Google Maps timeline not working? 6 ways to fix it

As the best location and navigation app, Google Maps is now available for every smartphone. Google Maps is Android’s stock app that makes navigating your world faster and easier.

The app has been around for a while and has a lot of useful features. One of the most useful features of Google Maps is the Google Maps Timeline. The Google Maps timeline is a feature that helps you see where you’ve traveled on a given day, month, or year.

The feature only requires location access and automatically tracks your recently visited places. The timeline can be useful if you want to see the countries, tourist attractions, restaurants, cities and other places you have already visited.

We are discussing the Google Maps timeline because many users have recently claimed that the feature is not working. This has been reported by users The Google Maps timeline has stopped working on their Android smartphones.

Why Google Maps timeline stopped working?

If the Google Maps timeline isn’t working, don’t panic! There may be several methods to solve the problem, but first you need to know the actual cause.

Google Maps timeline is not updating or Working is mainly a problem with location services on your Android. It may stop working if the location permissions are denied.

Other reasons that lead to Google Maps timeline not working are as follows:

• Temporary error or bug in the operating system.
• Corrupted Google Services app cache.
• Location history was turned off.
• Battery saver mode is enabled.
• Problems during the installation of Google Maps.

How do I fix Google Maps timeline not working?

Since it is difficult to find the reason why Google Maps timeline is not working on Android, you should follow some basic troubleshooting tips to fix it. Here’s what you can do.

1. Restart your phone

The Google Maps timeline may not be able to update due to temporary system glitches and bugs. Bugs & glitches are common on Android and can also affect the location services.

So if the location service doesn’t start, the Google Maps timeline won’t record your visited places.

So, reboot your Android or iPhone to eliminate bugs and glitches that may hinder the functionality of Google Maps Timeline.

2. Make sure the location service is turned on

Google Maps relies on your smartphone’s GPS or location services to function. So if The Google Maps timeline has stopped updating out of the blue you need to check if you have disabled the GPS on your smartphone.

It’s pretty easy to check if the location services are turned on; slide down the notification panel and tap the location. This will enable the location services on your smartphone.

3. Make sure Location History is enabled in Google Maps

Location History is why you see the places you’ve visited on the Google Maps timeline. If location history is turned off in Google Maps, the new locations will not be updated in the timeline.

That’s why you need to make sure that Location History is enabled in your Google Maps app. Here’s how to enable Location History on Google Maps.

1. Open the Google Maps app on your Android device and tap your profile picture.

2. In the menu that appears, select ‘Institutions‘.

3. Under Settings, tap Personal content.

4. Tap Personal content on Location History.

5. Next, on the Activity Controls, turn on the switch for ‘Location history‘.

That is it! You can enable Location History in the Google Maps app.

4. Allow background activity for Google Maps

The latest versions of Android have a feature that automatically turns off the background activity of the app that the user hasn’t used for a while.

Chances are that Background Activity for Google Maps was turned off on your smartphone; hence new locations do not appear on the Google Maps timeline.

You can fix this by allowing the background activity for the Google Maps app. Here’s what to do.

1. First long press the Google Maps app icon and select ‘App information‘.

2. On the App Info screen, tap Data usage.

3. Next, on the Data usage screen, turn on the switch for ‘Background information‘.

That is it! Here’s how to allow background data for the Google Maps app.

5. Calibrate Google Maps on Android

If the Google Maps timeline is not updating even after following all the methods, you need to calibrate the Google Maps app. Here’s what to do.

1. Open the Settings app on your Android and select ‘Place‘.

2. At the Location, make sure that the Location Services are enabled.

3. Then scroll down and tap Google location accuracy.

4. On the Google Location Accuracy screen, enable the option ‘Improve location accuracy‘ switch.

That is it! This is how to calibrate Google Maps to fix the Google Maps timeline issue.

6. Clear Google Play Services cache and data

Google Play Services should be working properly for the Google Maps timeline to work. Corrupted cache and data files are often the reason why Google Maps Timeline has no update issues.

Therefore, you can also clear the cache and data of Google Play Services. Here are the steps to follow.

1. First open the Settings app and select ‘Applications‘.

2. In the apps, select ‘App management‘.

3. Find and tap on the App Management screen Google Play Services.

4. Then tap the Storage usage choice.

5. On the next screen, tap the Clear cache button and then the Manage space > Clear data.

That is it! It’s that easy to clear Google Play Services cache and data files from Android.

Also read: How to download your Google Maps data

Apart from these methods, make sure that both Google Maps app and Android version are up to date. If you have followed all these methods, the Problem with Google Maps timeline not working has already been resolved. Let us know in the comments if you need more help on this topic.