SpotWalla App
Topics covered:
- What is the SpotWalla App?
- Installing & Permissions
- Phone Settings - Android
- Using the App
- Getting Help
SpotWalla App is a phone app that turns your phone into a tracking device. It integrates directly with SpotWalla.com. Use the app to document your travels and share them with family and friends.
Currently, the SpotWalla App is only available for Android devices. We are working hard to ensure the app is available to iOS users in the near future.
Currently, the app is available to a restricted number of users. We will submit the app to Google for public availability when testing is complete and we determine we have a viable product that will pass Google's scrutiny.
The latest version of the app can be found on the Google Play Store.
After the installation is complete, open the app. The first time the app starts you will be prompted to grant the permissions the app requires to function properly. This includes:
Location - Allow the app to access your precise location all the time. Without this permission, the app will not be able to track your location. It's extremely important to allow the precise location. Otherwise, some locations may be discarded by the accuracy filter which will compromise the app's tracing capabilities.
Notifications - Allow the app to send notifications. We will not spam you with notifications, but this permission is required for the app to be able to run in the background.
Camera & Pictures - Allow the app to access your camera, photos and videos while using the app. This will allow you to send messages and include a picture by either taking a picture or selecting one from your photo library.
After the permissions are set, the login page will appear. If you already have a SpotWalla account, there's no need to create a new account. Use the same email/password you use to log into the website.
Please see the Phone Settings section below. There are two critical settings that will affect the app's ability to operate.
Here are other device settings that will affect the app's ability to function properly. The red-colored settings are not optional. You must check these and ensure they're set properly so the app can run unabated by Android.
Battery Optimization
The app must have access to unrestricted battery usage in the background. Otherwise, the app will not be able to trace your route when it's not in the foreground. The result will be long straight lines on your trip.
Follow the steps below to configure this setting properly.
Find the SpotWalla icon on your phone. Press and hold the icon until the menu appears. Tap App info.
Find and tap App battery usage.
Tap Allow background usage.
Enable Allow background usage and choose the Unrestricted option.
Mobile Data Usage
We recommend excluding the app from any Data Saver restrictions. This will ensure the app can transmit your location data to SpotWalla without delay or restriction.
Follow the steps below to configure this setting properly.
Find the SpotWalla icon on your phone. Press and hold the icon until the menu appears. Tap App info.
Enable both Background data and Unrestricted mobile data usage options.
These are suggestions/observations made during the testing phase of the app. They are non-critical, but may help keep your phone and app running optimally.
Device Care
Turn power saving off. If you really want the Display dark, go into the settings Display and do it there. Automatic Dark/Light may not brighten up Spotwalla back to the light screen without a phone/app restart.
Battery Protection
This is personal preference, I use Basic to charge to 100% if I'm going on a ride, or taking a lot of photos. Adaptive is nice as it will only charge to 80% at night and then start charging to 100% before waking up. I wouldn't trust Adaptive expecting the phone to be at a particular level when I want it when going on a ride. The Maximum setting restricting the phone to 80% recommended or 85% for day to day use is the best to get the longest useful life of the phone battery.
Ram Plus
Turn Off. With the amount of memory in the S24 Ultra the Ram Plus is actually a detriment with the way most phones are used. I experimented and SpotWalla and other apps seemed a little more glitchy with Ram Plus enabled because of the phone trying to allocate memory.
Performance profile
Leave this in Standard. Sure, it can be changed to Light with the myth of saving a little battery, but it also effects the overall performance and SpotWalla seemed a little flakier. The qualifier is the light setting only works if it isn't playing games, then it reverts automatically to Standard. SpotWalla really needs the phone's full capability. Experimenting both ways I have found Standard works the best with or without Spotwalla and the phone takes care of itself.
Auto Optimization / Auto Restart
This is a gotcha waiting to happen. Yes the phone will work better if it is rebooted once a week, No I don't want it to happen because the phone feels like it. Turn off - Restart when needed. According to most of the articles it is annoying at best and may cause no end of grief at worst. Restart on schedule - Pick a setting when you will most likely be sleeping because the phone will restart automatically within 1 hour of the time you set. Mine is set for Thursday @ 4:30am. Make sure to restart Spotwalla if there isn't a third party app doing it.
