Track and Request the Location of Android Enterprise Devices

Key Capabilities

• Location tracking of Android Enterprise-enrolled devices
• One-time location request to retrieve the current device position
• Time-stamped historical data for movement analysis
• Configurable tracking accuracy:
  • Balanced (optimized for battery life)
  • High accuracy (using GPS and additional location sources)
• Flexible update intervals:
  • Configurable from every 15 minutes up to every 24 hours
  • Allows a tailored balance between precision and battery usage
• Data retention policies:
  • Location history can be retained for up to 365 days
  • Manual deletion is possible via the device overview
  • Default retention period is 7 days

Requirements

• Minimum installed Silverback 25.0 Update 1
• Minimum Companion Version 25.0.1.17
• Devices must be enrolled via Android Enterprise (Device Owner)
• Devices require an active internet access
• Depending on OS version and policy, user consent for location access may still be surfaced by the system

Privacy & Compliance

This feature has been implemented with a strong focus on enterprise data protection and Android Enterprise policy compliance:

• Tracking is explicitly profile-driven – only active on devices with an assigned location profile
• The current location can be request with a one time-action
• All data is access-controlled
• User transparency is ensured via system notifications and in-app visibility

Companion App Behavior

• The Companion App automatically applies all required location permissions immediately after profile assignment, ensuring smooth activation without user intervention.
• When users disable Location Services and/or the Restriction Allow Configuration of Location is set, Companion will enable and utilize the service automatically.
• Companion also reports the Location Service status to Silverback (Location Service Enabled).
• Users are transparently informed by the system that their organization allows access to their location.
• Additionally, within the Companion App’s “Profiles” section, a clear notice is displayed indicating:
  • The assigned tracking profile
  • The accuracy and interval settings in effect

Limitations

You might notice that location updates, even if configured for regular intervals (e.g., "track every hour"), may not occur at the precise minute or second you expect. This is a normal and intentional behavior of the Android operating system, designed to significantly extend your device's battery life.

• Why this occurs: Android includes sophisticated power-saving features that can intelligently manage and defer background activities from apps. These features include:
  • Doze Mode: When your phone is idle, unplugged, and stationary for a period, it enters a "Doze" mode. During Doze, Android temporarily limits app CPU and network activity. Silverback Companion's location tracking tasks will then typically run during brief "maintenance windows" that Android schedules.
  • App Standby Buckets: Android categorizes apps based on usage frequency. Apps used less often may have their background activities, including location tracking, restricted more aggressively to prioritize resources for frequently used applications.
  • Manufacturer Optimizations: Many device manufacturers implement their own advanced battery-saving mechanisms that can be more aggressive, potentially delaying or pausing background work from various apps, including Silverback Companion.

What this means for Location Tracking: While Companion is configured for regular location updates, Android's system might intelligently adjust the exact timing of these updates (e.g., within the specified hour or when your device becomes active again). This flexibility ensures that Companion operates efficiently and contributes to a healthy battery life for your managed devices.

For more details on Android's power management limitations, you can refer to the official Android documentation:

• Optimize for Doze and App Standby: Learn how Android saves battery by restricting app access to CPU and network services when the device is idle or the app is not in active use. https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby
• Background execution limits: Understand the various restrictions Android places on background services and other background work. https://developer.android.com/guide/components/background-execution-limits

Create and configure the Profile 

• Navigate to your Silverback Management Console
• Select Tags and create a new Tag
  • Under Enabled Features, enable Profile
  • Under Device Types, enable either Android and/or Samsung 
  • Press Save
• Navigate to Profile
• Select Location Tracking 
• Enable the Location Tracking Profile
• Set your desired accuracy mode
• Define your desired Reporting Interval

•  Press Save

Assign the Tag

Depending on where you started from, your Tag with the updated profile is already assigned to the corresponding (test) devices or the Tag still needs to be assigned. If the Tag is already assigned to the test device, you can go to Definition and use the Push to Devices button. As always, you can then track the profile installation via the Pending Commands in the device overview of a device. 

If the Tag is not yet assigned to a device, you have as usual multiple options to assign the Tag. You can either navigate back to Definition tab inside the Tag and press the Associated Devices button to Attach More Devices or you can navigate to the Devices tab and press the Tag button in the Actions column. After you verified the Profile with one or more test devices, you can also enable the Auto Population for the Tag. For additional information, please refer to Tags Guide Part I: Create and Deploy. 

Review Profile in Companion

• After the Profile has been installed on the device, open the Companion application
• Select the hamburger menu on the top left
• Select Profiles
• Locate the Location Tracking entry
• Review the description and the installed at timestamp 
• Press the three dots
• From here, users can review the configured reporting interval and the accuracy mode 

Review Location History

• When the Tag is assigned to a device and the profile is applied, open the Device Information of your desired devices 
• Press Actions
• Select Location Tracking 
• From the overview, you can review all reported locations
  • The Location column shows the coordinates in Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds (DMS) format
  • The Reported at column shows the timestamp when the location was captured
  • The Map column contains a hyperlink to Google Maps to visualize the coordinates
  • Under actions, you can delete  single entries from the list
• In the right-hand pane of the view, you can see the current configuration and jump directly to the configured Tag.
• You can also take additional actions, such as tracking the current location as a one-time action or clearing location history entries for a particular device in bulk.