If the pin hasn't moved for a while, or it's sitting somewhere your pet clearly isn't, don't worry — there's almost always a straightforward reason. The app can usually tell you exactly why: start by tapping any status pill at the top of the map — the tracker status screen names the reason in plain language. Then work through the checks below.
Jump to:
- What to check first
- Why the pin can stay put
- "No GPS signal"
- Why the location says "approximate"
- Reading the freshness label
- Step-by-step fixes
- If it still doesn't work
What to check first
- How old is the position? Look at the freshness label in the map drawer — see Reading the freshness label below.
- Is there a "Last seen" label on the marker? Last seen · 12m ago means the position's source has gone quiet. If your pet was last seen entering a safe zone and never seen leaving, you'll get Last seen at {zone} · 12m ago instead, up to a maximum of 2 hours.
- Is your pet in a Power Saving Zone? Then the pin is the zone's saved spot, not a live fix — and that's on purpose. Inside a Power Saving Zone the tracker deliberately stops using GPS to save battery, so the GPS pill disappears and the pin stays put. The drawer switches to an "Updated {age} ago" line based on the last time we heard from the tracker, so you can still see it's alive.
- Is the tracker offline? A Tracker offline or Tracker disconnected banner means the map is showing the last position it received, not where the tracker is now. If the tracker can't reach us at all, no new locations can arrive — charging and coverage are what to check.
- Has the tracker ever reported a location? If your tracker is paired but has never sent a position, there'll be no pet marker on the map and a banner reading "Waiting for tracker location" — "Your tracker hasn't sent a location yet — {pet} will appear on the map as soon as it does."
Why the pin can stay put
Ask A Vet only moves the pin for a position it trusts. Anything that reports itself as accurate to worse than 100 m is rejected — so if your tracker currently only has a rough mast-based estimate, the map deliberately holds on to the last good position rather than throwing your pet across the neighbourhood.
The same idea applies to staleness: a mast-based estimate goes stale after 10 minutes, a Power Saving Zone position is never treated as stale, and everything else goes stale once its normal window has passed.
"No GPS signal"
This is the most common one, and it's rarely a fault. The status screen explains:
This is common indoors. The tracker keeps trying to get a GPS fix. It usually locks on again quickly once it can see open sky.
You may also see the banner "GPS signal lost" — "Your tracker has temporarily lost its GPS signal. The last known location is shown and will update automatically once GPS is available again."
What helps: get your pet somewhere with a clearer view of the sky. The app also suggests starting a LIVE tracking session, which "can help the tracker re-acquire a location faster."
Why the location says "approximate"
Approximate means the position was estimated from nearby mobile masts or Wi-Fi rather than GPS, so it's a rough area rather than an exact spot. It usually sharpens up as soon as the tracker gets a GPS fix again. You'll see one of these when the pin is an estimate rather than a real GPS fix:
| Banner | What it says |
|---|---|
| Approximate location | "Around {address} — approximate location" — the pin is the centre of a safe zone or no-go zone, and the blue circle matches the size of that zone. |
| GPS signal unavailable | "Location is currently estimated using nearby cell towers and may be less accurate than GPS." |
| Approximate location only (during a LIVE session) | "GPS is unavailable, so the live location is estimated using nearby cell towers. The circle shows the approximate area." |
Reading the freshness label
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Now | The fix is less than 2 minutes old |
| 5 minutes ago (or similar) | Between 2 minutes and 1 hour old |
| Offline | An hour or older, or no fix at all |
| Last seen {age} or Last seen at {zone} · {age} | The pin is a stale position |
Step-by-step fixes
- Ask for a fresh report. Tap + on the map and choose Refresh — you'll see "Tracker refresh request sent." This needs the tracker's own mobile signal, so it's unavailable when the tracker is reachable over Bluetooth only.
- Start a short LIVE session — the quickest way to make the tracker hunt for a new GPS fix.
- Help it see the sky. GPS struggles indoors and under thick tree cover.
- Pin your Power Saving Zone if the map nudges you with "Set where {zone} is so the map shows the right spot".
- Check the tracker's battery and mobile signal — a flat or out-of-coverage tracker can't report anything new.
Please note: the all-pets map on the home screen reads each tracker's last stored position directly, so it can differ slightly from the pin on the pet's own GPS Tracker map. Treat the pet's own map as the detailed view.
If it still doesn't work
If the tracker is charged, online, outdoors and still hasn't updated for several hours, get in touch with support [CONFIRM: support contact channel and address].
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