Versions

[{“Name”:“3.0.x”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“3.1.x”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“3.2.x”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“4.0”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“4.0.3”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“4.1”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“4.2”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“4.3”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“4.4”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“4.4W”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“5.0”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“5.1”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“6.0”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“7.0”,“GroupName”:null},{“Name”:“7.1”,“GroupName”:null}]

Introduction

Android Location APIs are used in a wide variety of apps for different purposes such as finding user location, notifying when a user has left a general area (Geofencing), and help interpret user activity (walking, running, driving, etc).

However, Android Location APIs are not the only means of acquiring user location. The following will give examples of how to use Android’s LocationManager and other common location libraries.

Remarks

For building Location aware apps in Android, there are two paths:

• Android’s native open source [LocationManager](<https://developer.android.com/reference/android/location/LocationManager.html>)
• Google’s [FusedLocationProviderApi](<https://developers.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/gms/location/FusedLocationProviderApi>), which is part of Google Play Services

LocationManager

Pros

• More granular control
• Available in all devices
• Part of the Android framework

Cons

• Battery drain is an issue, if not managed properly
• Requires logic to switch location providers, if the device is unable to find a location (ex. poor GPS inside a building)

Features

• NMEA Listener
• GPS Status Listener