Geolocation uses the device's GPS, cellular and/or WiFi connection to determine your current position and display it on the map. When this mode is enabled , your location is tracked continuously until you tap the button again to disable it. If you move the map, the GPS will continue to update your current location without having the map following your movements. To have the map follow your movements again, tap the Geolocation/Recenter button. If the Geolocation button appears orange , it means your device has not locked onto the GPS satellites yet and is unable to provide an accurate, up to date location fix.

When the GPS is on (and Map Rotation setting is set to Course or Heading) the Map Rotation button appears. Tap on it to enable map auto rotation and tap again to disable it. When enabled, it doubles as an indicator which shows you what direction on the map is North. This button indicator also appears when manually rotating the map via a twist gesture and can be tapped to revert to the normal north-up orientation.

If you have enabled the Zoom Buttons setting, the zoom buttons will appear on screen . This is mainly useful for one hand use of your iPhone.

To avoid data roaming charges, you can either disable cellular data or use Airplane mode. When cellular data and WiFi are disabled, it may take longer to get the first location fix. This can sometimes be up to 2 minutes though it is usually much less. The Geolocation button will appear orange during this time. It is possible that your device may not be able to find the GPS signal at all in some situations (usually due to a blocked line of sight) and the Geolocation button will remain orange as long as the situation persists.

The GPS hardware can be a drain on the battery thus we recommend turning off the GPS whenever it is not needed. Pocket Earth has a smart auto-shutoff function, if you forget and leave the GPS enabled, it will automatically turn off when closing the app or when moving the map such that the indicator is no longer on-screen. However, it will not shut-off the GPS if you are doing Track Recording, Route Navigation or have a Waypoint selected.