I am developing an android application in which i want to use wifi only to find user's location is it possible to find location of your device just by using Wifi ?
In this app i m trying to guide user to go from one place to another inside a building so i want exact location cell tower location or gps location will not be of any help
LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER will use either Wifi or cell tower location (not GPS). If you want the best location, that would be fine GPS (wifi is the least accurate.) You can ask the LocationManager to getBestProvider and require fine GPS with:
criteria.setAccuracy(Criteria.ACCURACY_FINE);
Based on your latest comment, I think you would like to guide a user inside a building and somehow get more accurate locations than a gps location (which would probably not be accurate inside a building anyway). While there may be some specific situation in which this would be possible, I would say no, there is not a general solution that could be applied.
For Current Location, using GPS is highly recommended. Because with only Wifi, it will not be accurate. But still you can use this:
String uriName = "geo:"+ lat+ "," + lon+ "?q=my+street+address";
startActivity(new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse(uriName)));
This should work with roughly accuracy.
I think you want to guide the user while inside the building, if so, then I don't think that GPS or Wifi will be able to help you.
GPS provides a very fine location but require clear contact with the gps satellites in the space which won't be available inside buildings. Also the accuracy is within some meter distance which won't be effective in your case.
Cellular wifi will provide you location using the nearby cell tower which i think is self explanatory in your case. So, I don't think that both location services will of use in your case.
Related
I added a test provider using LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER as provider name like described here
https://mobiarch.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/testing-with-mock-location-data-in-android/
In Google Maps app, I see location jumping between mocked location and real location, and then back to mocked location.
Why is jumping to real location and how can I stop it?
Maybe I misunderstand how to use mock locations. I haven't found any official documentation available.
You most likely have your location settings configured in a way that your phone (and apps) can use both the location from the GPS sensor and the location from the cells and wi-fi. Since the coming of the Fused Location Provider, the way the system fetches your location got a bit murkier.
When you mock the position you are only able to mock the GPS sensor readings (this is also true for when you mock the position through the simulator settings).
So when the system feeds Google Maps with a position from the GPS sensor it gives it the fake one, and when it provides the position from other sensors it will be the real one.
To test that I'm correct, you can switch location settings to "Device only" and you should only get the fake positions.
Unfortunately there's no way to mock the other sensors readings.
Turn off Wi-Fi scanning / Bluetooth scanning in the Location Settings to stop jumping to preserve mock location.
Id like to narrow down the location of a phone to the cm or less than a foot (nothing creepy I promise :). Say there was a room full of people I would like 1 user to be able to look though an augmented reality view on their phone to find another user.
Only problem is the location data, I know gps is probably out since I think its only accurate to 10-15 meters? Could you do something with the wifi points, ie have a couple and measure ping time between them to work out location? Or does this technology already exist? Thanks C
Android provides basically two location provider :
GPS
Network
GPS is the most accurate source which you don't want to use and it's slow.
Network location provider is false but less accurate than gps.
So the only hope is GPS.
I have an app in android using GoogleMaps API.
When i use google maps, I active gps and it find me so fast.
When i use my app, it takes some seconds, and if I'm in my house, gps dont find me. WHY ?
A short summary of my code:
locationManager = (LocationManager)getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
MyLocationListener = new MyLocationListener();
locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER,
7000,
5,
MyLocationListener
);
Thx for answers and sorry for my poor english
EDIT
Thx for answers ! the problem is that i dont want to use network provider. Wifi is exelent, and 3g have a 400 meters error jejeej.
I only want to know, why google maps, using GPS, find me in 1 second with perfect position Although I stay in a house.
Your answer is "use coarse locate". If google maps use network providers befor gps, its impossible he find me so fast. :(
GPS is using satelites, When you are indoor it can't get the signal from the satelites hence it can't find location (can't get a fix).
The GPS needs signals from at least 4 satelites to get a proper fix, that usually takes a few seconds, once you already have a fix you can maintaine it very easly. therfore if you are using google maps it will get you a fix faster.
To get a better understand on how GPS works, check this link
You might want to use different location approachs for getting location indoor (coarse location could be the answer). I would also consider using the fused location by Google play services, it gives you a wrap up on the location providers and get you location based on what avilable at the time (meaning GPS, coarse - wifi or network).
You should try using Coarse locates for a quick locate followed by a fine locate to have a more accurate location. The coarse locate is usually very fast, while the fine one takes more time.
Basically, the idea is to do multiple locates and overriding the less accurate ones by the newer and more accurate locates.
You can find more info on the Android dev doc: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/location/strategies.html
EDIT: if Google Maps is able to find you so fast, it is because you are not moving and they use the knowledge of the last location. Please read the above link that gives a lot of useful information for Location strategies (and it works very well).
We know there are two positioning mode in Android: GPS and network. If we use network, then Android can use WIFI or 2G/3G cell tower to position. Without GPS, we can simply use LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER to get the location data. But how can we know the mode is WIFI or 2G/3G cell tower exactly? Android doesn't provide separate providers for WIFI and cell tower.
I have thought a method. But I am not sure whether it is correct. Please review and give comments:
Check whether I can get a WIFI hotspot list. If nothing in the list, cell tower must be used.
If there are some WIFI hotspots, and the accuracy is high (<=100m), then WIFI is probably used. If the accuracy is low, is still cell tower used?
In my understanding, the accuracy of WIFI positioning is relatively high. But what's the normal range of the accuracy for it? Another question, does Android use WIFI and cell tower at the same time? If it does, then in my application, I can think it use WIFI, not cell tower.
Thanks!
Actually, there is a way to do this. It is not just documented well and thus might also change without notice.
You can get the used location estimation method via the network location provider location update extra data.
Bundle extras = location.getExtras();
if (extras.containsKey("networkLocationType")) {
String type = extras.getString("networkLocationType");
if (type .equals("cell")) {
// Cell (2G/3G/LTE) is used.
} else if (type .equals("wifi")) {
// Wi-Fi is used.
}
}
This is correct, Android does not explicitely give a way to determine how the network location is computed. The principle of the network provider is to collect all the relevant data on the device, and then send it all to the Google servers, where your location is computed and sent back to you. I am not sure, but the network location might also use the accelerometer/gyro/compass data to improve the accuracy of the location, especially when you compute your location continuously.
So I believe it can use simultaneously cell tower and Wifi info.
Your accuracy method should work in most cases, but is not 100% reliable.
Another possibility is to turn the wifi off, compute a first location fix, then turn it on again and give it another try. by comparing the two locations and their accuracy estimates, you can probably guess the influence of wifi on the location engine at your current location.
Out of curiosity, why do you need this for?
I am developing a android application in that i want find the user location using GPS. That is working fine .But if the GPS is Disabled means i want to find the user location based on the CellID and Loc .It is possible or not
It is possible means please tell me how to do that with sample code
Waiting for reply
Just request the "best" location provider, and you'll either get the GPS if it's available or the network (wifi / cell) if it's not.
LocationManager.getBestProvider()
You don't need to explicitly code to either GPS / network providers.
Here is complete tutorial of Location-Based Services Using CellID in Android.