How do departure guidance and reminders work?
Departure guidance estimates when you need to leave to meet remaining stop deadlines. Reminders are optional for each outing and depend on a completed calculation, notification access, and when iOS allows updates.
In this article
Make an outing eligible for guidance
Create an outing with at least one outstanding Arrive by or Leave by deadline. Open it and read Departure guidance. It can show Leave by with a time, controlling visits, when it was checked, or a remaining-deadline conflict.
A reusable saved plan, finished outing, or route with only durations and Start after does not offer this deadline-reminder flow. In-app guidance can work while reminders are off. The calculation includes remaining driving, visits, and waits without reordering the route.
Enable and verify reminders
- In the outing’s Departure guidance card, turn on Departure reminders. Every new outing starts with them off.
- Allow notifications when iOS asks.
- Read the displayed status, such as Reminder set for a time, Departure reminders on, or Deadline alerts on.
- Tap Update guidance to request a fresh calculation when needed.
- Turn off Departure reminders when you no longer want them for this outing.
The status describes what the app has scheduled, not a guarantee that an alert will be displayed. Turning off reminders does not stop a driving leg you explicitly started.
Understand the alerts
| Alert | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Time to leave | A reminder based on the calculated departure time. |
| Leave earlier | A meaningful earlier change in the required departure. |
| Stop deadline at risk | Remaining commitments may no longer fit. |
The alert identifies when the route was checked. A scheduled reminder is a snapshot of that calculation; it does not fetch traffic independently when it fires. Later departure changes update quietly. There is no adjustable lead time, snooze control, separate preparation alert, recurring route, or automatic start.
Resume guidance and track between stops
- If Live guidance paused appears, tap Resume guidance.
- If asked Are you still at a place, choose Yes, resume here only if that place is still correct.
- If you have left, update the stop’s progress and start the next leg instead.
Before an outing begins, enabling its initial reminder does not start continuous GPS. During an explicitly started or resumed outing, authorized reminders can extend location use between stops while future deadlines remain. Only one outing owns that monitoring at a time; opening another route does not transfer it. Start or resume it explicitly.
At an arrived stop, remaining visit time assumes the errand began after arrival and any earliest-start or prerequisite wait. Complete Stop when actually finished, or edit the duration if you need more time. Known-stop guidance can use the confirmed place without precise GPS; guidance while driving needs a fresh current position.
After a cold launch, explicitly resume active guidance or start the leg. Do not expect uninterrupted background updates while the app is force-quit or iOS suspends execution.
Check a missing or stale reminder
- Confirm the outing still has an outstanding Arrive by or Leave by deadline and that its own Departure reminders switch is on.
- For Notifications unavailable, tap Open iPhone Settings and inspect notification access. Focus may silence ordinary alerts; Time Sensitive alerts are used only when available in system settings.
- For Couldn’t set reminder, scheduling was not confirmed. Use Update guidance and check the status again.
- For an old checked time, Estimates couldn’t update, or a changed-origin message, review the outing and request fresh guidance.
- While Radar Route is open in the foreground, read its guidance card. In-app notification banners and sounds are suppressed.
Updates need usable driving estimates and iOS execution time. Do not rely on reminders as an alarm or as guaranteed delivery for every Focus, Silent, locked-screen, or connectivity state.