Good way of getting the user's location in Android

android geolocation android-location

The problem:

Getting the user's current location within a threshold ASAP and at the same time conserve battery.

Why the problem is a problem:

First off, android has two providers; network and GPS. Sometimes network is better and sometimes the GPS is better.

By "better" I mean speed vs. accuracy ratio. I'm willing to sacrifice a few meters in accuracy if I can get the location almost instant and without turning on the GPS.

Secondly, if you request updates for location changes nothing is sent if the current location is stable.

Google has an example of determining the "best" location here: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/location/obtaining-user-location.html#BestEstimate
But I think it's no where near as good as it should/could be.

I'm kind of confused why google hasn't a normalized API for location, the developer shouldn't have to care where the location is from, you should just specify what you want and the phone should choose for you.

What I need help with:

I need to find a good way to determine the "best" location, maybe though some heuristic or maybe through some 3rd party library.

This does not mean determine the best provider! I'm probably gonna use all providers and picking the best of them.

Background of the app:

The app will collect the user's location at a fixed interval (let say every 10 minutes or so) and send it to a server. The app should conserve as much battery as possible and the location should have X (50-100?) meters accuracy.

The goal is to later be able to plot the user's path during the day on a map so I need sufficient accuracy for that.

Misc:

What do you think are reasonable values on desired and accepted accuracies? I've been using 100m as accepted and 30m as desired, is this to much to ask? I'd like to be able to plot the user's path on a map later. Is 100m for desired and 500m for accepted better?

Also, right now I have the GPS on for a maximum of 60 seconds per location update, is this too short to get a location if you're indoors with an accuracy of maybe 200m?

This is my current code, any feedback is appreciated (apart from the lack of error checking which is TODO):

protected void runTask() {
    final LocationManager locationManager = (LocationManager) context
            .getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
    updateBestLocation(locationManager
            .getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER));
    updateBestLocation(locationManager
            .getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER));
    if (getLocationQuality(bestLocation) != LocationQuality.GOOD) {
        Looper.prepare();
        setLooper(Looper.myLooper());
        // Define a listener that responds to location updates
        LocationListener locationListener = new LocationListener() {

            public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
                updateBestLocation(location);
                if (getLocationQuality(bestLocation) != LocationQuality.GOOD)
                    return;
                // We're done
                Looper l = getLooper();
                if (l != null) l.quit();
            }

            public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {}

            public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {}

            public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status,
                    Bundle extras) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                Log.i("LocationCollector", "Fail");
                Looper l = getLooper();
                if (l != null) l.quit();
            }
        };
        // Register the listener with the Location Manager to receive
        // location updates
        locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
                LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 1000, 1, locationListener,
                Looper.myLooper());
        locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
                LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, 1000, 1,
                locationListener, Looper.myLooper());
        Timer t = new Timer();
        t.schedule(new TimerTask() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                Looper l = getLooper();
                if (l != null) l.quit();
                // Log.i("LocationCollector",
                // "Stopping collector due to timeout");
            }
        }, MAX_POLLING_TIME);
        Looper.loop();
        t.cancel();
        locationManager.removeUpdates(locationListener);
        setLooper(null);
    }
    if (getLocationQuality(bestLocation) != LocationQuality.BAD) 
        sendUpdate(locationToString(bestLocation));
    else Log.w("LocationCollector", "Failed to get a location");
}

private enum LocationQuality {
    BAD, ACCEPTED, GOOD;

    public String toString() {
        if (this == GOOD) return "Good";
        else if (this == ACCEPTED) return "Accepted";
        else return "Bad";
    }
}

private LocationQuality getLocationQuality(Location location) {
    if (location == null) return LocationQuality.BAD;
    if (!location.hasAccuracy()) return LocationQuality.BAD;
    long currentTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
    if (currentTime - location.getTime() < MAX_AGE
            && location.getAccuracy() <= GOOD_ACCURACY)
        return LocationQuality.GOOD;
    if (location.getAccuracy() <= ACCEPTED_ACCURACY)
        return LocationQuality.ACCEPTED;
    return LocationQuality.BAD;
}

private synchronized void updateBestLocation(Location location) {
    bestLocation = getBestLocation(location, bestLocation);
}

