Why do I need to grant Location permissions on Android devices?

We completely understand your privacy concerns around sensitive information such as location. Unfortunately, it’s been an Android system requirement since 2015 that all apps that use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology obtain location permissions from the user, regardless of whether or not the app actually checks or records the user’s location (developer guide here and ticket here if you’d like to read more about this). Currently, the only part of the app that accesses your location is PAXFinder, which starts off disabled by default for all users, and it is entirely up to you whether or not you choose to enable it for each device. 


Additionally, Google announced a new change this spring that should allow some apps that pair with companion devices to not require fine location permissions for phones running Android 8 and up. We are looking into whether this is a good option with our devices, and hope to have this available for our users in the future!