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Imagine it’s a morning like any other. You’ve scheduled your trip as a Rider, and you’re curbside, patiently waiting for your Driver to arrive at 8 a.m. to take you to work. You glance at your Scoop app; it’s 7:59 a.m., and the Driver’s car hasn’t even moved on the map! Just as panic over how you’ll get to work creeps in, your Driver pulls up right on time.
One of the biggest reasons we ask you to set your location tracking to “Always Allow” in the Scoop app is to prevent scary moments like these. As you’ve probably figured out, creating great carpools requires cooperation and communication between Riders and Drivers. Location tracking is one of the best and easiest ways that Drivers can communicate their trip details and ETA to Riders. Likewise, Riders can use location tracking to improve the pickup experience for Drivers, helping the trip stay on time.
That’s not all! Here are a few other reasons sharing your location is important:
- Trip validation. Need to contest a cancellation charge? Location tracking to the rescue! Scoop uses location tracking to validate trip accuracy for promotions, incentives, and confirming all transactions. We’ve got you covered here.
- Safety. Did your car break down or get a flat tire? Location tracking helps our team respond swiftly and efficiently if an issue occurs during your trip.
- Improving Scoop routes. Want better routes for your trips? Our team reviews both travel paths taken and length of trips to improve our matching algorithm and keep delivering a better experience for carpoolers.
What does it actually mean when I set my location tracking to “Always Allow”?
Understandably, you may hesitate to turn your location tracking on, let alone to “Always Allow.” In the spirit of transparency, we wanted to provide more information on what you agree to when you give Scoop permission to track your location.
What happens when you select:
Always Allow
If this is your preference, your location will be tracked starting a few minutes before the estimated start time for each carpooler and will continue until a few minutes after the estimated endpoint for each carpooler. We track a few minutes on either end of the trip to account for trips that start early and/or end late.
Note: Scoop will never track your location outside of active trips.
Only While Using
If you set your preferences to allow location tracking “Only While Using,” Scoop will track your location under the same circumstances as above, but only if your Scoop app is open and in use. Unfortunately, that means if you begin your morning carpool without opening the Scoop app, or with the app operating in the background, Scoop can’t track your location.
We ask you to set your location tracking preferences to “Always Allow” instead of “Only While Using” so you can focus on your commute, instead of worrying about keeping the Scoop app open during your trip.
How do I turn on location tracking?
It’s simple! First, enable location permissions for Scoop through your phone’s settings. For iOS, you can read more here. For Android, read more here.
Schedule your next carpool, and be sure your location tracking is set to Always Allow.
