Facebook – Nearby Friends on Facebook not updating

facebookfriendsgpslocation

My main question is why some friends that show up on my Nearby Friends frequently have their locations updated but others show a timestamp of 1+ hours since it was last updated?

I'm asking this because my boyfriend's location was always updated every couple of minutes, but this morning it shows that it hasn't been updated in hours. I figure if he turned off Nearby Friends, he would just disappear from my list? Or is it just a problem with FB or the GPS on the phone? He did say he had to restart his phone last night.

Best Answer

I've seen this many times. Common causes:

  1. Location services get turned off (either in Facebook app or on the phone itself)
  2. Facebook is closed on the other person's phone. Won't update locations if facebook isnt open.
  3. Phone is off / battery dead
  4. Location services on their phone is unable to find the location. Example, in a high rise building, in a mall, etc where the phone just can't get a good signal and so can't determine its location. Note that most location services use GPS, which is satellite based, so indoor anywhere is challenging for your phone and may not always work.
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