My child turns off location — what should parents do?

You open the map and see "location not updated for 3 hours". First comes worry, then hurt: "He turned it off on purpose." Sometimes that's true. But much more often the reason is boring — and the answer isn't to tighten the screws.

First, check: maybe nobody turned anything off

Location can stop arriving without the child doing anything:

• The phone is saving battery. Many Android phones put background apps to sleep on their own — especially Xiaomi, Huawei, and Samsung in power-saving mode.
• "Location" is off in the quick settings — tapped by accident along with other icons.
• No signal, or the battery died. The map then shows the last point and when it arrived.
• Indoors the location "drifts". Over Wi-Fi and cell towers the error is 100–200 m, so it looks like your child is "somewhere else".

A good app tells you the reason. KidPair, for example, shows both the adult and the child "location is off" or "supervision is stopped" — and what exactly to turn on. If the location doesn't update

If they turn it off on purpose — ask why

Teens don't switch off location because they're "hiding something". The most common reasons:

1. "You don't trust me." Constant map-checking feels like distrust. The more control, the stronger the urge to get around it.
2. "It's not fair." The child doesn't know what parents see and when they look.
3. "It drains my battery." Sometimes true, sometimes a handy excuse.
4. They want personal space. At 12–15 this is a normal part of growing up.

A conversation works better than a ban. Not "why did you turn it off?!", but "let's agree on something that lets us both feel calm".

How to agree on it: 5 steps

1. Explain why you need the location. Not "to watch you", but "so I don't panic when you don't answer, and so I can find you if something happens".
2. Show what you actually see. Open the app together. Let your child see what you see.
3. Agree on places instead of constant watching. "I just need to know you got to school and got home." Arrive/leave notifications take away the urge to open the map every ten minutes.
4. Give a choice. For a teen, location and contact are often enough — no limits, no blocking.
5. Agree on what happens if the location disappears. For example: "If I can't see you and you don't answer for 30 minutes, I'll call Grandma / your friend / your teacher." A rule both sides know in advance doesn't feel like punishment.

How to set it up so the location doesn't disappear

• Turn off battery optimization for the parental control app and allow autostart in the phone maker's settings.
• Give location permission "Allow all the time", not "Only while using the app".
• Don't turn off the app's notification — on many phones Android stops background work without it.

In KidPair every setup step has a "How to do it" button with step-by-step instructions, and there's a separate page for the special settings on Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung and others. To keep GPS from draining the battery, location is "smart": while your child is at home or at school it updates every few minutes, on the move every 10–20 seconds. How smart location works

To be honest: it can always be switched off

No app can — or should — make it impossible for a child to turn off location on their own phone. The goal isn't to take that ability away; it's to make them not want to use it. And to let you know right away when the location is gone — not three hours later.

That's why in KidPair the child always sees that the app is on and what adults can see, on the "What adults can see" screen. Location is as accurate as the phone and network allow. Where your child is now

How to try KidPair

KidPair runs on Android 10 and newer. Both apps are on Google Play: for the adult and for the child.