// Pretty much an unmodified version of googles example
protected Location getBestLocation(Location location,
        Location currentBestLocation) {
    if (currentBestLocation == null) {
        // A new location is always better than no location
        return location;
    }
    if (location == null) return currentBestLocation;
    // Check whether the new location fix is newer or older
    long timeDelta = location.getTime() - currentBestLocation.getTime();
    boolean isSignificantlyNewer = timeDelta > TWO_MINUTES;
    boolean isSignificantlyOlder = timeDelta < -TWO_MINUTES;
    boolean isNewer = timeDelta > 0;
    // If it's been more than two minutes since the current location, use
    // the new location
    // because the user has likely moved
    if (isSignificantlyNewer) {
        return location;
        // If the new location is more than two minutes older, it must be
        // worse
    } else if (isSignificantlyOlder) {
        return currentBestLocation;
    }
    // Check whether the new location fix is more or less accurate
    int accuracyDelta = (int) (location.getAccuracy() - currentBestLocation
            .getAccuracy());
    boolean isLessAccurate = accuracyDelta > 0;
    boolean isMoreAccurate = accuracyDelta < 0;
    boolean isSignificantlyLessAccurate = accuracyDelta > 200;
    // Check if the old and new location are from the same provider
    boolean isFromSameProvider = isSameProvider(location.getProvider(),
            currentBestLocation.getProvider());
    // Determine location quality using a combination of timeliness and
    // accuracy
    if (isMoreAccurate) {
        return location;
    } else if (isNewer && !isLessAccurate) {
        return location;
    } else if (isNewer && !isSignificantlyLessAccurate
            && isFromSameProvider) {
        return location;
    }
    return bestLocation;
}

/** Checks whether two providers are the same */
private boolean isSameProvider(String provider1, String provider2) {
    if (provider1 == null) {
        return provider2 == null;
    }
    return provider1.equals(provider2);
}

Chiming in really late, but the "Fused Location Provider" that was recently announced at IO 2013 looks like it addresses many of your needs -- developer.android.com/google/play-services/location.html

shouldn't the last line of getBestLocation() be: return currentBestLocation; instead of return bestLocation;?

Gryphius

Looks like we're coding the same application ;-) Here is my current implementation. I'm still in the beta testing phase of my GPS uploader app, so there might be many possible improvements. but it seems to work pretty well so far.

/**
 * try to get the 'best' location selected from all providers
 */
private Location getBestLocation() {
    Location gpslocation = getLocationByProvider(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
    Location networkLocation =
            getLocationByProvider(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER);
    // if we have only one location available, the choice is easy
    if (gpslocation == null) {
        Log.d(TAG, "No GPS Location available.");
        return networkLocation;
    }
    if (networkLocation == null) {
        Log.d(TAG, "No Network Location available");
        return gpslocation;
    }
    // a locationupdate is considered 'old' if its older than the configured
    // update interval. this means, we didn't get a
    // update from this provider since the last check
    long old = System.currentTimeMillis() - getGPSCheckMilliSecsFromPrefs();
    boolean gpsIsOld = (gpslocation.getTime() < old);
    boolean networkIsOld = (networkLocation.getTime() < old);
    // gps is current and available, gps is better than network
    if (!gpsIsOld) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Returning current GPS Location");
        return gpslocation;
    }
    // gps is old, we can't trust it. use network location
    if (!networkIsOld) {
        Log.d(TAG, "GPS is old, Network is current, returning network");
        return networkLocation;
    }
    // both are old return the newer of those two
    if (gpslocation.getTime() > networkLocation.getTime()) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Both are old, returning gps(newer)");
        return gpslocation;
    } else {
        Log.d(TAG, "Both are old, returning network(newer)");
        return networkLocation;
    }
}

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

Edit: here is the part that requests the periodic updates from the location providers:

public void startRecording() {
    gpsTimer.cancel();
    gpsTimer = new Timer();
    long checkInterval = getGPSCheckMilliSecsFromPrefs();
    long minDistance = getMinDistanceFromPrefs();
    // receive updates
    LocationManager locationManager = (LocationManager) getApplicationContext()
            .getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
    for (String s : locationManager.getAllProviders()) {
        locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(s, checkInterval,
                minDistance, new LocationListener() {

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

                    @Override
                    public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {}

                    @Override
                    public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {}

