Hubstaff Mobile Application with GPS and Location Tracking
Download Hubstaff for iOS and Android Here
The mobile application does not record screenshots, activity levels, apps, or URLs. It can only record time and location information. In the Activity > Screenshots section, you will see thumbnails indicating where mobile time has been tracked. To learn more about the tracking functionalities of each available application, please click here.
Location tracking is available on Premium and Enterprise plans. For instructions on how to upgrade click here.
The Hubstaff mobile app uses GPS data to track your staff’s locations. Location tracking allows organization owners and managers to view current locations of their staff, their previous routes, and display time stamps showing where users were at specific times on the route.
Table of contents
The interactive map can show how long staff spent picking up supplies, or how long it took to get from place to place. You’ll never need to call a staff member to ask them where they are again. Log into Hubstaff on your computer and select the Maps page of the web dashboard or use the Map dashboard widget.
The mobile map is designed to view personal location-tracking information. Viewing all staff members through the app is currently under development.
Job Sites allows you to create a geofence around a particular location and track when users arrive and leave that location automatically.
Setting up the Mobile application
Step 1
The first step would be to download the app.
Click on the installations guides below:
Step 2
Enable Background app refresh on your device. This ensures data is uploaded to the web dashboard every ~10 minutes.
Step 3
Enable Location services on your mobile device.
Important:
- In order to track locations, organization owners or managers must enable Track Locations (Mobile Only) in the organization settings.
- Perform this step only when location tracking is required by your organization.
- The Location service setting should be set to Always and Precise Locations) on iOS and High Accuracy on Android to ensure seamless location recording.
- Cellular data must be enabled for Hubstaff in order to capture location when wi-fi is not available.
Step 4
After installing the app, you will be able to sign in using your Hubstaff credentials:
Step 5
Click the Play button next to a project to start tracking time to it and start keeping track of locations.
Viewing Location Maps
Mobile Map
You can view your team’s recent GPS locations, as well as your current locations via the mobile application.
Step 1
Tap the More icon then navigate to the Map section.
Step 2
The Map page will display location tracking records from when you and your team started tracking time to where you stopped tracking. Drag the slider up to see the full list of employee location-tracking information or search for team members using the search bar.
Step 3
Tap on a user to view their location data.
Step 4
You will see the employee’s location. Tap on Show routes to display their tracking information.
Step 5
The map will display the GPS points recorded. Tap on a GPS point to see the exact time the user was at that specific location. To learn more about how often GPS points are recorded, please click here.
Dashboard Map
Locations are also viewable in the Hubstaff web dashboard. Navigate to the Map section on the sidebar menu.
In this page, you’ll be able to view the details of the user’s whereabouts while tracking time.
Select a team member, then click the + and – buttons on the map to zoom in and see the recorded location points.
When are locations recorded?
The app will record locations when either:
- A user is tracking time, or;
- When the user’s device is set as a primary device and the organization has their location tracking setting set to “Always.”
While the app is location tracking, locations are recorded when:
- Your location changes significantly (iOS determines what changes are significant), or;
- In increments of ~150 meters while in motion
- When the user stops moving/becomes stationary.
Background app refresh and location services must be enabled for Hubstaff to be able to track locations.
Tracking time while inside a building with poor GPS reception may affect location tracking accuracy.
The Android app updates every 5 minutes.
On iOS, we can use deferred updates, which says send us changes in location once the total movement is > 150 meters or 5 minutes has elapsed. We have no control over the granularity of the locations in the deferred scenario, only how much total movement to queue up before sending us all the locations it collected.