GPS is an amazing technology, but it has limitations. Firstly, GPS does not work indoors - so when your dog is at home, Fi needs a way to confirm that it’s a home and not somewhere with no GPS coverage. Secondly, GPS is very power intensive - so the key to Fi keeping your dog safe is to save as much battery as possible in case your dog is actually lost and we must use GPS to help you recover them.
To this effect, when the Fi Collar is in range of a Fi Charging Base or your cell phone running the Fi App, it uses their location to report the collar's position instead of using GPS.
As your dog moves around your home or outside, the Fi Collar can jump from one Bluetooth connection to another - saving battery and ensuring that it is available if your dog escapes. This is core to the technology allowing the Fi Collar to reach multiple months of battery life on one charge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Fi Collar tracking me when I'm not with my dog?
Absolutely not. While we have to ask for the location to be shared “Always On”, we never track your phone's location when you are away from your dog.
Then why does Fi require location services "Always On"?
To conserve battery life and allow Fi to detect when your dog is not next to you, the Fi Collar needs to connect to your cell phone while running the Fi App in the background, without having to take the phone out of your pocket and open the Fi App.
At this time, Google (Android) and Apple (iPhone) do not allow an "only while accessory connected" setting, so this can only be done if location service is authorized to "always on".
iOS users must also enable "precise location" under location access settings, allowing the Fi App to use your mobile's specific location. Without this enabled, the app can only determine your dog's approximate location when connected to the Fi App.
Fi will never report a phone’s location when it is not directly connected to the Fi Collar and is only used to report the location of your dog.
Does Fi sell my data to third parties?
Fi does not and will not share or sell your data with any third party. We understand that you are sharing a lot of information with us in order to keep your dog safe - and we take this responsibility very seriously. No data is shared, directly or indirectly, with vendors and Fi does not make any money from the data stored in our system. We sell you a membership to equip your dog with the very best available technology, period.