MilesForTax is not a vehicle diagnostic tool, or software. It does not change the operational state of the vehicle. When used with the OBD the software reads data only. It is used to measure distances traveled by recording differences in Gps position or recording differences in the internal odometer of a vehicle. There are times when a reading is inaccurate or cannot be made. Most issues are environmental and can be resolved by restarting the App or the Bluetooth device or by making sure your Phone is able to receive Gps signals. Some of the hardware / environmental issues can cause the App to fail. Also sensors have errors even when they are working with their best performance. When same information is collected from different types of sensors the information can be different and can be a cause for concern.

MilesforTax does NOT record mileage:
MilesforTax uses the built-in GPS sensor in your phone to measure distances traveled. If the GPS in your phone is off, failing, shielded from getting signals from the GPS satellite network, or application level access to your location is denied MilesforTax will not record your mileage.The 30 day trial is a period allocated to help users catch this issue.

(1) Vehicles manufactured with a heat blocking wind-shield, windows. also in this category - after-market window heat treatments applied the vehicle. Heat shield or window treatment do not block cellular service but some of the heavier duty shields have been observed to block GPS signals.
Try using MilesforTax with the gps-auto-trigger in MilesforTax/Setting while in another vehicle that doesn't have heat blocking window - if the app works in the other vehicle its likely that the first vehicle may have window that block out signals.

(2) The phone is in a surrounded by a container that can block out GPS signals: metal mesh or metal bag, between seat and driver etc. Try running MilesforTax with the device laying on the passenger side from seat.

(3) Application level access to GPS was denied: The user turned off the GPS in the phone settings, or went to the application manager and revoked GPS access for MilesforTax. Check that the GPS permission is enabled in Application Manager in the android control/settings.

(4) The GPS in the phone is poor/defective or badly calibrated or excessively noisy

(5) There are issues with the GPS drivers on the phone so the GPS/API cannot be used for Navigation. Try a different android phone (you can use your account) to see if MilesforTax works there.

(6) Another APP installed on your device may be preventing MilesforTax from receiving GPS data. Find out if any of the other Apps on your phone are running in supervisory mode and have blocked access to location data.

Phone vibrates during the trip
If you feel your phone vibrate or ringing during the drive its likely that MilesforTax was using the Gps and detected that the expected data report rate has stopped. There will be an alert message which may report poor or no GPS signal. MilesforTax will not record your mileage when it cannot read the GPS.

To rectify this issue try not putting the phone where it will not receive signals. If you start the GPS manually or using the Bluetooth in your vehicle you may and you notice that this event happens your vehicle may be incompatible.

Auto-start is intermittent
If you set MilesforTax to start by using the auto-start, the expected behavior is that the auto start should turn on MilesforTax at speeds over 8 mph longer than 3 seconds. If for example you were at at least 30 mph at any point in a short or long drive and the auto-start in MilesforTax did not start MilesforTax check the following:

(1) MilesforTax has access to read data GPS.
Goto Android Application Manager/Setting and scroll down to MilesforTax. Check the permission there.

(2) Validate that MilesforTax receives GPS signals while in your vehicle.
You can download GPS Test and run it while in your vehicles. If GPS Test cannot get a stable reading while in the vehicle but works outside the vehicle it likely that inside your vehicle devices are shielded. If GPS test doesn't work outside your vehicle it likely that the GPS/drivers or receiver in your phone has issues.

Missing Drives - The drives were recorded before
Users can recover the drives by going to the main screen and using the "Menu" ... "Recover Data" or "Restore Data", then follow the prompts.
Drives are stored in individual files locally on the SD card /sdcard/mileage so you can get to the drive data if you need to change your phone you can copy the directory to your new phone. The drives files are also stored on our server
If you delete the local storage /sdcard/mileage you will delete your drives. You can recover them using the process above

ODBII Notes:

1) The OBD port on most older vehicles is continuously powered after the engine is turned off. This means that the vehicle doesn't have to be running for the device to pair with your phone. It also means the OBD is continuously using the battery of the vehicle and many manufacturers may recommend unplugging it if the vehicle is not used for a long time. On newer vehicles the port is powered down when the vehicles electrical system is put to sleep. A simple way to determine if you vehicle powers down the electrical system is to check if the light on the OBDII is on after the vehicle has been off for 2-4 hours

2) The ECM on some vehicles will not allow the OBD to read data unless the engine is running - you won't be able to get a readout until the engine is started.

3) Finally it is possible that the vehicles ECM doesn't support an internal odometer that can be read by the OBDII scanner. The App will show zero ODBII mileage for OBDII and you it will need to rely on the Gps to calculate your mileage.

