How automatic tracking works

Turning it on

Smart Tracking lives in Settings → Tracking. It needs iOS location access set to Always — that is what allows detection while the app is closed. If access is set to anything less, Bounded shows a prompt that takes you to iOS Settings to change it.

How detection works

Bounded does not run continuous GPS. It uses two low-power iOS mechanisms — significant location changes and visit monitoring — which wake the app briefly when you move a meaningful distance or settle somewhere new. Each update is resolved to a country (and, inside the US, a state and city) on your device and stored as part of that day’s record.

• Battery friendly — no constant GPS; the impact on battery life is minimal.
• On-device — your coordinates are resolved locally. Nothing is sent to a server; see how Bounded handles your data.
• Day-level — Bounded stores which country each day belongs to, not a movement trail.

Days in more than one country

If you cross a border mid-day, that date becomes a transition day — it can count in both countries, which is how most visa and tax rules treat arrival and departure days. Your History calendar shows exactly which countries each day counted toward.

Turning it off

Flip the Smart Tracking toggle off in Settings → Tracking and Bounded stops logging your location — you can keep the timeline going with manual trips instead. Turning tracking back on resumes from that point; it does not backfill the days it missed, so fill those by hand or re-run the photo scan.