                    @Override
                    public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
                        // if this is a gps location, we can use it
                        if (location.getProvider().equals(
                                LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER)) {
                            doLocationUpdate(location, true);
                        }
                    }
                });
        // //Toast.makeText(this, "GPS Service STARTED",
        // Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        gps_recorder_running = true;
    }
    // start the gps receiver thread
    gpsTimer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {

        @Override
        public void run() {
            Location location = getBestLocation();
            doLocationUpdate(location, false);
        }
    }, 0, checkInterval);
}

public void doLocationUpdate(Location l, boolean force) {
    long minDistance = getMinDistanceFromPrefs();
    Log.d(TAG, "update received:" + l);
    if (l == null) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Empty location");
        if (force)
            Toast.makeText(this, "Current location not available",
                    Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        return;
    }
    if (lastLocation != null) {
        float distance = l.distanceTo(lastLocation);
        Log.d(TAG, "Distance to last: " + distance);
        if (l.distanceTo(lastLocation) < minDistance && !force) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Position didn't change");
            return;
        }
        if (l.getAccuracy() >= lastLocation.getAccuracy()
                && l.distanceTo(lastLocation) < l.getAccuracy() && !force) {
            Log.d(TAG,
                    "Accuracy got worse and we are still "
                      + "within the accuracy range.. Not updating");
            return;
        }
        if (l.getTime() <= lastprovidertimestamp && !force) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Timestamp not never than last");
            return;
        }
    }
    // upload/store your location here
}

Things to consider:

do not request GPS updates too often, it drains battery power. I currently use 30 min as default for my application.

add a 'minimum distance to last known location' check. without this, your points will "jump around" when GPS is not available and the location is being triangulated from the cell towers. or you can check if the new location is outside of the accuracy value from the last known location.

You never actually get a fresh location, you only use locations that happens to be there from previous updates. I think this code would benefit greatly by actually adding a listener that updates the location by turning on the GPS from time to time.

sorry, I thought you were only interested in the part that selects the best from all available locations. I added the code above that requests these as well. if a new gps location is received, it is stored/uploaded right away. if I receive a network location update I store it for reference and 'hope' that I'll receive a gps update as well until the next location check happens.

I also had a stopRecording() method which cancelled the timer. I eventually switched from a timer to a ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor, so stopRecording now basically calls executor.shutdown() and de-registers all location update listeners

according to my scm, stopRecording only called gpsTimer.cancel() and set gps_recorder_running=false, so like in your case, no cleanup of the listeners back then. the current code keeps track of all active listeners in a vector, I didn't have this when I wrote this answer 1.5 years ago.

it is already on github, but I'm not sure this is still the best way to do GPS stuff nowadays. Afaik they have made many improvements to the location API since I wrote this code.

Stéphane

To select the right location provider for your app, you can use Criteria objects:

Criteria myCriteria = new Criteria();
myCriteria.setAccuracy(Criteria.ACCURACY_HIGH);
myCriteria.setPowerRequirement(Criteria.POWER_LOW);
// let Android select the right location provider for you
String myProvider = locationManager.getBestProvider(myCriteria, true); 

// finally require updates at -at least- the desired rate
long minTimeMillis = 600000; // 600,000 milliseconds make 10 minutes
locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(myProvider,minTimeMillis,0,locationListener);

Read the documentation for requestLocationUpdates for more details on how the arguments are taken into account:

The frequency of notification may be controlled using the minTime and minDistance parameters. If minTime is greater than 0, the LocationManager could potentially rest for minTime milliseconds between location updates to conserve power. If minDistance is greater than 0, a location will only be broadcasted if the device moves by minDistance meters. To obtain notifications as frequently as possible, set both parameters to 0.

More thoughts

You can monitor the accuracy of the Location objects with Location.getAccuracy(), which returns the estimated accuracy of the position in meters.

the Criteria.ACCURACY_HIGH criterion should give you errors below 100m, which is not as good as GPS can be, but matches your needs.

You also need to monitor the status of your location provider, and switch to another provider if it gets unavailable or disabled by the user.

The passive provider may also be a good match for this kind of application: the idea is to use location updates whenever they are requested by another app and broadcast systemwide.

I've looked into Criteria but what if the latest network location is awesome (it might know through wifi) and it takes no time or battery to get it (getLastKnown), then criteria will probably disregard that and return the GPS instead. I can't believe google has made it this difficult for developers.

