Facebook uses a device location to provide multiple features as well as target users better for advertisements and with Android 10 in the market and iOS 13 to follow soon, the company is making a few changes to its ‘background location settings’, which were introduced earlier this year.
Android 10 will let users allow individual apps to access the device’s location — when using the app as well as in the background. This feature could clash with Facebook’s background location settings, and so the company has decided to phase out the feature for its app on Android 10. Meanwhile, Facebook says that they’ll be using the more restrictive setting out of the two as their default.
“For example, if your device location setting is set to “all of the time,” but your Facebook background location setting is off, we won’t collect your precise location information when you’re not using the Facebook app,” the company explained. “We may still understand your location using things like check-ins, events and information about your internet connection.”
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Users on devices running Android 10 will receive a reminder on their Facebook app to check the location settings of the device.
iOS 13 will add the “allow once” option to the location settings, which currently has three options — always; when the app is in use; never. The new iPhone OS will also notify users when an app is using their precise location in the background and even the number of times an app has requested location information. iOS users can also manage location access for individual apps via Location Services in their iPhone or iPad’s settings.
It’s important to note that Facebook’s background location settings will still be available to devices that aren’t running Android 10 as previous versions only offer a single toggle to allow or restrict location access to an app, with no distinct settings for background app access. So, the current update will only affect Facebook users on Google Pixel devices, that have received the Android 10 update and other Android One as well as flagship devices by smartphone manufacturers, which will probably receive the update by the end of the year.
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