The challenge
Mapping every walk accurately without escalating location costs
Fi's goal has always been to deliver precise, real-world visibility into a dog's daily activity. As the team developed features that map out a dog's exact walking route, they ran into limitations with their existing location providers. Google's APIs were built for driving directions, not for tracking a dog along the sidewalk. The GPS data Fi received often had a 10- to 20-foot margin of error, which made it hard to accurately show the side of the street or the correct walking path — a level of accuracy that didn't meet Fi's standard for user experience.
There was also no feedback loop. When routes were wrong, there was no easy way to submit examples or collaborate with Google to improve results. Fi needed more than a vendor — they needed a partner who could iterate on accuracy and build with them over time, with a solution that not only reduced cost but could scale alongside their success without compromising accuracy.
The solution
One maps platform that replaced two vendors and sharpened route accuracy
Fi uses Radar Maps Platform to deliver accurate, real-time location updates to users at a lower cost and higher accuracy than legacy providers. Radar now powers three key features in the Fi app:
- Reverse geocoding, which displays live collar locations as a full address. Fi migrated this functionality from Mapbox.
- Route matching, which draws walk paths and identifies which side of the street a dog (and their walker) is on. This was previously powered by Google.
- Address autocomplete, for selecting Safe Zones — the areas where a dog can roam freely — in the app.
Additionally, Radar worked with Fi to set up a direct pipeline for location issue reporting. When the support team identifies a walk route that looks off, they can send the data straight to an S3 bucket managed by Radar. This system packages the relevant logs and GPS data in just a few clicks, giving Radar everything needed to investigate and improve route accuracy.
The results
Fi saves $100K+ a year and maps walks more accurately
By switching to Radar, Fi is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on geolocation costs and delivering more accurate location data to their users. Beyond accuracy and cost, Radar provides a level of support Fi didn't have with previous providers, creating a real feedback loop that allows both teams to continuously improve route accuracy over time.
“We replaced two vendors with one, made the product more accurate, and are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. That's the kind of efficiency we're always looking for.”