On top of using the Criteria, you could, at each location update sent by the provider you selected, check the lastKnowLocation for the GPS provider and compare it (accuracy and date) to your current location. But this seems to me a nice-to-have rather than a requirement from your specifications ; if somewhat better accuracy is sometimes achieved, will it really be useful to your users?

That is what I'm doing now, the problem is I have a hard time figuring out if the last know is good enough. I can also add that I don't have to limit myself to one provider, the more I use the faster I might get a lock.

Have in mind that PASSIVE_PROVIDER requires API Level 8 or higher.

@Stéphane sorry for the edit. Don't take care of it. Your post is correct. I did that edit for error. Sorry. Regards.

Aleadam

Answering the first two points:

GPS will always give you a more precise location, if it is enabled and if there are no thick walls around.

If location did not change, then you can call getLastKnownLocation(String) and retrieve the location immediately.

Using an alternative approach:

You can try getting the cell id in use or all the neighboring cells

TelephonyManager mTelephonyManager = (TelephonyManager) getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);
GsmCellLocation loc = (GsmCellLocation) mTelephonyManager.getCellLocation(); 
Log.d ("CID", Integer.toString(loc.getCid()));
Log.d ("LAC", Integer.toString(loc.getLac()));
// or 
List<NeighboringCellInfo> list = mTelephonyManager.getNeighboringCellInfo ();
for (NeighboringCellInfo cell : list) {
    Log.d ("CID", Integer.toString(cell.getCid()));
    Log.d ("LAC", Integer.toString(cell.getLac()));
}

You can refer then to cell location through several open databases (e.g., http://www.location-api.com/ or http://opencellid.org/ )

The strategy would be to read the list of tower IDs when reading the location. Then, in next query (10 minutes in your app), read them again. If at least some towers are the same, then it's safe to use getLastKnownLocation(String). If they're not, then wait for onLocationChanged(). This avoids the need of a third party database for the location. You can also try this approach.

Yeah, but I the problem comes if the lastKnownLocation is really bad. I need a good way of deciding the best of two locations.

You can store the towers info and check if those towers changed. If they did, then wait for a new location, if not (or if only some changed), then reuse it. That way you avoid comparing the tower locations to a database.

Using towers seems like a big overkill to me, good idea though.

@Nicklas the code does not get any more complicated than that. You will need android.Manifest.permission#ACCESS_COARSE_UPDATES, though.

Yeah, but I still need to use a third party service and also I need a way to decide when to user the tower info over the location data, this just add an extra layer of complexity.

Mr_and_Mrs_D

This is my solution which works fairly well:

private Location bestLocation = null;
private Looper looper;
private boolean networkEnabled = false, gpsEnabled = false;

private synchronized void setLooper(Looper looper) {
    this.looper = looper;
}

private synchronized void stopLooper() {
    if (looper == null) return;
    looper.quit();
}

@Override
protected void runTask() {
    final LocationManager locationManager = (LocationManager) service
            .getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
    final SharedPreferences prefs = getPreferences();
    final int maxPollingTime = Integer.parseInt(prefs.getString(
            POLLING_KEY, "0"));
    final int desiredAccuracy = Integer.parseInt(prefs.getString(
            DESIRED_KEY, "0"));
    final int acceptedAccuracy = Integer.parseInt(prefs.getString(
            ACCEPTED_KEY, "0"));
    final int maxAge = Integer.parseInt(prefs.getString(AGE_KEY, "0"));
    final String whichProvider = prefs.getString(PROVIDER_KEY, "any");
    final boolean canUseGps = whichProvider.equals("gps")
            || whichProvider.equals("any");
    final boolean canUseNetwork = whichProvider.equals("network")
            || whichProvider.equals("any");
    if (canUseNetwork)
        networkEnabled = locationManager
                .isProviderEnabled(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER);
    if (canUseGps)
        gpsEnabled = locationManager
                .isProviderEnabled(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
    // If any provider is enabled now and we displayed a notification clear it.
    if (gpsEnabled || networkEnabled) removeErrorNotification();
    if (gpsEnabled)
        updateBestLocation(locationManager
                .getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER));
    if (networkEnabled)
        updateBestLocation(locationManager
                .getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER));
    if (desiredAccuracy == 0
            || getLocationQuality(desiredAccuracy, acceptedAccuracy,
                    maxAge, bestLocation) != LocationQuality.GOOD) {
        // Define a listener that responds to location updates
        LocationListener locationListener = new LocationListener() {

