfectly. Now, they almost never work, and I either have to check my location in MacroDroid or, usually, restart my phone entirely.

As they worked one day, and not the next, and that day coincided with the new version update... I'm going to go ahead and assume it's not my phone (though my pos z fold 3 does indeed seem to be causing a lot of issues.)

Any ideas on how to get the fences to work consistently, am I the only one experiencing this (I did a search, and didn't find anything)?

Thank you for any help anyone may provide.

Do people here (with this problem) use google maps?
I didnt (i had it installed but never used it). I used it the other day and it asked me for location permissions. And now my geofence triggers works. I can't be 100% certain but I believe that solved it, since my location wasnt updating properly before..
What do you think? @MacroDroidDev
I drop it here perhaps it helps some of you!

 

[MacroDroidDev]

@Shiffo In theory it shouldn't matter if you use Google Maps or not but it's impossible to tell if that could be a factor as the Play Services library doesn't expose any implementation details (It seems a plausible cause given your experience). I suspect 99% of users will have used Google Maps and granted it permission so if this was an issue it wouldn't be widespread in any case.

I haven't really heard of widespread Geofence issues in 5.44, so I'm hopeful this has solved the major underlying problem that was in V5.38

 

[Shiffo]

@Shiffo In theory it shouldn't matter if you use Google Maps or not but it's impossible to tell if that could be a factor as the Play Services library doesn't expose any implementation details (It seems a plausible cause given your experience). I suspect 99% of users will have used Google Maps and granted it permission so if this was an issue it wouldn't be widespread in any case.

I haven't really heard of widespread Geofence issues in 5.44, so I'm hopeful this has solved the major underlying problem that was in V5.38

Yes. Thank you ^.^

 

[ReiWei]

Not that anyone cares , I forgot I posted this (and never got email notifications for some reason).

I had the exact problem of the location not updating to leave a set location. And then more strangely, when I got to another set location it said I was there, too. (I made a macro just so I could test my fences, and it would say I was in two places at once)

It worked so sporadically, I just gave up on it for now and use other things to trigger my macro. I haven't checked on it yet with the new version. But for me it would work for days, and then go awol all of a sudden. So I kinda don't really feel like messing with it anymore right now.