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Limitations and Cautions

The Safety Tracking feature is useful, but it depends on smartphones and communication environments, so several limitations must be kept in mind.

Outside communication coverage​

  • When a participant goes out of coverage, location sharing is temporarily interrupted
  • The device may keep records and send them later after communication returns
  • However, immediate SOS delivery and real-time monitoring are not possible during that time

Background behavior​

  • Continuity of location acquisition and transmission depends on device and OS behavior
  • Depending on battery-saving settings and permissions, background transmission may stop
On Android

While location is being shared, a "Location Sharing in Progress" notification stays visible. This is normal behavior. If you dismiss the notification or close the app from the recents (task list), sharing may stop.

GPS accuracy​

  • Location accuracy depends on the device and the environment
  • In mountain areas, forests, valleys, or near building shadows, the error may become large
  • Location data with extremely poor accuracy (error greater than 100m), or location data that jumps unnaturally from the previous point (implying a movement speed above about 80 km/h), is automatically discarded. Because of this, the position on the map may not update for a while, but this is not a malfunction

Judgment of play area and restricted areas​

  • Exclusion by positioning error — To prevent false positives, location data with horizontal error exceeding 50 m is not used for area judgments
  • Duration requirement to prevent false alerts — To prevent false alerts simply from walking near borders, alerts are confirmed only after remaining outside or inside restricted areas continuously for 10 seconds or longer. In addition, returning inside by at least 10 m is required to count as back in area
  • Handling when positioning unavailable — In tunnels or deep valleys where GPS cannot be received, the previous judgment state is retained and no new violation is flagged (the participant screen displays "No location available")
  • No automatic disqualification or penalty — System violations do not automatically apply score deductions or disqualifications. Organizers must review the situation and logs to decide manually

Maximum location sharing duration​

  • Location sharing stops automatically a maximum of 24 hours after it starts
  • For events that run longer than 24 hours, plan for participants to restart sharing partway through

Battery​

  • Long events require attention to battery consumption
  • Bringing a mobile battery is strongly recommended

Device failure and user mistakes​

Sharing may not continue as intended because of:

  • Water damage in rain
  • Damage in a fall
  • Accidental stop by user operation
  • App trouble

Operational assumptions​

  • Do not finalize judgments based only on the app display
  • Use other safety methods together, such as phone calls, radios, or patrols
  • Perform tests on both the organizer side and the participant side before the real event