            public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
                updateBestLocation(location);
                if (desiredAccuracy != 0
                        && getLocationQuality(desiredAccuracy,
                                acceptedAccuracy, maxAge, bestLocation)
                                == LocationQuality.GOOD)
                    stopLooper();
            }

            public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {
                if (isSameProvider(provider,
                        LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER))networkEnabled =true;
                else if (isSameProvider(provider,
                        LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER)) gpsEnabled = true;
                // The user has enabled a location, remove any error
                // notification
                if (canUseGps && gpsEnabled || canUseNetwork
                        && networkEnabled) removeErrorNotification();
            }

            public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {
                if (isSameProvider(provider,
                        LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER))networkEnabled=false;
                else if (isSameProvider(provider,
                        LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER)) gpsEnabled = false;
                if (!gpsEnabled && !networkEnabled) {
                    showErrorNotification();
                    stopLooper();
                }
            }

            public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status,
                    Bundle extras) {
                Log.i(LOG_TAG, "Provider " + provider + " statusChanged");
                if (isSameProvider(provider,
                        LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER)) networkEnabled = 
                        status == LocationProvider.AVAILABLE
                        || status == LocationProvider.TEMPORARILY_UNAVAILABLE;
                else if (isSameProvider(provider,
                        LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER))
                    gpsEnabled = status == LocationProvider.AVAILABLE
                      || status == LocationProvider.TEMPORARILY_UNAVAILABLE;
                // None of them are available, stop listening
                if (!networkEnabled && !gpsEnabled) {
                    showErrorNotification();
                    stopLooper();
                }
                // The user has enabled a location, remove any error
                // notification
                else if (canUseGps && gpsEnabled || canUseNetwork
                        && networkEnabled) removeErrorNotification();
            }
        };
        if (networkEnabled || gpsEnabled) {
            Looper.prepare();
            setLooper(Looper.myLooper());
            // Register the listener with the Location Manager to receive
            // location updates
            if (canUseGps)
                locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
                        LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 1000, 1,
                        locationListener, Looper.myLooper());
            if (canUseNetwork)
                locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
                        LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, 1000, 1,
                        locationListener, Looper.myLooper());
            Timer t = new Timer();
            t.schedule(new TimerTask() {

                @Override
                public void run() {
                    stopLooper();
                }
            }, maxPollingTime * 1000);
            Looper.loop();
            t.cancel();
            setLooper(null);
            locationManager.removeUpdates(locationListener);
        } else // No provider is enabled, show a notification
        showErrorNotification();
    }
    if (getLocationQuality(desiredAccuracy, acceptedAccuracy, maxAge,
            bestLocation) != LocationQuality.BAD) {
        sendUpdate(new Event(EVENT_TYPE, locationToString(desiredAccuracy,
                acceptedAccuracy, maxAge, bestLocation)));
    } else Log.w(LOG_TAG, "LocationCollector failed to get a location");
}

private synchronized void showErrorNotification() {
    if (notifId != 0) return;
    ServiceHandler handler = service.getHandler();
    NotificationInfo ni = NotificationInfo.createSingleNotification(
            R.string.locationcollector_notif_ticker,
            R.string.locationcollector_notif_title,
            R.string.locationcollector_notif_text,
            android.R.drawable.stat_notify_error);
    Intent intent = new Intent(
            android.provider.Settings.ACTION_LOCATION_SOURCE_SETTINGS);
    ni.pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(service, 0, intent,
            PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
    Message msg = handler.obtainMessage(ServiceHandler.SHOW_NOTIFICATION);
    msg.obj = ni;
    handler.sendMessage(msg);
    notifId = ni.id;
}

private void removeErrorNotification() {
    if (notifId == 0) return;
    ServiceHandler handler = service.getHandler();
    if (handler != null) {
        Message msg = handler.obtainMessage(
                ServiceHandler.CLEAR_NOTIFICATION, notifId, 0);
        handler.sendMessage(msg);
        notifId = 0;
    }
}

