Having trouble with How Are You?!? Here are solutions for the most common issues.
GPS location isn't updating
- Open Android Settings > Location and ensure it's enabled.
- Set location accuracy to “High accuracy” mode.
- Open app permissions for “How Are You?!” and set Location to “Allow all the time”.
- Restart the phone and wait 5 minutes.
- If outdoors, ensure clear view of sky for 2 minutes.
Alert emails are not being delivered
- Verify all recipient email addresses are correct in Settings > Recipients.
- Ensure the phone has active internet.
- Try sending a test alert from Settings.
- If it still fails, check the diagnostic export for error details.
Monitoring stops or notification disappears
The app includes self-healing layers that automatically restart monitoring in most cases. Additionally, silent push notifications arrive every 6 hours to help revive monitoring on dormant installations.
If monitoring cannot recover, your family receives an email alert and a “Tap to fix” notification appears on the phone.
To fix:
- Open the app — if you see a recovery screen, tap the fix button and follow the on-screen steps for your phone brand.
- If no recovery screen, go to Settings → Device Reliability → tap your phone brand and follow the steps.
- Disable Battery Optimization: Android Settings → Apps → How Are You?! → Battery → Unrestricted.
- On Xiaomi/Huawei/Honor/OPPO: check manufacturer-specific power saving settings and add the app to exceptions.
Battery draining quickly
- Ensure WiFi is enabled — GPS uses less battery with WiFi-assisted location.
- The app typically uses less than 1% battery per day. Higher usage may indicate GPS issues.
- If battery drain is severe, restart the phone.
- The app automatically reduces sensor activity during periods of stillness to save battery.
Family received “Monitoring has stopped” email
This means the app detected that a critical permission was revoked or the phone manufacturer stopped the background service, and it could not recover automatically.
Someone needs to open the app on the monitored phone. A recovery screen will appear showing what is wrong and how to fix it, with step-by-step instructions for that specific phone brand. One tap restores monitoring.
This email is sent at most once per day to avoid repeated alerts for the same issue.
Pixel / stock Android: monitoring stopped after a system update or weeks of not using the phone
Pixel and other stock Android phones have two battery features that can quietly stop monitoring: “Pause app activity if unused” and Adaptive Battery.
Open the app → Settings → Device Reliability → tap your device name and follow the four steps:
- Disable “Pause app activity if unused”.
- Set battery usage to “Unrestricted”.
- Confirm “Background restriction” is OFF.
- Reconfirm battery optimization is disabled.
The dashboard banner should turn green within a few minutes.