In this help article you will learn:

• How your WHISTLE™ device checks GPS in the background when not connected to WiFi

• How your background GPS scan rate can affect battery life

• What to expect by changing your Location Alert Frequency

What is the Location Alert Frequency?

When your Whistle device is not connected to WiFi, it is regularly checking in with GPS satellites and sending the GPS coordinates to our server using cellular. This type of communication requires more battery power than when your Whistle device is sending and receiving data in WiFi. The Location Alert Frequency is defaulted to every 6 minutes and performs this scan when your Whistle device is not connected to WiFi. These GPS check-ins occur in the background and are checking to see where your pet's GPS coordinates are: within the safe place perimeter or outside of the perimeter. When the device's coordinates are completely outside the perimeter, we send you notifications that your pet is out and let you know their last known location. The timeliness of that initial notification depends on the interval for the Location Alert Frequency and when the last GPS check-in occurred. (The Location Alert Frequency interval is completely different from the tracking interval. The tracking interval is not customizable; when you tap on the Find My Pet button you will receive an updated location every 15 seconds for 30 minutes until you tap Stop.)

Longer Battery Life

In an effort to extend battery life for our customers who have large fenced backyards where WiFi does not reach, we have several options to customize how frequently the Whistle will verify their pet's GPS coordinates. Setting your Location Alert Frequency to every 15 or 30 minutes may lengthen your Whistle device's battery life because of the longer time interval between when the Whistle device will be waking up to check the device's GPS coordinates. Because this Location Alert Frequency has a longer interval, there may be a slight delay when you receive your notification that your pet is out of their safe place, depending on when the GPS coordinates were last verified. This is why we recommend making this change if you know your pet cannot get out.

Faster Alert When Your Pet is Out

Alternatively, having the Whistle device check on your pet's location every 3 minutes when not connected to WiFi, may result in a faster notification when your pet left their safe place, but could shorten your overall battery life. If you have a property that is not fenced in, and your pet has an explorer's sense of independence, you may want the Whistle device to wake up and send the GPS coordinates to the server more frequently. Note that because the device is waking up so frequently to check-in, you may need to start charging your Whistle device every night when your pet comes inside to ensure that they are never without their Whistle device. (The Location Alert Frequency interval is completely different from the tracking interval. The track interval is not customizable. So when you tap on Find My Pet to start a tracking session you will get a location update every 15 seconds non stop for 30 minutes unless you stop the Find My Pet session.) 

How do you change your Location Alert Frequency?

1. Tap on the paw icon located in the bottom bar at the bottom of the screen. If you have more than one pet, you can switch pets from the drop down list at the top of the screen.

2. Once you have selected the paw icon and are on the pet screen, tap the gear icon at the top right to open Settings

3. Once in the Settings screen, scroll down to the Battery & Device section. 

 You will see battery details and Location Alert Frequency 

If it's your first time changing the Location Alert Frequency, you'll see "Standard" selected.


4. When you tap into Location Alert Frequency, and then clicking Continue, you'll be able to select which interval you'd like going forward. 

6. Once you choose your new interval, you will see a pending change in the app, and you'll receive a notification when the change is complete.