You don't need to keep the app open on screen to watch your walk tick along. Your phone shows live walk figures without unlocking, and the way that looks depends on whether you're on iPhone or Android.
Jump to:
- On iPhone — the Lock Screen card and Dynamic Island
- On Android — the ongoing walk notification
- If nothing shows up
On iPhone — the Lock Screen card and Dynamic Island
While a walk is running, Ask A Vet shows a live card on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.
The card header tells you what the walk is doing:
| Walk state | Card header |
|---|---|
| Recording | Walking {your pet's name} |
| Paused | {your pet's name} · Paused |
| Out of range | {your pet's name} · Out of range |
| Saving the walk | {your pet's name} · Saving walk |
The card shows three figures: Time, Distance (km) and Speed (km/h). In the expanded Dynamic Island view these are labelled Time, Distance (km) and km/h.
The timer keeps counting on its own between updates, so it stays accurate even when you're standing still and no new location readings are coming in. While the walk is paused, it shows a frozen snapshot rather than a running clock.
Please note: The Lock Screen card needs iOS 16.2 or newer, with Live Activities enabled for Ask A Vet. If either isn't the case, no card appears — but your walk still records perfectly normally.
Tip: If the card ever stops moving, it will mark itself as out of date after an hour rather than showing you stale figures as if they were current. Open the app to get the true numbers. This can happen if iOS shuts the app down partway through a walk.
On Android — the ongoing walk notification
Android shows a persistent notification for the whole walk, in the Walk in progress notification channel.
- The title reads Walking {your pet's name}
- The body is the live stats line, for example 2.4 km · 24:07, refreshed at most every 5 seconds
Tap the notification at any time to re-open the app — the GPS Tracker screen puts you straight back into the walk.
If nothing shows up
On Android, if the walk can't run in the background you'll see the message "Background tracking is unavailable — keep the app open to record this walk." As it says, leave the app open on screen for the rest of that walk.
On iPhone, check that Live Activities are switched on for Ask A Vet in your phone's settings, and that you're on iOS 16.2 or newer.
Related articles - How to start, pause and finish a walk - Why does a walk need Bluetooth? - My walk was saved automatically, or I couldn't finish it - My walk paused by itself or says "Reconnecting to Tracker"