Why does WandelWeb stay active in the background and how do I stop it?
Background activity and battery usage
WandelWeb only tracks your location when you have started a feature that requires it. If you are not using any of these features, the app does not track your location and no GPS tracking runs in the background.
Features that use GPS in the background:
- Recording a hike — your route and statistics are tracked
- Navigation — you receive directions while following a route
- Route Deviation Detection — you get an alert when you leave the route (Complete)
- Live location sharing — others can follow your position in real time
On Android you will see a persistent notification in the status bar while one of these features is active, for example "Navigation active" or "Hike recording active".
Important: closing or swiping the app away is not enough. GPS tracking only stops when you turn off the active feature yourself.
How to stop GPS tracking for each feature:
- Stop recording a hike
- Open the map where you are recording (route or Record tab)
- Tap Pause recording
- Choose Save or Delete to fully end the recording
- Stop navigation
- Open the route on the map
- Tap Stop navigation in the navigation panel at the top
- Stop Route Deviation Detection
- Open the route on the map
- Tap the bell icon to turn off route detection
- Just paused a recording? Also confirm "Yes, stop" when the app asks if route detection should stop
- Stop live location sharing
- Tap the live location icon on the map (on a route or on the Record screen) to turn sharing off
Check that everything has stopped:
- On Android: the WandelWeb notification in the status bar disappears
- On iOS: the blue location indicator at the top disappears
- No active recording, navigation, route detection, or live location visible in the app
Still active? Open the app, check whether one of the features above is still on, and turn it off. Still having issues? Contact us and mention which device you use.
