navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition() never r

Question

I am trying to access the HTML Geolocation API available in Android WebView (using SDK version 24).

The main problem is that the call to navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition() in JavaScript never returns (neither with an error, nor with position data), while on application side I check for permissions and properly pass them to WebView using android.webkit.GeolocationPermissions.Callback class.

UPDATE: Just to clarify here, by "never returns" I mean that none of the too supplied callbacks navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(success, error) are ever called.

In a sample app I built to test this (with just one small activity hosting WebView) I declare the permissions in manifest and request them properly on App start. I see the prompt and can grant or deny permission to location information.

Manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />

Code in the main form:

public boolean checkFineLocationPermission() {
    if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION)
            != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {

        if (ActivityCompat.shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale(this,
                Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) && !mIsPermissionDialogShown) {
            showPermissionDialog(R.string.dialog_permission_location);
        } else {
            ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this, new String[]{Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION},
                    PERMISSION_ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION);
        }
        return false;
    } else {
        return true;
    }
} 

I can check for permissions during runtime using Context.checkSelfPermission() and I see that the respective permissions are granted to my app.

Then I try to open a web page in a WebView control. I enable all required options in the settings:

    mWebSettings.setJavaScriptEnabled(true);
    mWebSettings.setAppCacheEnabled(true);
    mWebSettings.setDatabaseEnabled(true);
    mWebSettings.setDomStorageEnabled(true);
    mWebSettings.setGeolocationEnabled(true);
    mWebSettings.setJavaScriptCanOpenWindowsAutomatically(true);
    mWebSettings.setSupportZoom(true);

I use the following WebChromeClient overload for handling geolocation requests from JavaScript:

protected class EmbeddedChromeClient extends android.webkit.WebChromeClient {
    @Override
    public void onGeolocationPermissionsShowPrompt(String origin,
                                                   android.webkit.GeolocationPermissions.Callback callback) {

        // do we need to request permissions ?
        if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(EmbeddedBrowserActivity.this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            // this should never happen, it means user revoked permissions
            // need to warn and quit?
            callback.invoke(origin, false, false);
        }
        else {
            callback.invoke(origin, true, true);
        }
    }
}

To test this I use the following code (taken from Mozilla API help page, shortened here):

function geoFindMe() {
  function success(position) {}
  function error() {}
  navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(success, error);
}

What I see is that the call tonavigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(success, error) in JavaScript never returns. I see that onGeolocationPermissionsShowPrompt() method in Java gets properly called and as I check for permissions there I always get the result 0, i.e. PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED, so callback.invoke(origin, true, true) is executed on every call. If I try several times, I see several calls to my Java code. Still, nothing happens on the JavaScript side here after I call invoke().

I added the code to check for granted permissions using the invocation of getOrigins(ValueCallback<Set<String>> callback) in GeolocationPermissions class, as described here in the documentation. I see in the callback that my origins are allowed to request locations (they are listed in the set).

Any ideas what might be wrong here?

Answer 1

For applications targeting Android N and later SDKs (API level > Build.VERSION_CODES.M), the method onGeolocationPermissionsShowPrompt (String origin, GeolocationPermissions.Callback callback) is only called for requests originating from secure origins such as HTTPS. On non-secure origins, geolocation requests are automatically denied.

You could narrow down your problem by yourself if you had tried putting a breakpoint or a log inside the method.

You have two options:

1. Target a lower level API, which is obviously much easier but not really appreciated.
2. Set up SSL in your website.

Answer 2

In case some of you are still experiencing this issue, I was able to get the navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition() to work for me by setting some values for the options parameter, as follows:

if (navigator.geolocation) {
    navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(  
      async (p) => {
        await this.workMyCurrentPosition(p);
      },
      (e) => this.navigatorError(e),
      { timeout: 7000, enableHighAccuracy: true, maximumAge: 0 }
    );
}

Hope it works for you!