Using the App
The first time the app starts, you'll see the login page. If you already have a SpotWalla account, enter your email address and password. If you don't have an account, you can create one.
Clicking the Create Account button will display the account page. All fields are required. Your first and last names will not be shared with other users. Your username may be shared so if anonymity is paramount, don't use a username that identifies you.
Please use a real email address. It's how we'll communicate with you. We don't spam our users and it will not be shared with third parties. Your password can be anything, but if security concerns you, and it should, we recommend using a secure password.
Once you login you'll see the control/options page. This is where you'll configure the app, start/stop tracing, view the status page and perform other tasks when needed.
The first step is to choose an existing device or create one. Clicking the Select or Create a Device button will display this page:
If you have devices, they will be listed above the Use The Selected Device button. You can choose any device in your account. If you want to create a new device, simply enter a name for the device and click the Create a Device button. Whether selecting or creating a device, you'll wind up back on the control page where you'll see the device.
Now that your device is selected, you can turn on tracing. When tracing is enabled, the app will send your location whenever a valid GPS location is received. Under the right circumstances, tracing will produce a detailed, turn-by-turn trace of the route traveled.
Be an Active Participant
Given all the optimizations, restrictions and other obstacles that modern applications have to adhere to in order to track your location, it's remarkable this application is even allowed to exist. The system is always look a reason to stop an app from consuming resources.
For these reasons it's not practical to expect the app to run 24/7/365 without your assistance.
We recommend you monitor the app to ensure it's still operational. When you're moving (e.g. overnight stops or other long-duration stops), turn off tracing to do your part to conserve precious phone resources. Before you start moving again, turn on tracing.
You can view real-time stats on the status page:
At the top of the page your current speed, elevation and direction will be displayed. Below that information is:
- Device ID - This is a unique identifier for your device and app installation. If you need to contact support, we may ask for this information if we're unable to determine it ourselves.
- User - This is the email address of your SpotWalla account.
- App Version - Current version of the SpotWalla App you're running.
- Buffered - All locations generated by the app are placed in a queue. This value is the number of locations on the queue waiting to be transmitted to SpotWalla. The background process responsible for processing the queue runs each minute and will process up to 100 locations.
- Last Location - The coordinates of your last location.
- Max Speed - This is max speed returned from your device. SpotWalla does not calculate your speed. It's returned as part of the location detail provided by your device.
- Elev Min/Max - This is the min/max elevation you encountered during the current tracing session.
- Breadcrumb Interval - This is the configured tracking interval. You cannot change this value in the app or in your SpotWalla account. The default value is 5 minutes.
- Distance Traveled - This is the distance the app calculates by summing the distance between consecutive locations. The distance formula is not controlled by the app. Instead, we ask the device to tell us the distance between the most recent location and the previous location. In our testing we've had excellent results - some optimistic and some pessimistic. However, this distance calculation is not as accurate as you'll get from a vehicle's odometer, a GPS or a quality mapping program.
The map will automatically pan/zoom to display your most recent location.
Sending a Custom Message
You can send a custom message at any time. Just tap the Send a Message button on the control page.
Choose the type of message you want to send. Optionally, you can include a text message. You can add a picture using the camera by tapping the Take a Photo button or select a photo from the photo library by tapping the Photo Library button.
When you're done, tap the Send this Message button. The app will determine your current location and add the message to queue.
Viewing/Sending Logs
The app keeps a log file of what it does and when it does it. If you're having issues with the app, we will ask you to submit the logs. You can also view the logs, but there's no need to do this unless you don't have anything better to do.
To submit the logs tap the Submit Logs button on the control page. When complete you'll see a dialog indicating it's complete and the number of bytes transferred.
All Other Functionality
While this app does an effective job of turning your phone into a tracking device, it does not yet allow to create a trip and share it with others. Trips are a vital part of SpotWalla. It's how you share your travels with family and friends.
And while trip management will be added to the app at some point, for now you must use the website to create trips and all other functionality.
If you have questions about or issues with the app, you can always send an email to SpotWalla Support.
We also created the SpotWalla Phone Apps Google Group. This is a community supported group that's also monitored by SpotWalla support.
SpotWalla Phone Apps Google Group
Anyone can request to join this group, but only SpotWalla account holders will be allowed to join and participate in the group.