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Vanlife Assistant

Permission_Changes

🔐 Permission Changes

Section titled “🔐 Permission Changes”

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

If you granted a permission during onboarding and later revoked it in iOS Settings, or if iOS itself downgraded a permission (which can happen after a major iOS update), some app features will stop working. This article describes exactly what breaks for each permission and how to restore it.

You can see the live status of all app permissions at any time in Settings → Privacy, Security & Permissions within the app.

Location Services

Section titled “Location Services”

Location is the permission with the most downstream impact. The app requests “Always Allow” to enable background features.

Downgraded to “While Using the App”

Section titled “Downgraded to “While Using the App””
  • Drive Recorder: Continues working while the app is on screen, but GPS tracking stops when you lock your phone. You’ll get incomplete drive logs.
  • Border crossing detection: Stops entirely. Crossings must be logged manually via check-ins.
  • Spot Mode (SmartVan): Geofence arrival/departure triggers stop firing.
  • Check-in location capture: Still works — check-ins use foreground location only.
  • Solar & Weather Card: Still works.

Revoked entirely (“Never”)

Section titled “Revoked entirely (“Never”)”

All location-dependent features stop: Drive Recorder, border detection, Spot Mode, automatic check-in coordinates, and the Solar & Weather Card. The app still works for manual data entry, finance, manifest, and glovebox.

How to restore

Section titled “How to restore”

iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Vanlife Assistant → Always.

Notifications

Section titled “Notifications”

If notifications are disabled, the app can still send push notifications but they will be silently discarded by iOS and never reach your lock screen or notification centre.

Features that become silent:

  • Van Brain automation push notifications (weather alerts, wind warnings, frost warnings, custom rules)
  • Compliance and maintenance due-date reminders
  • Any SmartVan security alerts

How to restore

Section titled “How to restore”

iOS Settings → Notifications → Vanlife Assistant → Allow Notifications → on.

Microphone & Speech Recognition

Section titled “Microphone & Speech Recognition”

These are required together for the voice assistant to work. Both must be granted.

If either is revoked, tapping the voice assistant button will prompt you to re-grant access. The voice assistant cannot function with either permission missing.

How to restore

Section titled “How to restore”

iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → Vanlife Assistant → on. iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Speech Recognition → Vanlife Assistant → on.

Camera

Section titled “Camera”

Camera access is used by the document scanner in the Glovebox and by the QR code reader for Manifest containers. If revoked, these features show a “Camera access required” prompt rather than opening the camera.

How to restore

Section titled “How to restore”

iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera → Vanlife Assistant → on.

Photos

Section titled “Photos”

Photo library access is used when adding a photo to your van profile or to a check-in. If revoked, the photo picker still opens but shows an empty library. You can still use the camera directly to take a new photo, which doesn’t require photo library permission.

How to restore

Section titled “How to restore”

iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos → Vanlife Assistant → Full Access (or at minimum “Add Photos Only” if you only need to add photos, not read existing ones).

Motion & Fitness

Section titled “Motion & Fitness”

Motion access is used to help the Drive Recorder distinguish between driving and stationary periods, and powers Spot Mode’s motion-based tracking. If revoked, these features fall back to GPS-only detection, which still works but with slightly less precision.

How to restore

Section titled “How to restore”

iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Motion & Fitness → Vanlife Assistant → on.

HomeKit

Section titled “HomeKit”

HomeKit access is required for Smart Van to connect to and control your HomeKit accessories. If revoked, the Smart Van dashboard shows no devices. Existing Van Brain rules that control HomeKit devices cannot execute.

How to restore

Section titled “How to restore”

iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → HomeKit → Vanlife Assistant → on.

Checking All Permissions at Once

Section titled “Checking All Permissions at Once”

Rather than hunting through iOS Settings manually, open the app’s built-in permissions screen: Settings (bottom tab) → Privacy, Security & Permissions. This shows a live status row for every permission the app uses — green for granted, amber for degraded, red for denied. Tap any row to be taken directly to the relevant iOS Settings screen.

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