Basic Setup & Permissions

Why do I need "Always" location permission and Background App Refresh?

If you want MeTrail to keep completing your timeline after the screen is locked, the app is in the background, or you reopen it later, you need both "Always" location access and Background App Refresh. The app mainly relies on iOS visit events and geofencing to fill in arrivals, departures, and stay duration.

Steps:

1. Open iOS Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > MeTrail, set permission to Always, and turn on Precise Location.
2. Open iOS Settings > General > Background App Refresh and keep MeTrail enabled.
3. Return to the app and check More > Settings > Location Permission.

Notes:

• MeTrail is not a turn-by-turn navigation app. It mainly fills in records from system events.
• If you only allow While Using the App, background records and reminders will be incomplete.

Why aren't notifications showing, and how do I restore permissions after denying them?

Arrival and departure reminders need both system notification permission and the in-app switch. After you decline once, iOS stops showing the same prompt repeatedly, so recovery must be done in Settings.

Steps:

1. Open iOS Settings > MeTrail > Notifications and enable Allow Notifications.
2. Open More > Settings > Notification Settings and turn on Enable Notifications.
3. Configure Arrival Sound, Departure Sound, Notify arrival at the same location, and Keep only the latest arrival/departure notification as needed.
4. If you denied location access earlier, return to iOS Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > MeTrail and restore permission there.

Notes:

• Reminders are triggered by arrival, departure, and region-exit events. There is no custom scheduled push time.
• Focus modes and Low Power Mode can delay reminders.

Location Recording Accuracy

Why doesn't a visit appear in real time, and why can departure time show up later?

This is normal. MeTrail uses Apple's visit-recording model rather than second-by-second navigation tracking. In most cases it records the arrival first, then fills in departure time and dwell time after iOS confirms you have actually left or reached the next stop.

Steps:

1. Open Today Overview or Visit Activity to check the latest records for the day.
2. If you just left a place, wait for the next visit event to arrive from iOS.
3. If nothing updates for a long time, recheck permissions in More > Settings > Location Permission and in the system background settings.

Notes:

• Reopening the app can flush pending visit events that were still waiting in the background.
• If you only see an arrival time, iOS is usually still waiting for a later departure signal.

How do I make location matching more accurate and reduce duplicate visits?

You can tune both the global matching rules and the range of a single location. Global settings affect the overall detection radius, while location-specific tools help you fix places that are often offset or too large.

Steps:

1. Open More > Settings > General Setting and adjust Accuracy and Geofence Radius.
2. Open a location detail page and use More actions > Location Settings > Set Flexible Boundary, Adjust Location, or Inverse Geocoding.
3. If you already have a chain of near-duplicate records, turn on More > Settings > General Setting > Auto Merge Similar Visits, or open More > Settings > Maintenance Tools and tap Run Merge Now.

Notes:

• A larger geofence radius is steadier, but nearby places are easier to merge together.
• Large malls, campuses, parks, and scenic areas often benefit from a custom flexible boundary.

Data Management & Security

How do I enable iCloud Sync and iCloud Drive Sync?

The sync page has separate switches for database sync and file sync. The first sends visit data to your iCloud database. The second syncs photos and files and shows backup and restore actions after it is enabled.

Steps:

1. Open More > Settings > Sync Settings.
2. Turn on iCloud Sync.
3. If you also want photos and files to follow across devices, turn on iCloud Drive Sync.
4. After file sync is enabled, use the backup and restore buttons on the same page.

Notes:

• Every device must be signed in with the same Apple ID.
• Sync is asynchronous, so the first pass can take some time after you enable it.

How do I export visit data, and which formats are available?

Advanced Export can export visits as CSV, JSON, TXT, GPX, and KML. You can filter by date range, favorite status, and archived status, then decide whether to include notes and whether to compress the output as a zip file.

Steps:

1. Open More > Settings > Advanced Export.
2. Choose a date range, then enable Favorites only or Archived only if needed.
3. Select one or more export formats.
4. Turn on Include notes or Compress to zip when needed.
5. Tap Export in the top-right corner, then save or send the file through the system share sheet.

Notes:

• GPX and KML require heavier path generation and usually take longer than text formats.
• CSV is usually the easiest format to sort and review in a spreadsheet.

Core Feature Guide

How do Today Overview, Memory Capsule, and visit sharing work together?

Today Overview is the daily control center for the map, timeline, and summary metrics. Memory Capsule lets you quickly write down a thought for the latest visit. Sharing generates either a map image or a map image plus a text summary.

Steps:

1. Open Today Overview from the home tab. If you hid the tab, open More > More Features > Today Overview.
2. Review the daily summary for location count, stay duration, and route on the map.
3. When Memory Capsule appears, tap Capture note to save a quick text memory.
4. Tap the share button on the Today card and choose Image Only or Image with Text.

Notes:

• Memory Capsule visibility, summary switches, and auto-dismiss timing can be adjusted in More > Settings > Interface Setting > Home UI Configuration > Today Home Tab.
• Visit sharing uses the system share sheet and does not generate external app links.

