What is the simplest and most robust way to get th

Question

The LocationManager API on Android seems like it's a bit of a pain to use for an application that only needs an occasional and rough approximation of the user's location.

The app I'm working on isn't really a location app per se, but it does need to get the user's location in order to display a list of nearby businesses. It doesn't need to worry about if the user is moving around or anything like that.

Here's what I'd like to do:

1. Show the user a list of nearby locations.
2. Preload the user's location so that by the time I need it in Activity X, it will be available.
3. I don't particularly care about accuracy or frequency of update. Just grabbing one location is sufficient as long as it's not way off. Maybe if I want to be fancy I'll update the location once every few mins or so, but it's not a huge priority.
4. Work for any device as long as it has either a GPS or a Network Location provider.

It seems like it shouldn't be that hard, but it appears to me that I have to spin up two different location providers (GPS and NETWORK) and manage each's lifecycle. Not only that, but I have to duplicate the same code in multiple activities to satisfy #2. I've tried using getBestProvider() in the past to cut the solution down to just using one location provider, but that seems to only give you the best "theoretical" provider rather than the provider that's actually going to give you the best results.

Is there a simpler way to accomplish this?

Answer 1

The recommended way to do this is to use LocationClient:

First, define location update interval values. Adjust this to your needs.

private static final int MILLISECONDS_PER_SECOND = 1000;
private static final long UPDATE_INTERVAL = MILLISECONDS_PER_SECOND * UPDATE_INTERVAL_IN_SECONDS;
private static final int FASTEST_INTERVAL_IN_SECONDS = 1;
private static final long FASTEST_INTERVAL = MILLISECONDS_PER_SECOND * FASTEST_INTERVAL_IN_SECONDS;

Have your Activity implement GooglePlayServicesClient.ConnectionCallbacks, GooglePlayServicesClient.OnConnectionFailedListener, and LocationListener.

public class LocationActivity extends Activity implements 
GooglePlayServicesClient.ConnectionCallbacks, GooglePlayServicesClient.OnConnectionFailedListener, LocationListener {}

Then, set up a LocationClientin the onCreate() method of your Activity:

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    mLocationClient = new LocationClient(this, this, this);

    mLocationRequest = LocationRequest.create();
    mLocationRequest.setPriority(LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY);
    mLocationRequest.setInterval(UPDATE_INTERVAL);
    mLocationRequest.setFastestInterval(FASTEST_INTERVAL);
}

Add the required methods to your Activity; onConnected() is the method that is called when the LocationClientconnects. onLocationChanged() is where you'll retrieve the most up-to-date location.

@Override
public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult connectionResult) {
    Log.w(TAG, "Location client connection failed");
}

@Override
public void onConnected(Bundle dataBundle) {
    Log.d(TAG, "Location client connected");
    mLocationClient.requestLocationUpdates(mLocationRequest, this); 
}

@Override
public void onDisconnected() {
    Log.d(TAG, "Location client disconnected");
}

@Override
public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
    if (location != null) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Updated Location: " + Double.toString(location.getLatitude()) + "," + Double.toString(location.getLongitude()));
    } else {
        Log.d(TAG, "Updated location NULL");
    } 
}     

Be sure to connect/disconnect the LocationClient so it's only using extra battery when absolutely necessary and so the GPS doesn't run indefinitely. The LocationClient must be connected in order to get data from it.

public void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    mLocationClient.connect();
}

public void onStop() {
    if (mLocationClient.isConnected()) {
        mLocationClient.removeLocationUpdates(this);
    }
    mLocationClient.disconnect();
    super.onStop();
}

Get the user's location. First try using the LocationClient; if that fails, fall back to the LocationManager.

public Location getLocation() {
    if (mLocationClient != null && mLocationClient.isConnected()) {
        return mLocationClient.getLastLocation();
    } else {
        LocationManager locationManager = (LocationManager) this.getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
        if (locationManager != null) {
            Location lastKnownLocationGPS = locationManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
            if (lastKnownLocationGPS != null) {
                return lastKnownLocationGPS;
            } else {
                return locationManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER);
            }
        } else {
            return null;
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

public static Location getBestLocation(Context ctxt) {
    Location gpslocation = getLocationByProvider(
        LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, ctxt);
    Location networkLocation = getLocationByProvider(
        LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, ctxt);
    Location fetchedlocation = null;
    // if we have only one location available, the choice is easy
    if (gpslocation != null) {
        Log.i("New Location Receiver", "GPS Location available.");
        fetchedlocation = gpslocation;
    } else {
        Log.i("New Location Receiver",
            "No GPS Location available. Fetching Network location lat="
                + networkLocation.getLatitude() + " lon ="
                + networkLocation.getLongitude());
        fetchedlocation = networkLocation;
    }
    return fetchedlocation;
}

