Yeah nah
Family Safety location tracking not working
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Anonymous
Hello. I have two children with Android phones (Samsung S21's). We have used Microsoft Family Safety for a few years and location tracking has worked perfectly until a few weeks ago when it stopped updating their locations.
I looked at every setting on both their phones, making sure all of the recommended location settings, security settings, battery settings were correct. Still couldn't get their location which showed they were both "In the house" when they were actually at school.
I uninstalled the app from both phones and reinstalled it. I followed all of the security prompts for the recommended settings. Both phones started to report their location again.
However... one of my children is on a school trip. Their phone last reported in five hours ago from a service station 250 miles away. They are now at their destination, but the Microsoft Family Safety app still shows them where they were five hours ago (extremely worrying for a parent).
Looks like the probkem has happened again. This must be a Microsoft problem What are the chances of both my kids phones stopping reporting their location at exactly the same time?
Come on Microsoft please fix this. Our children are very important to us and the app is called Microsoft "Family Safety".
Windows for home | Windows 10 | Family and online safety
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
115 answers
Sort by: Most helpful
-
Anonymous
2023-05-21T20:25:03+00:00 -
Anonymous
2023-05-21T16:18:58+00:00 The short answer is, there are sites that download and keep historic copies of Android apps, which you can download and would have to sideload.
I have done this in the past with other apps, using a Dev Android environment successfully. That said I have also been burned terribly with compromised AKA infected versions. Fortunately this is only a Dev environment so I could just load away. I would never do this on my day-to-day device.
-
Anonymous
2023-05-21T10:45:01+00:00 Stupid question, but how do I install an older version?
-
Anonymous
2023-05-19T13:41:23+00:00 Same same, different here and there but same. Daughters on iThingys and me on a S20 and now back on S8 temporarily I noticed they can now see my location but I still can't see them. I did see their location for a couple hours since completing the transfer to S8 but then it vanished again.
WE ARE IN MAY ALREADY!!!
Agreed It is now mid-May of 2023 and this problem persists. I have verified location settings on my children's devices along with location permissions for Microsoft Family Safety, and still I show location unavailable.
I have reinstalled the app on my device which has worked for a short while in the past but now that no longer seems to correct the issue. Microsoft Family Safety does a fantastic job at application and web filtering but anything relating to location is non-functioning. I have share drive and location enabled on my device with my wife and she can't even see that.
I went under my settings and attempted to add a place. I began entering the street address and it found it I selected it and named it when I went to save it, I'm presented with a message that it cannot find this place.
After reading of others' similar problems, issue appears to be related to the newest version of Android which I'm sure this is due to some Google shenanigans. Regardless locations is working for other apps.
Fortunately I also use Google's family link. It's application and web safety isnt nearly as good as Microsoft Family Safety, but at least I can find the location of my children.
I'm sure this will eventually get fixed but for now it is not, and I and others are going to continue being squeaky Wheels until this gets fixed. Expecting a feature work in a product, that you are paying for, is not an unreasonable request!
-
Anonymous
2023-05-19T00:57:51+00:00 Same same, different here and there but same. Daughters on iThingys and me on a S20 and now back on S8 temporarily I noticed they can now see my location but I still can't see them. I did see their location for a couple hours since completing the transfer to S8 but then it vanished again.
WE ARE IN MAY ALREADY!!!