Seeing Offline on your pet's tracker is unsettling, but don't worry — in almost every case it means one thing, and it's easy to fix.
Why this happens
The app shows Offline when two things are true: we haven't heard from the tracker for more than 2 hours, and its last battery reading was 20% or below. Put together, that almost always means the battery has run flat and the tracker has switched itself off.
Where you'll see it
| Where | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Status chips at the top of the map | A red Tracker is offline chip. When the tracker can't be reached at all, the whole row of chips collapses into that single chip. |
| Banner | "Tracker offline" — "Looks like your tracker's battery has run out. Charge it so it can report {pet}'s location." |
| Tracker status screen | "{Pet}'s tracker is off", with the lead line "The tracker's battery may be empty." |
Tip: Tap the chip at any time to open the Tracker status sheet for a plain-language explanation of the current state.
What to check first
- Look back through your notifications. If you got "{Pet}'s tracker was powered off" — "You won't receive location updates until it's back on." — then it was switched off rather than drained.
- Check whether you also received "{Pet}'s tracker battery is below 20%" or "{Pet}'s tracker battery is critically low" shortly before it went quiet. That confirms a flat battery.
- Remember what the map is showing you: the pin is your pet's last reported location, not necessarily where the tracker is right now. Check the freshness label in the drawer too — Offline there means the position is an hour or more old.
Step-by-step: charge the tracker
This is the fix in most cases. The app's own guidance is:
Pop the tracker on its charger. It will reconnect and start reporting again automatically once it has enough charge.
You don't need to re-pair anything or change any settings — it comes back on its own. The tracker charges over USB-C:
- Open the waterproof cover on the charging port.
- Plug in any USB-C cable.
- Use a standard charger rather than a fast charger.
- Watch the light: red usually means it's charging, green usually means it's fully charged.
- Close the cover again once you unplug it.
Please note: If the battery ran completely flat, give it 10 to 60 minutes on the charger before you expect any light at all. A deeply drained battery takes longer to respond.
[CONFIRM: roughly how long a full charge takes from empty.]
Notifications that confirm it's working
| When | What you'll get |
|---|---|
| It's on the charger | "{Pet}'s tracker is charging" — "You'll be notified when the battery is full." |
| The battery is full | "{Pet}'s tracker is fully charged" |
| The tracker powers back up | "{Pet}'s tracker was powered on" — "Tracking is active again." |
In the meantime, get close to your pet
If you're near your pet, your phone can link to the tracker directly over Bluetooth and keep updating their location without any mobile network — as long as the tracker still has enough charge to run.
While that Bluetooth link is live, the offline banner disappears entirely — a Bluetooth link counts as a working connection. You can still:
- see and update your pet's location (the GPS chip reads Proximity)
- start LIVE Tracking
- use Radar, the tracker light and tracker sounds
What you can't do is use + → Refresh — asking the tracker for a fresh network report needs a mobile connection, so that option is greyed out.
Please note: Settings that have to reach the tracker — virtual fences, power-saving zones, the live tracking timer, the tracker light — are only dimmed when the tracker is out of reach on the mobile network and Bluetooth.
If your phone loses touch completely
If the tracker is unreachable on the mobile network and out of Bluetooth range, you'll get:
Connection to {pet}'s tracker was lost — "The tracker is offline and out of Bluetooth range. We'll keep trying and update the location as soon as it reconnects."
If it still doesn't work
If the tracker stays Offline after a full charge, or it never comes back online at all, get in touch at support@askavet.com. It helps to include your Tracker ID and hardware version from the Tracker info screen, plus roughly when you last saw it connected.
Related articles - My tracker's battery is low, or it turned itself off - My tracker shows "Disconnected" or "Tracker can't reach the network" - When to contact Ask A Vet support about your tracker