/**
 * get the last known location from a specific provider (network/gps)
 */
private static Location getLocationByProvider(String provider, Context ctxt) {
    Location location = null;
    // if (!isProviderSupported(provider)) {
    // return null;
    // }
    LocationManager locationManager = (LocationManager) ctxt
            .getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
    try {
        if (locationManager.isProviderEnabled(provider)) {
            location = locationManager.getLastKnownLocation(provider);
        }
    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
        Log.i("New Location Receiver", "Cannot access Provider " + provider);
    }
    return location;
}

Answer 3

To get and show the user's current location, you could also use MyLocationOverlay. Suppose you have a mapView field in your activity. All you would need to do to show the user location is the following:

myLocationOverlay = new MyLocationOverlay(this, mapView);
myLocationOverlay.enableMyLocation();
mapView.getOverlays().add(myLocationOverlay);

This gets the current location from either the GPS or the network. If both fail, enableMyLocation() will return false.

As for the locations of things around the area, an ItemizedOverlay should do the trick.

I hope I haven't misunderstood your question. Good luck.

Answer 4

Recently refactored to obtain the location of the code, learn some good ideas, and finally achieved a relatively perfect library and Demo.

//request all valid provider(network/gps)
private boolean requestAllProviderUpdates() {
    checkRuntimeEnvironment();
    checkPermission();

    if (isRequesting) {
        EasyLog.d("Request location update is busy");
        return false;
    }


    long minTime = getCheckTimeInterval();
    float minDistance = getCheckMinDistance();

    if (mMapLocationListeners == null) {
        mMapLocationListeners = new HashMap<>();
    }

    mValidProviders = getValidProviders();
    if (mValidProviders == null || mValidProviders.isEmpty()) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Not available provider.");
    }

    for (String provider : mValidProviders) {
        LocationListener locationListener = new LocationListener() {
            @Override
            public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
                if (location == null) {
                    EasyLog.e("LocationListener callback location is null.");
                    return;
                }
                printf(location);
                mLastProviderTimestamp = location.getTime();

                if (location.getProvider().equals(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER)) {
                    finishResult(location);
                } else {
                    doLocationResult(location);
                }

                removeProvider(location.getProvider());
                if (isEmptyValidProviders()) {
                    requestTimeoutMsgInit();
                    removeUpdates();
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {
            }
        };
        getLocationManager().requestLocationUpdates(provider, minTime, minDistance, locationListener);
        mMapLocationListeners.put(provider, locationListener);
        EasyLog.d("Location request %s provider update.", provider);
    }
    isRequesting = true;
    return true;
}

//remove request update
public void removeUpdates() {
    checkRuntimeEnvironment();

    LocationManager locationManager = getLocationManager();
    if (mMapLocationListeners != null) {
        Set<String> keys = mMapLocationListeners.keySet();
        for (String key : keys) {
            LocationListener locationListener = mMapLocationListeners.get(key);
            if (locationListener != null) {
                locationManager.removeUpdates(locationListener);
                EasyLog.d("Remove location update, provider is " + key);
            }
        }
        mMapLocationListeners.clear();
        isRequesting = false;
    }
}

//Compared with the last successful position, to determine whether you need to filter
private boolean isNeedFilter(Location location) {
    checkLocation(location);

    if (mLastLocation != null) {
        float distance = location.distanceTo(mLastLocation);
        if (distance < getCheckMinDistance()) {
            return true;
        }
        if (location.getAccuracy() >= mLastLocation.getAccuracy()
                && distance < location.getAccuracy()) {
            return true;
        }
        if (location.getTime() <= mLastProviderTimestamp) {
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}

private void doLocationResult(Location location) {
    checkLocation(location);

    if (isNeedFilter(location)) {
        EasyLog.d("location need to filtered out, timestamp is " + location.getTime());
        finishResult(mLastLocation);
    } else {
        finishResult(location);
    }
}

