Background service with location listener in android

Question

I am creating a background service that will run in its own process. It should allow me to listen if the device location has changed. I should be able to change criteria like the distance moved before notifying the UI.

How can I do the same? I have a little knowledge of service and LocationListener implementations. Any tutorials around the net would be appreciated.

I got one back-link from stack overflow, but I didn't understand much of it.

Answer 1

First you need to create a Service. In that Service, create a class extending LocationListener. For this, use the following code snippet of Service:

public class LocationService extends Service { public static final String BROADCAST_ACTION = "Hello World"; private static final int TWO_MINUTES = 1000 * 60 * 2; public LocationManager locationManager; public MyLocationListener listener; public Location previousBestLocation = null;  Intent intent; int counter = 0;  @Override public void onCreate() {     super.onCreate();     intent = new Intent(BROADCAST_ACTION); }  @Override public void onStart(Intent intent, int startId) {     locationManager = (LocationManager) getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);     listener = new MyLocationListener();     if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {         return;     }     locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, 4000, 0, (LocationListener) listener);     locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 4000, 0, listener); }  @Override public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {     return null; }  protected boolean isBetterLocation(Location location, Location currentBestLocation) {     if (currentBestLocation == null) {         // A new location is always better than no location         return true;     }      // 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 true;         // If the new location is more than two minutes older, it must be worse     } else if (isSignificantlyOlder) {         return false;     }      // 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 true;     } else if (isNewer && !isLessAccurate) {         return true;     } else if (isNewer && !isSignificantlyLessAccurate && isFromSameProvider) {         return true;     }     return false; }    /** Checks whether two providers are the same */ private boolean isSameProvider(String provider1, String provider2) {     if (provider1 == null) {         return provider2 == null;     }     return provider1.equals(provider2); }    @Override public void onDestroy() {     // handler.removeCallbacks(sendUpdatesToUI);          super.onDestroy();     Log.v("STOP_SERVICE", "DONE");     locationManager.removeUpdates(listener); }  public static Thread performOnBackgroundThread(final Runnable runnable) {     final Thread t = new Thread() {         @Override         public void run() {             try {                 runnable.run();             } finally {              }         }     };     t.start();     return t; } public class MyLocationListener implements LocationListener {      public void onLocationChanged(final Location loc)     {         Log.i("*****", "Location changed");         if(isBetterLocation(loc, previousBestLocation)) {             loc.getLatitude();             loc.getLongitude();             intent.putExtra("Latitude", loc.getLatitude());             intent.putExtra("Longitude", loc.getLongitude());             intent.putExtra("Provider", loc.getProvider());             sendBroadcast(intent);          }     }      @Override     public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {      }      public void onProviderDisabled(String provider)     {         Toast.makeText( getApplicationContext(), "Gps Disabled", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT ).show();     }       public void onProviderEnabled(String provider)     {         Toast.makeText( getApplicationContext(), "Gps Enabled", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();     } } 

Add this Service any where in your project, the way you want! :)