I interviewed there in 2016 and you only needed to have the app on while driving for a week or two before you got a quote. After you got the quote you didn't need to have the app on. It's possible this has changed since then; but back when I spoke with them they were clearly trying to balance collecting the telemetry needed to give good discounts with the natural privacy concerns.
Hey Lionel! I bet they have a lot of Braintree alums interviewing there. Dan is great to work with.
Also, we should catch up!
The app runs in the background, you don't have to have it open/active.