A method includes determining an operating condition associated with a mobile device based on contextual information associated with one or more of usage information of the mobile device, user activity of a user of the mobile device, or location information. If the operating condition satisfies a threshold power-consumption condition, the method further includes adjusting a frequency of collecting location information of the mobile device and collecting information on a plurality of locations associated with the mobile device for a particular time period based on the adjusted frequency of collecting the location information. The method further includes adjusting a frequency of uploading collected location information to a server associated with a social-networking system and sending the information on the plurality of locations for a particular time period to the social-networking system based on the adjusted frequency of uploading collected location information for building a location timeline for the mobile device.