@Override
public void interrupt() {
    stopLooper();
    super.interrupt();
}

private String locationToString(int desiredAccuracy, int acceptedAccuracy,
        int maxAge, Location location) {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    sb.append(String.format(
            "qual=%s time=%d prov=%s acc=%.1f lat=%f long=%f",
            getLocationQuality(desiredAccuracy, acceptedAccuracy, maxAge,
                    location), location.getTime() / 1000, // Millis to
                                                            // seconds
            location.getProvider(), location.getAccuracy(), location
                    .getLatitude(), location.getLongitude()));
    if (location.hasAltitude())
        sb.append(String.format(" alt=%.1f", location.getAltitude()));
    if (location.hasBearing())
        sb.append(String.format(" bearing=%.2f", location.getBearing()));
    return sb.toString();
}

private enum LocationQuality {
    BAD, ACCEPTED, GOOD;

    public String toString() {
        if (this == GOOD) return "Good";
        else if (this == ACCEPTED) return "Accepted";
        else return "Bad";
    }
}

private LocationQuality getLocationQuality(int desiredAccuracy,
        int acceptedAccuracy, int maxAge, Location location) {
    if (location == null) return LocationQuality.BAD;
    if (!location.hasAccuracy()) return LocationQuality.BAD;
    long currentTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
    if (currentTime - location.getTime() < maxAge * 1000
            && location.getAccuracy() <= desiredAccuracy)
        return LocationQuality.GOOD;
    if (acceptedAccuracy == -1
            || location.getAccuracy() <= acceptedAccuracy)
        return LocationQuality.ACCEPTED;
    return LocationQuality.BAD;
}

private synchronized void updateBestLocation(Location location) {
    bestLocation = getBestLocation(location, bestLocation);
}

protected Location getBestLocation(Location location,
        Location currentBestLocation) {
    if (currentBestLocation == null) {
        // A new location is always better than no location
        return location;
    }
    if (location == null) return currentBestLocation;
    // Check whether the new location fix is newer or older
    long timeDelta = location.getTime() - currentBestLocation.getTime();
    boolean isSignificantlyNewer = timeDelta > TWO_MINUTES;
    boolean isSignificantlyOlder = timeDelta < -TWO_MINUTES;
    boolean isNewer = timeDelta > 0;
    // If it's been more than two minutes since the current location, use
    // the new location
    // because the user has likely moved
    if (isSignificantlyNewer) {
        return location;
        // If the new location is more than two minutes older, it must be
        // worse
    } else if (isSignificantlyOlder) {
        return currentBestLocation;
    }
    // Check whether the new location fix is more or less accurate
    int accuracyDelta = (int) (location.getAccuracy() - currentBestLocation
            .getAccuracy());
    boolean isLessAccurate = accuracyDelta > 0;
    boolean isMoreAccurate = accuracyDelta < 0;
    boolean isSignificantlyLessAccurate = accuracyDelta > 200;
    // Check if the old and new location are from the same provider
    boolean isFromSameProvider = isSameProvider(location.getProvider(),
            currentBestLocation.getProvider());
    // Determine location quality using a combination of timeliness and
    // accuracy
    if (isMoreAccurate) {
        return location;
    } else if (isNewer && !isLessAccurate) {
        return location;
    } else if (isNewer && !isSignificantlyLessAccurate
            && isFromSameProvider) {
        return location;
    }
    return bestLocation;
}

/** Checks whether two providers are the same */
private boolean isSameProvider(String provider1, String provider2) {
    if (provider1 == null) return provider2 == null;
    return provider1.equals(provider2);
}

Hi Nicklas i have same equirement so could i communicate to you by any means.. i would be thank full to you if you could helps us..

Could you post the whole code? Thanks, really appreciated

That is all of the code. I don't have access to the project any more.

You seem to have taken the code of this project "android-protips-location" and it's still alive. People can see how it works here code.google.com/p/android-protips-location/source/browse/trunk/…

Muzikant

Location accuracy depends mostly on the location provider used:

GPS - will get you several meters accuracy (assuming you have GPS reception) Wifi - Will get you few hundred meters accuracy Cell Network - Will get you very inaccurate results (I've seen up to 4km deviation...)

If it's accuracy you are looking for, then GPS is your only option.

I've read a very informative article about it here.