How do I search places, cities, tags, and past visits?

Location Search and Visits Search serve different jobs. Location Search is better for places, cities, and tags. Visits Search is better for recalling a specific experience and regrouping results by date or place type.

Steps:

1. Open Location Search, search for a place, city, or tag, then narrow results with Favorites, Frequent, With Notes, Tagged, Long Stay, and Recent.
2. Open Visits Search and type a place name, tag, or note keyword.
3. In Visits Search, enable the has photos or has notes filters when needed, and switch grouping between Date and Place Type.
4. Both search pages keep Recent searches so you can rerun common queries quickly.

Notes:

• Location Search also supports switching results by city.
• Visits Search is better for replaying a story, while Location Search is better for managing your place library.

Advanced Features

How do I manage home tabs, Today summary, and the Footprints summary capsule?

Home UI Configuration controls tab order, tab display style, and the summary behavior used by Today and Footprints.

Steps:

1. Open More > Settings > Interface Setting > Home UI Configuration.
2. In Home Tabs, drag items to reorder them.
3. In Today Home Tab, configure Show today card, Show Today summary, Refresh Today summary automatically, and Memory Capsule Auto Dismiss.
4. In Footprints Home Tab, configure Summary Capsule.
5. Return to More > Settings > Interface Setting and change Tab Display Mode to Icon Only or Title and Icon if needed.

Notes:

• Changes take effect on the home page immediately.
• If you keep many tabs, move the ones you open most often to the front.

How do Tag Management, Visit Archives, notes, and photos work best together?

These four features form a practical long-term review workflow. Tags organize the data, archives hide noise, and notes or photos preserve the context behind each visit.

Steps:

1. Open More > More Features > Tag Management to create and reorder the tags you use most.
2. In a visit detail page, open More actions and use Visit Notes, Add Photos, or Edit Tags.
3. In a location detail page, open More actions and use Custom location name, Edit Notes, or Add Photos to make familiar places easier to recognize.
4. Open More > More Features > Visit Archives, search archived records, swipe right to Restore, or use Empty Archive when you are ready to clear them.

Notes:

• Visit notes support Markdown, which is useful for timestamps, short lists, and quick memories.
• Photo notes stay with the related visit and make later review easier.

Performance & Battery

Why doesn't MeTrail consume battery like a navigation app?

Usually, no. MeTrail mainly depends on iOS visit events and geofencing. It does not keep the GPS running at navigation frequency all day, so it is designed for long-term life logging rather than live navigation.

Notes:

• You still need Always location permission so iOS can deliver background events.
• Raising Accuracy does not turn MeTrail into live navigation. It only changes the reference used during matching.

How do Low Power Mode, geofence radius, and notification settings affect the experience?

Low Power Mode and background restrictions can slow down event delivery. Geofence radius affects how loosely places are matched. Notification settings decide whether reminders repeat too often or stay focused on the newest event.

Steps:

1. Open More > Settings > General Setting to adjust Geofence Radius.
2. Open More > Settings > Notification Settings to adjust Notify arrival at the same location and Keep only the latest arrival/departure notification.
3. If you want the most stable experience, avoid leaving Background App Refresh off or staying in Low Power Mode for long periods.

Notes:

• A larger radius is steadier. A smaller radius is more detailed.
• If reminders repeat too often for one place, check whether same-location arrival reminders should stay on.

Troubleshooting

How do I fix time conflicts, shifted locations, or wrong place names?

The app already includes repair entries for common issues. Start with a single location fix, then move to batch repair only if you still need it.

Steps:

1. For one shifted location, open a location detail page and use More actions > Location Settings > Adjust Location, Set Flexible Boundary, or Inverse Geocoding.
2. For visit time conflicts or missing departure time, open More > Settings > Maintenance Tools > Visit Repair.
3. To batch merge near-duplicate records, open More > Settings > Maintenance Tools and tap Run Merge Now.
4. If many place names need to be refreshed, use More > Settings > Maintenance Tools > Refresh GeoLocation.
5. If data references are broken, try Data Repair or Repair Visit Device References.

Notes:

• Reset App Settings resets preferences. It does not mean all visit data will be deleted.
• Fixing one place first and then running batch repair is usually easier to verify.

Where should I check when sync looks wrong, search results are off, or the app keeps failing?

Start with sync switches and active filters first. In many cases that already explains the problem. If it still looks wrong, move on to logs. Many "missing" results come from old search filters that are still active or from data that has not finished syncing yet.

Steps:

1. Open More > Settings > Sync Settings and confirm that iCloud Sync or iCloud Drive Sync is still enabled.
2. In Location Search or Visits Search, clear the current keyword, city, and filters, then run the search again.
3. Open More > Settings > Logs to inspect recent errors and share the log file when needed.
4. If you need help from the developer, use More > Settings > Feedback or More > Settings > Bug Report.

Notes:

• Archived visits do not appear in the main lists. Check Visit Archives when something seems to be missing.
• If the issue is only sync delay, reopening the app and waiting for a while is often more effective than changing settings immediately.