Google Maps Timeline Bug Leaves Users Without Years of Location Data

Summary

As of December, Google Maps has introduced the on-device Timeline location history feature, which stores user location data locally rather than in the cloud to enhance privacy. However, some users have reported that their Google Maps Timeline is missing, displaying a 'No visits for this day' message across all dates checked. This issue affects users who have already migrated to the new on-device system and have not enabled auto-delete. Despite numerous reports over the past 24 hours, it remains unclear how widespread the problem is or whether the data has been deleted or is simply not displaying correctly.

Google announced in 2023 that Maps location history would be stored locally starting June 9 to improve user privacy, and provided a backup and transfer system for new devices. Users missing data currently have no access to this backup and are only presented with the 'delete' option. The company has not yet addressed these issues or provided a solution.