4) If your vehicles ECM supports the vehicle identification number MilesforTax will read the last 7-8 digits against each mileage record. Not all ECM units will be encoded with the VIN

5) The OBD and ECM connection may go down briefly minutes after the car is started. Usually this doesn't cause any issue however it can sometimes cause the ODBII to loose pairing with your phone - leading to incorrect readings.

6) If you don't have a scanner you can purchase on at www.amazon.com or a local automotive store. The scanners are inexpensive. Be sure to purchase a Bluetooth compatible scanner if you plan on using it with this App.

Gps mileage distance not changing
Gps reports 0 miles
Gps mileage is significantly less than OBDII
Gps reports less than expected miles
Is most likely insufficient Gps signal providers. Gps needs to have a clear view of satellites that provide the signals. The physical environment where the phone is located may prevent this from happening, or the chip set in the phone cannot receive signals. A remedy is to use the app where there are fewer obstructions. Check also if the location is inside a vessel that has significant amounts of metal, fluids or other radio signal blocking material. Some window glass in vehicle have material have a sun screen in the glass to keep the heat out. The glass is also known to keep radio waves and the Gps signal out of the vehicle so Miles for taxes on your phone in the vehicle may not work.

Unable to Use Gps
"Start Gps" button is disabled
See if your phone has a Gps. Check if the Gps is enabled. If there is a Gps and it is enabled check if MilesForTaxes application is permitted to use the Gps (Application permission FINE_LOCATION is needed)

"Start OBD" button is disabled
An error message when pressing "Start OBD
Unable to communicate with OBD over bluetooth - If you haven't previously had the OBD working it may be a pairing issue follow the instructions to pair the OBD that came with the OBD. Just accept the code provided when as if to pair with OBD.
If you had previously used the current phone and APP with the current OBD it is possible the encrypted link btw the phone and the OBDII reader is out of sync or the OBDII reader is paired with another device try the following:

(1) Remove other any other nearby bluetooth phones/devices
(2) Unplug the OBD while the vehicle is parked, wait about 5-10 seconds
(3) plug the OBDII back in again
(4) The light should turn blue if pairing is successful if not try to pair the OBDII with your phone again.
(5) if all steps above successful check the Application Settings in MilesForTaxes and set it to match the OBDII. The MilesForTaxes software will reset the modem and try to re-establish reading the OBDII.

Note that the OBDII doesn't have any switches or settings that are User level controls so resetting the OBDII by unplugging it is all that can be physically done to the OBDII

ODBII distance not changing
ODBII distance reports 0 miles
OBDII distance is less than Gps .
Usually because the OBD was not detected or interacting with the OBDII failed - resetting the OBD as in the steps "Start OBD" button is disabled above should resolve the issue. Using another application on the
OBDII can cause the OBDII to be set in such a way that MilesForTaxes cannot read it.The ECM in the vehicle may have switched modes unexpectedly or is is not running.
The ECM may stop and restart after the engine is already running and this may rarely cause the link from the ECM to OBD to fail. Unplug the OBD while the vehicle is parked should fix the issue.

Unable to Save Data or application crashes Check the application permissions in the smart phone settings.

There is a difference btw OBDII and GPS measurements. This happens because the information comes from different sensors that work differently. OBD measures the difference of a mileage counter in the vehicle the is incremented every kilometer - the OBD distance will change by 0.3 or 0.6 of a mile while the Gps measures on a varying scale from 50 feet with a higher resolution than the OBD.

There are difference btw OBD and GPS measurements and mile markers. This counters will be different based on numeric precision. Also the internal odometer is calibrated to a the manufacturers recommended wheel/tire size. If the size of the wheels or tires are changed or even by inflating or or deflating the tires more or less than was calibrated will cause differences in the measurements seen by the Gps and the OBD. The Gps is uses a Haversine formula to calculate the distance traveled. Environmental effects such as altitude can affect the accuracy of both measurements and introduce more errors, however it is a general observation that the total errors by electronic recording are significantly less than manual input.

My mileage is lost or missing or inaccurate - check your phone. Android may kill off applications in the background if the OS it runs low on memory. MilesForTaxes running a window in the background - usually because the user or another app started a window in the foreground will be subject to this killing. The Gps and or ODB may be stopped and may not be immediately restarted. To avoid this run MilesForTaxes in the foreground.

OBDII dosn't match the Odometer after a number of start/stops
The internal odometer in the OBDII counts entire kilometers while the vehicle is running when the engine stops fractional kilometers are not preserved. Use the reading reported by the Gps.

No mileage was recorded
Check Gps enabled and if OBDII is installed check it. If none of the devices worked during the trip no mileage is recorded.
If the APP is set to trigger off OBDII rpm the ODBII may not be interfaced with your phone. You can be alerted to this situation by having the Audio alert or Vibration alert turned on. Your phone should alert a few seconds after your trip starts. If you get the alert the devices may not have triggered