How Automatic Trip Tracking Works

SmartMiles uses your phone's GPS and motion sensors to detect driving automatically. You do not need to press start or stop — it all happens in the background.

Trip detection

The app listens for vehicle motion using your phone's activity recognition. When it detects that you are in a vehicle, it begins recording GPS points. When it detects that you have stopped (based on a period of no movement), it ends the trip.

Trips are processed on our servers after they end. Processing includes:

• Snapping the GPS path to actual roads using map matching
• Calculating the driving distance
• Reverse-geocoding start and end addresses
• Generating a map image of the route

This usually takes a few seconds. You will receive a notification when a new trip is ready to classify (if notifications are enabled).

Background tracking

For automatic detection to work, SmartMiles needs to run in the background. This requires the "Always Allow" location permission on both iOS and Android.

The app uses efficient background tracking that minimizes battery impact. It only records GPS points while you are actively driving — it does not continuously track your location throughout the day.

What counts as a trip

A trip is recorded when:

• The app detects vehicle motion
• The driving distance is at least 600 meters (about 0.4 miles)
• The trip has a clear start and stop

Very short movements (like moving your car in a parking lot) are filtered out automatically.

When tracking might not work

• Location permissions are not set to "Always Allow"
• Battery saver or low power mode is restricting background apps
• The phone was powered off during the drive
• The app was force-closed from the app switcher

See Troubleshooting: Why a trip might not appear for more details.