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Jikita troubleshooting

The tag does not appear when I try to pair​

Work down the list; the first three cover almost every case.

  1. Bluetooth is off. Turn it on.
  2. The permission was refused. Android: Settings → Apps → myJikita → Permissions → Nearby devices. iOS: Settings → myJikita → Bluetooth.
  3. The tag's battery is flat. A tag that is not transmitting cannot be found. If it has been in a drawer for a long time, this is the likely answer.
  4. You are too far away. Bluetooth range is tens of metres in the open and much less through a rucksack, a body or a wall. Hold the tag in your hand.
  5. On Android, location services are off at system level. Older Android versions tie Bluetooth scanning to location being enabled system-wide, even when the app does not use Bluetooth for location.

Pairing fails​

Hold the button down for the whole process. A Jikita accepts pairing only while its button is physically pressed, and releasing it early is by a wide margin the most common cause.

On an iPhone, be patient: iOS draws the pairing dialog itself and can take several seconds. Keep holding.

It paired, but nothing works afterwards — iPhone​

Check Settings → Bluetooth on the iPhone and see whether the tag has been forgotten.

Every command — beep, radio check, position updates — needs a live Bluetooth bond. "Forget This Device" removes it, and the tag then appears present (because the app can still hear it) while refusing everything else. Pair it again, button and all.

The presence dot is grey​

The phone cannot currently hear the tag.

  • Is the tag actually on you, or in another room, another bag, or the car?
  • Is Bluetooth on?
  • Is the tag's battery flat?
  • Is the tag inside something that blocks the signal — a metal flask pocket, a body between it and the phone?

A grey dot on a tag you are certain is in your pocket usually means a flat battery.

The battery reading looks wrong​

The battery level comes directly from the tag's own broadcast and refreshes whenever the tag is heard. If the tag has not been heard recently, the app is showing you the last value it had, together with when that was.

Trust the tag's own critical battery warning over the percentage. The device knows its own state better than a number implies.

Beep does nothing​

  • The tag must be within range — beeping needs a connection, not just hearing it.
  • The bond must be intact. On an iPhone, see the "Forget This Device" section above.
  • Something else may be connected to the tag. A tag has a single connection slot; another phone holding it will block yours. Move away from the other phone, or close the app on it.

The radio check reports nothing​

Two different outcomes that look similar:

  • The tag answered but heard nothing. Entirely normal — it means there are no other tags nearby. The tag answering at all is the result you wanted.
  • The tag did not answer at all. Check range, bond and battery, as above.

The check gives up after about half a minute rather than hanging indefinitely.

Nothing works on Android after the screen has been off​

Check battery optimisation. Android suspends background work aggressively, and several manufacturers are far more aggressive than stock. The per-manufacturer table is in Permissions → Battery optimisation.

Tags are not heard while the app is in the background on iPhone​

This is by design. myJikita does not scan for Bluetooth in the background on iOS, so tags — yours and other people's — are heard only while the app is open.

Nothing about your own tracking depends on this, and your own tag still works normally: it transmits on its own long-range radio regardless of what your phone is doing. See How a Jikita is found.

I have lost the tag itself​

  • If it is nearby, beep it.
  • If it is not, its last known position may have been reported — by your own phone, or by somebody else's.
  • Remove it from your account if it is gone for good, so it is no longer associated with you.

Still stuck​

contact@alpik.fr. It helps enormously to include the tag's serial number, your phone model and OS version, and what the presence dot was doing at the time.