SkieHow often does my child's location update?
The device reports its position regularly in the background while it has a signal, and you can press Locate on the dashboard for a fresh position straight away. Skie does not publish a fixed interval because the real rhythm depends on the phone, the network and the battery state.
Skie keeps a protected background service running on the device, with a watchdog that restarts it if Android stops it. That service checks in on a regular schedule, and the check-in carries the device's position. You do not need to open any app on the child's side.
When you want to know right now, press Locate. The device is prompted to sync and report, and the dashboard shows the new position and its time. If the device is offline, the dashboard shows the last position and when it was seen instead.
We do not quote a number of minutes or metres, because any number would be wrong for some devices. A phone in a pocket on mobile data behaves differently from a tablet in a school bag on a patchy Wi-Fi. What you can rely on is the timestamp next to every position, which tells you how old the information is.
Battery matters. If the battery is very low or Android is restricting activity, updates can be slower. Skie asks Android to exempt it from battery optimisation so that it keeps running, but it cannot make a switched-off device report.
Tip: always read the time beside the dot before you draw conclusions. An old position is a clue, not a fact about this minute.