I'm new with the Google's Fused Location API and I would like to know if there is any way of requesting a location update in any given time?
I know about setInterval() and setFastestInterval() but For example: If the user presses a button, can I get THE current location and not the last known? I just don't want to have the app working at very short intervals to conserve battery.
Thanks
getLastKnownLocation() only returns the last fix. So if no location providers are being updated the return value of getLastKnownLocation() will not change. The location object will also provide you with accuracy and time of the fix.
I would look at this post for more information. You could use some version of the one shot location.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/06/deep-dive-into-location.html
Related
I don't need to be too precise. I want to know location can be an area of the user in one country. I tried using the location service getLastKnownLocation with the update through GPS. If the getLastKnownLocation is unknown, the time it take to get the result is quite a bit of time. I am working on the weather application, I don't need to have the street name. Is there another way of getting the result more faster.
you can get the last known location for more detail read here last Known Location
or you can request a location updates every period of times you set request locaion updates
it's pretty straightforward
I just need to understand this clearly, getLastLocation() method will give me the last known location and requestLocationUpdates will give me the current location every period of time.
now, i am developing a simple app to track mobile phones, which will be in cars.
my Question are :
1- how exactly getLastLocation() works, will this last known location be updated when the location change
2- which is better, using getLastLocation() to have the initial location then update the current location by using the method onLocationChanged or using requestLocationUpdates to have an up to date location every n sec ?
getLastLocation gives you the last location which was there in LocationClient, it can be null sometimes, say if you don't have any other application installed which uses location services, that's a rare case as most phones have Google maps or some other location dependent apps installed.
getLastLocation is only helpful, when you want location for once and your done with it, but for location updates you should use requestLocationUpdates, and using a service, your application will always get notified, when the location changes.
I hope you are using the FusedLocation Provider from play services, so you can specify how fast location updates you need, to check cases of battery drain and performance.
Also to note here when you use requestLocationUpdates then only you will get any location change updates.
so according to android docs getLastLocation() :-
Returns the best most recent location currently available. If a
location is not available, which should happen very rarely, null will
be returned. The best accuracy available while respecting the location
permissions will be returned. This method provides a simplified way to
get location. It is particularly well suited for applications that do
not require an accurate location and that do not want to maintain
extra logic for location updates.
This is the problem with getLastLocation(),that it is not accurate and it may return null if it does not have any last known location in cache.I have faced this issue many times in my application.So for getting the accurate location you should use requestLocationUpdates() but define the interval according to your need at which time interval you want the updates as a very short time span may cause more power usage.
I am building an app that can use a user's current location on certain actions. Location is more of a benefit to the user rather than a critical part of the process. I'm only interested in very rough accuracy and it can be off by 5 or even 10 miles and still be of value. General plan was to see if the network provider was enabled and then just do
locationManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER)
Assuming that no other apps are running, will the phone automatically periodically update the network location? I.e. there will likely always be a value returned by this code which will meet my needs?
EDIT:
I've been doing a bit more research and I think the question I was really trying to ask here was if the Android operating system or the phone itself would update the last known location for the network provider as the phone locked onto different cell phone towers or wifi networks. The answer appears to be no. After force stopping all apps on my phone which I know to interaction with location services, the last known location has stopped updating. So, I'm guessing that these days chances are that most phones will have some location services running in the background updating the last known location but the phone itself won't do it. Hence I think I'll be going with some form of requesting location updates if the last known location is too old.
getLastKnownLocation() only returns the last fix. So if no location providers are being updated the return value of getLastKnownLocation() will not change. The location object will also provide you with accuracy and time of the fix.
I would look at this post for more information. You could use some version of the one shot location.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/06/deep-dive-into-location.html
Frohnzie is correct about getLastKnownLocation. Getting location is an expensive operation, so it only happens when an app requests it. I've often driven 30 miles or so, opened the foursquare app on my phone, and it showed me venus that were 30 miles away. Clearly they were using getLastKnownLocation.
For your use case, I would recommend LocationManager.requestLocationUpdates. You can specify an accuracy and a timeout. So if the phone can't quickly find a rough estimate of the user's location, you can just forego location since it is not crucial to your application.
I need current location of user in my application on based on that location I will search on database!
I am getting current location right now by using example code given but it is not accurate. If no GPS I get location by network provider but it shows sometime 2 location names at the same location. If it is showing one name 1 min before after 2 min it will change to another location.
This code is look but do not know how to use it. Please help me out in this regard!
What is the simplest and most robust way to get the user's current location on Android?
I need to get the location name.
Network location is not as reliable as GPS location, so you might get some fluctuation. That's even more true if you're relying on wifi APs.
You may try to average locations or wait to see if it stabilises in some location in particular, or show the most common location (i.e., the one reported most of the time).
I'm using
myLocation = mLocationManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
to retrieve the current location at the start-up of my application.
As the Android documentation states, this location can be "out-of-date", since the method returns the location when the GPS was used the last time.
How can I actively request the current location from the GPS? I thought about using LocationListener, however that might be a bit of an overkill, since I only need the location once (at the start of my app).
Any ideas?
Your initial intuition is correct - you need to use a LocationListener to request updates. Given that you require only a single position, you can unregister the LocationListener after the first value returns.
In practice though, it's probably wise to listen for a little bit longer. Location Based Services (particularly GPS) have a tendency to 'jump around' a bit when they first get their fix. Your best bet is to listen for a set amount of time, or a set number of updates, or until a certain level of accuracy has been achieved (the Location Listener will return the accuracy of the position returned).