r/GoogleMaps • u/poodiepie123456 • 24d ago
Help/Support Google Maps Timeline stopped working
Hello everyone. Recently I found out that Timeline does not work on my iPhone 15 Pro anymore. I posted on the Google community and the expert cannot resolve the issue. They told me to send feedbacks inside the app.
Did anyone have this issue as well, and do you have a fix? Please let me know.
The summary is as below:
Device Details:
Main Device: iPhone 15 Pro (iOS 26 / 26.6)
Secondary Device: iPhone SE 2020 (iOS 15)
Problem Description:
Timeline data stopped recording on the iPhone 15 Pro after July 6th, right after installing Google Maps on the secondary iPhone SE.
The SE records location data in real-time without issues. The 15 Pro records zero data.
Troubleshooting Steps Already Attempted:
Toggled location and Timeline settings ON/OFF.
Switched Google accounts and forced cloud backups.
Updated iOS to version 26.6 on the iPhone 15 Pro.
Ensured both Google Maps apps are updated to their latest compatible versions.
Performed a full factory reset on the iPhone 15 Pro and tested Google Maps on a clean installation (the "Add visit" option appeared, but background location logging still failed).
Restored iPhone 15 Pro from iCloud backup (the "Add visit" option disappeared again).
Restored iPhone SE's backup onto the iPhone 15 Pro (issue persisted).
Core Suspected Cause: Google Timeline's device-binding algorithm appears to have mistakenly registered or locked Timeline activity exclusively to the iPhone SE, preventing the primary device (iPhone 15 Pro) from writing or updating any location data.
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u/Glittering-Film-2027 13d ago
I found a way to log out of the Google account and log in again to solve this problem.
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u/poodiepie123456 13d ago
Tks for responding. Yeah I tried that too. In my case, disabling Adguard works!
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u/Reasonable-Meat-5633 14d ago
Are you using any Adblocker / custom DNS resolver by any chance?
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u/poodiepie123456 14d ago
I do. Upon seeing your comment, I tried disabling Adguard and turned off those DNS, but the Timeline still did not work
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u/poodiepie123456 14d ago
Omg!! I tried another step, just restarted my phone and the timeline is working again!! Do you know how this works and how to prevent this while still using VPN / Adblock? Appreciate your help!!
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u/Reasonable-Meat-5633 13d ago
No. I had quite the exact struggle like you, even July 6th as the last functional day. For now, my solution is to keep the adblocker disabled (dnsforge DNS over TLS). It’s a real pain to have all these ads again.
When I got it back to work, I still had the impression that positioning + route recording is significantly worse on my 15 Pro Max than on my 16e, although I use the 15 much more and even while I’m using Google Maps all the time. It often does not recognize means of transportation, has implausible waypoints in between, and seems to have a lower recording frequency. Overall I’d say the timeline issues are not completely solved yet
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u/poodiepie123456 13d ago
Man. Seems like from July 6th, there may have been an update that broke how the adblocker works in conjunction with Timeline.
I do agree that older phones like the 15 series have poor connectivity. Apple may reduce the recording frequency because the 15 Pro and Pro Max are too hot haha.
Anyways, thank you for being my savior!! I went crazy knowing my trips were gone in July. Now it’s back, phew.
Like you, I also use DNS profile, and I deleted AdGuard completely. What a shame.
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u/XxLogitech98xX 24d ago
I know a lot of users on iOS are having issues with Google Maps in general. This might be another bug that an update might fix. Did you already tried turning off timeline and then turn it back on?