As for the GPS timeout - 60 seconds should be sufficient, and in most cases even too much. I think 30 seconds is OK and sometimes even less than 5 sec...

if you only need a single location, I'd suggest that in your onLocationChanged method, once you receive an update you'll unregister the listener and avoid unnecessary usage of the GPS.

I don't really care from where I get my location, I don't want to limit me to one provider

You can register all location providers available on the device (you can get the list of all providers from LocationManager.getProviders()), but if you are looking for an accurate fix, in most cases the network provider will not be useful for you.

Yeah, but this does is not a question about choose between providers, this is a question about getting the best location generally (even when there is multiple providers involved)

AshisParajuli

Currently i am using since this is trustable for getting location and calculating distance for my application...... i am using this for my taxi application.

use the fusion API that google developer have developed with fusion of GPS Sensor,Magnetometer,Accelerometer also using Wifi or cell location to calculate or estimate the location. It is also able to give location updates also inside the building accurately. for detail get to link https://developers.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/gms/location/FusedLocationProviderApi

import android.app.Activity;
import android.location.Location;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.gms.common.ConnectionResult;
import com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesUtil;
import com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiClient;
import com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks;
import com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener;
import com.google.android.gms.location.LocationListener;
import com.google.android.gms.location.LocationRequest;
import com.google.android.gms.location.LocationServices;

import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;


public class MainActivity extends Activity implements LocationListener,
        GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks,
        GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener {

    private static final long ONE_MIN = 500;
    private static final long TWO_MIN = 500;
    private static final long FIVE_MIN = 500;
    private static final long POLLING_FREQ = 1000 * 20;
    private static final long FASTEST_UPDATE_FREQ = 1000 * 5;
    private static final float MIN_ACCURACY = 1.0f;
    private static final float MIN_LAST_READ_ACCURACY = 1;

    private LocationRequest mLocationRequest;
    private Location mBestReading;
TextView tv;
    private GoogleApiClient mGoogleApiClient;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        if (!servicesAvailable()) {
            finish();
        }

        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
tv= (TextView) findViewById(R.id.tv1);
        mLocationRequest = LocationRequest.create();
        mLocationRequest.setPriority(LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY);
        mLocationRequest.setInterval(POLLING_FREQ);
        mLocationRequest.setFastestInterval(FASTEST_UPDATE_FREQ);

        mGoogleApiClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder(this)
                .addApi(LocationServices.API)
                .addConnectionCallbacks(this)
                .addOnConnectionFailedListener(this)
                .build();


        if (mGoogleApiClient != null) {
            mGoogleApiClient.connect();
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();

        if (mGoogleApiClient != null) {
            mGoogleApiClient.connect();
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPause() {d
        super.onPause();

        if (mGoogleApiClient != null && mGoogleApiClient.isConnected()) {
            mGoogleApiClient.disconnect();
        }
    }


        tv.setText(location + "");
        // Determine whether new location is better than current best
        // estimate
        if (null == mBestReading || location.getAccuracy() < mBestReading.getAccuracy()) {
            mBestReading = location;


            if (mBestReading.getAccuracy() < MIN_ACCURACY) {
                LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.removeLocationUpdates(mGoogleApiClient, this);
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnected(Bundle dataBundle) {
        // Get first reading. Get additional location updates if necessary
        if (servicesAvailable()) {

            // Get best last location measurement meeting criteria
            mBestReading = bestLastKnownLocation(MIN_LAST_READ_ACCURACY, FIVE_MIN);

            if (null == mBestReading
                    || mBestReading.getAccuracy() > MIN_LAST_READ_ACCURACY
                    || mBestReading.getTime() < System.currentTimeMillis() - TWO_MIN) {

                LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.requestLocationUpdates(mGoogleApiClient, mLocationRequest, this);

               //Schedule a runnable to unregister location listeners

                    @Override
                    public void run() {
                        LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.removeLocationUpdates(mGoogleApiClient, MainActivity.this);

                    }

                }, ONE_MIN, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);

            }

        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnectionSuspended(int i) {

    }


    private Location bestLastKnownLocation(float minAccuracy, long minTime) {
        Location bestResult = null;
        float bestAccuracy = Float.MAX_VALUE;
        long bestTime = Long.MIN_VALUE;

