Does Oura Ring Have GPS? They Should Right?

Oura Keeps Tracking Of Activities

Oura like the great Samsung and Apple Watches is also a tracker. A fitness tracker which provides spades of features for you to keep in touch with your body. However, since it is a smart ring and that is something which is very different from a smartwatch Oura has had their fair share of issues so far.

These rings fails to provide Fall Detection. They are not great with vibration mechanics. They are also not good with steps. Yet what makes them tick is their insights. Oura like WHOOP and Bellabeat is excellent when it comes to generating suggestions about your body.

But that could only happen when you will allow your Oura Ring to monitor the physical world. Which in the case of activity tracking requires the aid of a GPS. Because these smart ring can automatically detect these activities and provide you with route, distance and pace for each of them:

• Downhill skiing
• Ice skating
• Mountain biking
• Outdoor cycling
• Rollerblading
• Snowboarding
• Surfing

So, if we follow the linear logic it would suggest that Oura does have the GPS otherwise how could it have been possible for device this small to accurately provide the numbers. Well, this is the mystery your Oura Ring regardless of which version you are using do not have the GPS.

Yet The Question Is How? Using GPS?

If you are wondering how Oura works without a GPS on its own let us remind you of Fitbit Versa 2 and those which arrived before it. All of those smartwatches (and they were smartwatches so they had the room) were without the GPS of their own!

It was from the Versa 3 that Fitbit installed a GPS in their smartwatches. Which means that if you had to track your steps and distance or know the route and you were in possession of something like Versa 2 then your mobile phone was very important for it. Without your phone a smartwatch like Fitbit Versa 2 was not very able to provide accurate results. The same principal applies here. Your Oura Ring demands that you must have your mobile with you for location based tracking.

Your Mobile Phone Is Important

According to the Oura you must have your phone on you while you work out in order for any location-based data to appear. Forget it at home and you can goodbye to the precious data. Not to mention your Oura App must also be open and running in the background on your device before you start your workout.

For sure, your location will never be shared outside of Oura, and you’re free to revoke access at any time via your device settings. In order to get started it is vital that you bridge the smart ring and smartphone together for the results to come to your way.

Oura Do Not Share Your Location With Anyone!

While Oura suggest that as a best practice you should always keep your location on (from the phone) if you are scared that this will be use in a sinister way against you that is not the case. Oura has frequently mentioned and assured its customer base that they don’t share any information without the consent of a user. So, wherever you are is only known to you and your Oura Ring. Not the Oura the company, just Oura Ring. Your ring.

How To Enable Location-Based Tracking In Oura App?

There are two ways to do it one is easy way and the other is even easier manner. Let’s take a look at the easy way first and this is how you can allow Oura Ring to use GPS of your phone manually. To do which you must follow these steps:

• Select the menu  in the upper left-hand corner of your Home  tab
• Tap  Settings
• Beneath “General,” tap Location
• Toggle Oura location features
• Open your device’s Settings
• Select Privacy
• Ensure that Location Services are toggled on
• Scroll down and select Oura
• Tap “Always” beneath Allow location access

The even easier method is nothing but waiting for the Oura Ring to detect the activity and then ask you to give it permission to use the GPS. Although, it should be noted that Oura suggests that you must update your Oura Ring app to its latest version. Or you might end up waiting for nothing ; )

Once your Oura mobile app will be updated wait for the Oura Ring to detect the activity. Because just as it would you’d be hit with a card stating to ask for your permission to let the device use the phone’s GPS.

At this stage you should tap Continue to enable location tracking, or tap “No thanks” to opt out. If you will tap “Continue,” your operating system will ask you to confirm activating location-based features on your Oura App. If you have an Android device, you may need to select “allow access to location while using the app” in your location settings.

Things To Keep In Mind

To recap what we have so far learned Oura Ring do not have the GPS of their own. They uses the mobile phone with which they are connected for activity tracking. Your Oura Ring and the Oura the company itself do not share your data so there is no need to be paranoid about it. Thirdly it is vital to understand that since your mobile phone act as the proxy for the smart ring (in this case Oura) you must have it on you while you are out in the wild.

Another important thing to know is that your Oura application must be running in the background while you are on the run. A forced shut down or restart of the application or mobile phone can lead to the loss of data. So, be careful when next time you find yourself playing with your phone while your Our Ring is using its precious GPS.