Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where do I download Locale?

    Locale is available as a paid app on the Android Market, as well as directly from the two forty four a.m. store.

  • Why does it sometimes take a while to update my situation?

    For most conditions (battery, time, contact), Locale will update immediately. For some conditions, such as location, orientation, or some plug-ins, it may take up to 10 minutes to detect a change in order to conserve battery life.

  • Why does Locale only seem to change my settings when I tap on the Locale icon?

    For most conditions Locale will update immediately, although certain conditions may take up to 10 minutes to update in order to conserve battery life. What you've noticed is that Locale will go ahead check your conditions again when the app is opened.

  • Why won't Locale detect my location?

    Locale uses a number of technologies to determine your location, including cell towers, Wi-Fi, and GPS. If Locale doesn't update your location, here are some troubleshooting tips:

    1. Wait a few minutes, since it may take up to 10 minutes for Locale to detect that your location has changed.
    2. Make sure that Network and GPS locations are both turned on under the Android system settings.
    3. Make sure that Wi-Fi Tethering ("Mobile Hotspot") and Airplane Mode are turned off.
    4. Move yourself to the location that you are interested in and create a new location condition. Wait for Locale to determine your location. Once the location is determined, notice the position of the pin and the size of the circle's radius. This is exactly what Locale sees based on GPS, Wi-Fi access points, and cell towers in your area. Save the location without resizing or moving the pin. Once you save the situation, Locale should accurately detect your location when you are standing in this spot.
    5. Train your Wi-Fi access point by using the "Train Wi-Fi Locations" feature under the Menu of the Location condition screen

  • Why does Wi-Fi keep turning on and off?

    Locale uses a number of technologies to determine your location, including cell towers, Wi-Fi access points, and GPS. If you have configured any location conditions smaller than 2,000 meters, Locale will periodically perform brief Wi-Fi scans (even if Wi-Fi is turned off) to determine your location. Periodic Wi-Fi scans are implicitly configurable, by making all locations 2,000 meters or larger in radius. Such a large size is required because cell tower locations are extremely inaccurate.

  • Why can't I get vibrating notifications for SMS?

    As an Android factory default, SMS messages do not have vibrating notifications. To enable this, open the Messaging app, then choose Settings from the menu. At the bottom of the settings is the option to configure vibrating SMS notifications.

Known Issues

  • Wi-Fi Tethering ("Mobile Hotspot") disrupts the Location condition, causing decreased location accuracy and increased battery usage. To work around this issue, please use USB tethering instead
  • Certain HTC phones such as the Incredible, Desire, and Evo 4G, will inaccurately attribute extreme battery usage to Locale when the Orientation condition is enabled. This is a reporting bug in the HTC ROM, as Locale's Orientation condition actually uses less than 1% of the battery. HTC is aware of the issue and is working on a fix
  • Android will inaccurately attribute battery usage to Wi-Fi when the Location condition is enabled. This is a reporting bug in Android, as Locale's actual Wi-Fi usage is typically less than 1%
  • On the HTC Incredible, Desire, Evo 4G, and Tattoo, the Contact condition cannot be used to reliably change the Volume setting due to a HTC bug. Locale is working properly, although the Dialer app doesn't properly recognize that the volume has changed. HTC is aware of the issue and is working on a fix
  • On the HTC Tattoo, the Brightness setting will not work
  • Due to a limitation in Android, changes in ringtone and vibrate options will not take effect once the phone has started ringing. (So using the Contact condition to change vibrate may not work, although changing the volume will work. For Contact-specific ringtones, please use the Android contact list)
  • Contact conditions created under Android 1.5 or 1.6 must be re-created if the phone is upgraded to Android 2.0 or later, due to significant and incompatible changes Google made to the contact list
  • On the HTC Desire, certain third party apps will trigger an HTC bug in the Manage Applications screen. Locale does not cause this issue, although many plug-ins do. HTC is working on a fix
  • Under Android 1.5, drag-and-drop re-prioritization of situations works poorly due to an Android bug
  • On the Motorola Cliq/DEXT, the Wallpaper setting cannot choose Wallpapers from the "Picture Gallery" due to a Motorola bug. The "Wallpaper Gallery" works fine. Motorola is aware of the issue and is working on a fix
  • On the Motorola Cliq/DEXT and Backflip, the phone may randomly reboot due to a Motorola bug. No other Motorola handsets are affected. Motorola is aware of the issue and is working on a fix. In the meantime, the workaround is to either avoid using the Location condition, or make all locations 2,000 meters or larger and disable Wi-Fi

Contact

If you have other questions, please direct them to: