I'm developing an android application that involves the detection of the users' location.
What I would like to know is, how does this -> LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER work?
Does it uses the GPS system in the phone or does it uses the mobile company's area network location?
Whenever I turn on the GPS system in my phone, the map would not load. It will only be able to detect & pinpoint the location when I deactivate it. I think the application is tapping into the GPRS or something.
Thanks.
LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER uses GPS and LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER uses mobile network. Map application works with both of them, it displays the most accurate data that is available from any of the providers.
In reality, GPS is accompanied with Wi-fi or 3G to location searching because the GPS providers is not always available.
Related
I'm trying to develop an android application which can acquire GPS location without using Internet and even network location using SIM. Actually, SIM will be inserted in phone and i know that location upto 500m accurate can be acquired through it. But in case of no SIM signals in the area, is it possible to acquire location?
Yes, you can use GPS without any external data connection because signals from the GPS satellites are receive-only.
On a device, the permission setting is known as device-only location mode:
Device only
This mode uses only GPS. It doesn’t use Google's Location service to provide location information. It can estimate your device's location slower and use more battery.
Yes You can get the coordinates but for using map services you need internet.The only thing is your GPS will take a bit longer to lock your location on a cold start, and it might not be quite as accurate.
It's a aGPS (Assisted GPS), and get's part of the location information from the data network (If available) on cold start, then fine-tunes the location further than what a GPS alone can do.
Shouldn't be an issue however, really. Just turn your GPS on a little sooner (Like while getting ready to leave, not waiting until you are in your car).
Yes. If you use the Location Manager, set the Provider to LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER. If you use Google Play Services, it should work automatically.
Android is constantly changing. Currently, the Fused Location API is being used for location detection. But in my experience, without a Data connection, the GPS signal is not being found anymore.
How do I use the device's GPS only whenever there is no internet available?
Fused location provider uses a hybrid way to find gps using a variety of sensors, WIFI/data and the actual GPS chipset.
It will find the location COARSE/FINE accuracy is up to your case. It will just take a while longer than with the internet connection. If indoors or in an isolated area, it may very well take over a minute or two. Sometimes if the data signals just don't reach the device, yes it can fail.
It does work without WIFI or DATA in most cases.
I am trying to get the user's current location using phonegap Geolocation api, which says "Common sources of location information include Global Positioning System (GPS) and location inferred from network signals such as IP address, RFID, WiFi and Bluetooth MAC addresses, and GSM/CDMA cell IDs". I am able to properly get the location when internet is ON (irrespective of the state of GPS).
Is there a way to get the location using triangulation when the internet is OFF or not accessible? (GPS might be ON or OFF)
A BIG "NO"! This is like cutting down hands and asking if I could clap now? GPS and NETWORK location providers are the only way to receive user device location.
For GPS location - you need GPS sensors to be ON.
And for NETWORK location you need to have internet connection ON, because in this case the location is calculated on the basis of Cell-Tower/Wifi-spot ID which is then sent to google servers (via internet) to fetch the location details of the respective Cell Tower or wifi spot. Google's location server have its own location approximation algorithms on the basis of which it tells your location.
So, there could be no way you could receive a location when both GPS and INTERNET are OFF.
Note: You can still get the last received location from any of these providers by using LocationManager's getLastKnownLocation() even when the providers are OFF. But this locations are usually outdated ones and are barely of any use.
{ enableHighAccuracy: true }
Enabling that option will allow the Android device to get the location even with the WIFI option disabled.
My question is, How will actually LocationManager get data from GPS device on mobile?
Can I manually give LocationManager data which i intended to give??
For my testing I require such thing.
Or Can anyone provide me details how or through which File will GPS device provide data to LocationManager.
Or By what means will the Location API communicate with GPS device/ GPS driver.
I require some or the other information to provide direct GPS data to LocationManager inturn to the APPs using locationManager(Directly on mobile not by emulators).
Any help or suggestions are Appreciated.
Reagrds
Poorna Chander T
Here is a nice app for testing apps that require GPS:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1577485
Also you have to select "Allow mock locations" in developer options on your phone.
I'd just like to ask for some clarifications regarding the GPS functionalities of android phones. When an application activates the GPS of a phone, will the phone need to be on a data plan or should activate the data traffic ( Settings > Wireless & Network settings > Mobile Networks > Data Traffic) for the GPS to get the phone's coordinates?
From Wikipdeia
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite
navigation system that provides location and time information in all
weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed
line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It is maintained by the
United States government and is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS
receiver.
If you talk specifically about GPS then it's nothing to do with the data plan or even with your service provider. GPS is totally independent of it. Think of a stand alone GPS receiver device e.g. Garmin GPS 10. It just connects to your laptop through Bluetooth (some with USB cable) and start sending GPS data to it. These devices normally output GPS data in NMEA format. Modern phones includes same sort GPS receiver circuit integrated in them. The thing different here is that these phones consumes GPS data for internally available rather than directly outputting in raw form. That's how you get GPS location information in iPhone and Android smart phones. On the other hand think of GPS navigation devices we use in our cars e.g. Garmin nuvi. It shows the location of car on the integrated maps. There is no sim card in it. Same is with GPS fitness watches.
A good question here is How GPS calculates the location? Best explanation I found is on HowStuffWorks. It's very easy and very well explained. Apart form GPS there are other positioning systems in the world, though GPS is oldest and most widely used. After GPS from US, there is GLONASS from Russia. Some phones support GLONASS too e.g. iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S III. Well there is nothing to worry for developers though. These phones internally use GPS and GLONASS to have high positional accuracy and gives the location in same way.
Other positioning systems includes Compass from China and Galileo. These are under development at the moment. For complete list check this Wikipedia article.
Edit: Location can be also be determined by mobile networks and wifi networks. For example Google Latitude tells your approximate location if you are connected with wifi and even you don't have GPS device connected. In case of location determination by mobile networks, the service provider may charge for location. Normally locations determined by mobile and wifi networks are not very accurate but location can be determined indoors which is a very big problem of GPS location calculation.
Hopefully it will help how things are working.
Cheers! :)
Atleast in India I can access use the GPS whenever I can see the sky, no data plan is required for me.
I haven't tried it on Android but it should be possible to get GPS co-ordinates without a data plan. My iPhone gets GPS locations even when out of reception, I can't see why android would be any different.