The Chiama Taxi is a rather complex application that works in real time and - in particular - must constantly locate the position of the mobile phone and transmit it to the central servers in order for the system to work efficiently. There are a number of settings on Android terminals that can significantly affect the functioning of the app and therefore; need to be paid close attention to.
General recommendations
In general, it would be advisable to work with a dedicated terminal, on which basically only Chiama Taxi runs. There are no stated incompatibilities, however; having many apps open on the same phone clearly does not create the best working conditions. One has to consider that Google does not like apps that ask for the phone's location when they are in the background: this is a rule imposed for privacy reasons and is becoming more and more stringent. Therefore, it is very important that the Call Taxi app is kept as open as possible in the foreground, the risk being that it stops transmitting its GPS coordinates and the system 'loses' the taxi driver. The app, is of course, designed to continue transmitting in the background, but the phone's operating system (Android) can interfere in various ways when the app is in this mode.
A dedicated terminal - with the app always running in the foreground –
is definitely the best way to get the most out of the Chiama Taxi. However, it is not necessary a particularly expensive terminal. We recommend a device with a screen large enough to read various information - especially the driving conditions in which you find yourself during use - and reasonably recent. Obviously, since this is a working instrument, we recommend a model in the mid-range.
Constantly updating your app
The development of Taxi Call is an ongoing process, with each version adding features and solving problems. Remember to frequently check whether your app is up -to - date or not.
Activating WI FI
We all know that the position of a mobile phone is basically obtained through the phone's GPS. This is certainly true, but GPS technology needs a number of conditions in order to work at its best, and a taxi moving through the city, in the middle of buildings and with a lot of magnetic interference, is not the best scenario. On top of that, the GPS devices mounted on mobile phones are not very accurate. This is why Google uses other information to determine the position of the phone, to be added to the coordinates obtained by GPS. The main additional information is the WI FI networks 'found' by the phone. Over time, Google has mapped all the WI FI networks on the territory and therefore; the positioning of the phone is much more stable and precise if you work with the WI FI "on". Obviously, the phone works with data connectivity, but it is important that it picks up the surrounding WI FI networks.
Keeping Google Maps up to date
Android is an operating system developed by Google and Google Maps are therefore strongly integrated with Android itself. When an app like the Chiama Taxi asks Android for its location, the system will in turn use Google Maps to get it and make it available. Therefore, keeping Google Maps up to date can greatly improve the accuracy of the location captured by the Chiama Taxi.
Disable power saving
Power saving and optimising battery use are the sworn enemies of Chiama Taxi (and of all apps that make extensive use of GPS, especially in the background). A first set of settings to be configured correctly are global and apply to the whole phone. Unfortunately, these settings can vary from phone to phone and also depend on the version of Android installed. The entry point for the various settings is always the Settings app on the various phones. In Settings, find the section dedicated to Battery (for example,it may be called Device & Battery Assistance on some terminals). Typically, within this section there is at least one option related to power saving mode that should be disabled. Sometimes, there may be ultra power saving options which should also be deactivated. In general, all options which appear in this section and which relate to energy optimisation should be deactivated. Additional options related to the execution of apps in the background or the "suspending" of apps in the background; should also be deactivated. These options are usually always accessed from the battery menu and you should find a list of all installed apps. For the Chiama Taxi app and Google Maps, you should always allow them to run in the background. Please be aware that if you uninstall the app and then install it from scratch, these specific options may reset and need to be checked again.
In conclusion...
The performance of the Chiama Taxi app can vary considerably depending on whether you take proper care to configure your phone correctly to work. Unfortunately, Android does not allow apps to make these optimisations directly, and how you access this information can vary from phone to phone. However, we would like to reiterate that it is definitely worth spending a little time to find out if everything is configured correctly: the end result can change a lot.