//Return to the finished position
private void finishResult(Location location) {
    checkLocation(location);

    double latitude = location.getLatitude();
    double longitude = location.getLongitude();
    float accuracy = location.getAccuracy();
    long time = location.getTime();
    String provider = location.getProvider();

    if (mLocationResultListeners != null && !mLocationResultListeners.isEmpty()) {
        String format = "Location result:<%f, %f> Accuracy:%f Time:%d Provider:%s";
        EasyLog.i(String.format(format, latitude, longitude, accuracy, time, provider));

        mLastLocation = location;
        synchronized (this) {
            Iterator<LocationResultListener> iterator =  mLocationResultListeners.iterator();
            while (iterator.hasNext()) {
                LocationResultListener listener = iterator.next();
                if (listener != null) {
                    listener.onResult(location);
                }
                iterator.remove();
            }
        }
    }
}

Complete code: https://github.com/bingerz/FastLocation/blob/master/fastlocationlib/src/main/java/cn/bingerz/fastlocation/FastLocation.java

*Each request to complete the location, it is best to removeUpdates, otherwise the phone status bar will always display the positioning icon.

Answer 5

I have written detailed tutorial covering current location here on demonuts.com.You can find more description here and also you can download whole demo source code for better understanding.

There are already many answers there but I want to show latest way to get location using Google API, so new programmers can use new method:

First of all, put this in gradle file

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:8.4.0'

then implement necessary interfaces

public class MainActivity  extends BaseActivitiy implements GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks, GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener, com.google.android.gms.location.LocationListener

declare instances

  private GoogleApiClient mGoogleApiClient;
  private Location mLocation;
  private LocationManager locationManager;
  private LocationRequest mLocationRequest;

put this in onCreate()

 mGoogleApiClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder(this)
                .addConnectionCallbacks(this)
                .addOnConnectionFailedListener(this)
                .addApi(LocationServices.API)
                .build();
        locationManager = (LocationManager) getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);

At last, override necessary methods

 @Override
    public void onConnected(Bundle bundle) {
        if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            // TODO: Consider calling
            //    ActivityCompat#requestPermissions
            // here to request the missing permissions, and then overriding
            //   public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int requestCode, String[] permissions,
            //                                          int[] grantResults)
            // to handle the case where the user grants the permission. See the documentation
            // for ActivityCompat#requestPermissions for more details.
            return;
        }
        mLocation = LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.getLastLocation(mGoogleApiClient);
        if(mLocation == null){
            startLocationUpdates();
        }
        if (mLocation != null) {
            double latitude = mLocation.getLatitude();
            double longitude = mLocation.getLongitude();
        } else {
            // Toast.makeText(this, "Location not Detected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        }
    }

    protected void startLocationUpdates() {
        // Create the location request
        mLocationRequest = LocationRequest.create()
                .setPriority(LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY)
                .setInterval(UPDATE_INTERVAL)
                .setFastestInterval(FASTEST_INTERVAL);
        // Request location updates
        if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            // TODO: Consider calling
            //    ActivityCompat#requestPermissions
            // here to request the missing permissions, and then overriding
            //   public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int requestCode, String[] permissions,
            //                                          int[] grantResults)
            // to handle the case where the user grants the permission. See the documentation
            // for ActivityCompat#requestPermissions for more details.
            return;
        }
        LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.requestLocationUpdates(mGoogleApiClient,
                mLocationRequest, this);
        Log.d("reque", "--->>>>");
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnectionSuspended(int i) {
        Log.i(TAG, "Connection Suspended");
        mGoogleApiClient.connect();
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult connectionResult) {
        Log.i(TAG, "Connection failed. Error: " + connectionResult.getErrorCode());
    }

    @Override
    public void onStart() {
        super.onStart();
        mGoogleApiClient.connect();
    }

    @Override
    public void onStop() {
        super.onStop();
        if (mGoogleApiClient.isConnected()) {
            mGoogleApiClient.disconnect();
        }
    }
    @Override
    public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {

    }

Don't forget to start GPS in your device before running app.

Answer 6

By using FusedLocationProviderApi which is the latest API and the best among the available possibilities to get location in Android. add this in build.gradle file

dependencies {
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:6.5.87'
}

you can get full source code by this url http://javapapers.com/android/android-location-fused-provider/