Location Notifications Not Precise & Distance Settings Are Ambiguous

I read through another thread (a thread which is now closed) about location notifications not working, but I suppose my problem is different. My location reminders do work, but With my context set to “when arriving” and the distance being “[smallest dot?]” I am being notified as soon as I come within approximately 2 miles from the pin. My hope was that, given my phones capability of location precision, I would have the option to be notified - for example - the moment I drive past a drug store that I need to pick something up from, and no sooner, when selecting for the smallest distance radius. I have the same issue with “when leaving”: sometimes I’m 10 minutes into my drive before I’m notified, with the distance set to [small circle].

From a usability standpoint, I find the measurement system of small/medium/large circle sizes with no supporting text to be frustrating. I can appreciate the aesthetic minimalism but it is totally inexact for a feature that requires maximum functional exactness.
There’s no sense of the relative distances, so it leans heavily on the user’s guesswork. My guess is that more uses would use this awesome feature if it were specific, explicit, and reliable.

I never have issues with my phone’s GPS (iPhone 7). Perhaps I made the mistake of assuming that the smallest circle means the closest - I’ve never tested it using the largest circle, but my intuition assumes that its larger radius indicates a greater distance from the pin.

Anybody else have this experience?

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I gave up on notifications. I just try to make it a habit to check my context perspectives when I arrive or when I leave…

Errands - I check this before I leave office or house to see if there is anything I can do on the way to my destination.
Office (arriving)
Office (leaving)
House (arriving)
House (leaving)

It’s a habit that I’m working on. Sometimes I’m in a hurry and I’ll forget… I guess it’s a good habit to always check to see if there is anything else I can do when I am on-the-go.

I can’t rely on the notifications either. It needs more precise GPS radius or something.

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@andyfitts andyfibtts @wilsonng I agree with the above comments except to say I still use these ‘geo-fenced’ locations because occasionally they actually DO work and save my bacon!

The GPS is way too wide for it to be practical for most of my uses (REALLY annoying when it triggers as I drive down the dual carriageway past work before I get to the exit and work my way back)

What would be ideal was (for the arrival contexts at least) a perspective could be triggered when connecting to a specific WiFi SSID. I suspect this can be done on the Mac but not on iOS for the time being :-(

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Agreed. I think it’s a really useful technology that could be much much better with development. Occasionally as I drive past our local retail park the tasks I need to remember DO pop up on my watch/iphone and as I said-that can be a lifesaver (slight exaggeration)!
I have found it to be sporadic and untrustworthy and therefore I don’t rely on it.

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