        // Get the best most recent location currently available
        Location mCurrentLocation = LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.getLastLocation(mGoogleApiClient);
        //tv.setText(mCurrentLocation+"");
        if (mCurrentLocation != null) {
            float accuracy = mCurrentLocation.getAccuracy();
            long time = mCurrentLocation.getTime();

            if (accuracy < bestAccuracy) {
                bestResult = mCurrentLocation;
                bestAccuracy = accuracy;
                bestTime = time;
            }
        }

        // Return best reading or null
        if (bestAccuracy > minAccuracy || bestTime < minTime) {
            return null;
        }
        else {
            return bestResult;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult connectionResult) {

    }

    private boolean servicesAvailable() {
        int resultCode = GooglePlayServicesUtil.isGooglePlayServicesAvailable(this);

        if (ConnectionResult.SUCCESS == resultCode) {
            return true;
        }
        else {
            GooglePlayServicesUtil.getErrorDialog(resultCode, this, 0).show();
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Neo42

I scoured the internet for an updated (past year) answer using the latest location pulling methods suggested by google (to use FusedLocationProviderClient). I finally landed on this:

https://github.com/googlesamples/android-play-location/tree/master/LocationUpdates

I created a new project and copied in most of this code. Boom. It works. And I think without any deprecated lines.

Also, the simulator doesn't seem to get a GPS location, that I know of. It did get as far as reporting this in the log: "All location settings are satisfied."

And finally, in case you wanted to know (I did), you DO NOT need a google maps api key from the google developer console, if all you want is the GPS location.

Also useful is their tutorial. But I wanted a full one page tutorial/code example, and that. Their tutorial stacks but is confusing when you're new to this because you don't know what pieces you need from earlier pages.

https://developer.android.com/training/location/index.html

And finally, remember things like this:

I not only had to modify the mainActivity.Java. I also had to modify Strings.xml, androidmanifest.xml, AND the correct build.gradle. And also your activity_Main.xml (but that part was easy for me).

I needed to add dependencies like this one: implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-location:11.8.0', and update the settings of my android studio SDK to include google play services. (file settings appearance system settings android SDK SDK Tools check google play services).

update: the android simulator did seem to get a location and location change events (when I changed the value in the settings of the sim). But my best and first results were on an actual device. So it's probably easiest to test on actual devices.

Bingerz

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

@Gryphius's answer is good

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

1.Thanks @Gryphius solution ideas, I also share the complete code.

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

tugs

In my experience, I've found it best to go with the GPS fix unless it's not available. I don't know much about other location providers, but I know that for GPS there are a few tricks that can be used to give a bit of a ghetto precision measure. The altitude is often a sign, so you could check for ridiculous values. There is the accuracy measure on Android location fixes. Also if you can see the number of satellites used, this can also indicate the precision.

An interesting way of getting a better idea of the accuracy could be to ask for a set of fixes very rapidly, like ~1/sec for 10 seconds and then sleep for a minute or two. One talk I've been to has led to believe that some android devices will do this anyway. You would then weed out the outliers (I've heard Kalman filter mentioned here) and use some kind of centering strategy to get a single fix.

Obviously the depth you get to here depends on how hard your requirements are. If you have particularly strict requirement to get THE BEST location possible, I think you'll find that GPS and network location are as similar as apples and oranges. Also GPS can be wildly different from device to device.

Well, it isn't important that it's the very best, just that it's good enough to plot on a map and that I don't drain the battery since this is a background task.

Ed Burnette

Skyhook (http://www.skyhookwireless.com/) has a location provider that is much faster than the standard one Google provides. It might be what you're looking for. I'm not affiliated with them.

Interesting indeed, they only seem to use WiFi however which is very nice but I still need it to work when there is no wifi or 3G/2G connection around so this would be adding another layer of abstraction. Good catch though.

Skyhook appears to use a combination of WiFi, GPS, and cell towers. See skyhookwireless.com/howitworks for the technical details. They have gotten several design wins lately, for example Mapquest, Twydroid, ShopSavvy, and the Sony NGP. Note that downloading and trying out their SDK appears to be free but you have to contact them about a license for distributing it in your app. Unfortunately they don't list the price on their web site.

Oh, I see. Well, if it isn't free to use commercially then I'm afraid I cannot use it.

Good way of getting the user's location in Android

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