Get GPS location via a service in Android

Question

I need to monitor user's locations using a background service, and then load them and show the path to the user.

Using an activity, it was quite easy to get GPS locations, but when I got to do it via a service, I came into a problem as it seems to only work for looper threads (or something like that).

As I've searched the internet for a solution, I've found out that many people got the same problem, but I couldn't find a working solution. Some people say that you need to use prepare->loop->quit , and some say you have to use a handlerThread, but still, I can't find out how to do such things in a proper way.

Answer 1

public class GPSService extends Service implements GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks, GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener, com.google.android.gms.location.LocationListener {     private LocationRequest mLocationRequest;     private GoogleApiClient mGoogleApiClient;     private static final String LOGSERVICE = "#######";      @Override     public void onCreate() {         super.onCreate();         buildGoogleApiClient();         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "onCreate");      }      @Override     public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "onStartCommand");          if (!mGoogleApiClient.isConnected())             mGoogleApiClient.connect();         return START_STICKY;     }       @Override     public void onConnected(Bundle bundle) {         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "onConnected" + bundle);          Location l = LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.getLastLocation(mGoogleApiClient);         if (l != null) {             Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "lat " + l.getLatitude());             Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "lng " + l.getLongitude());          }          startLocationUpdate();     }      @Override     public void onConnectionSuspended(int i) {         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "onConnectionSuspended " + i);      }      @Override     public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "lat " + location.getLatitude());         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "lng " + location.getLongitude());         LatLng mLocation = (new LatLng(location.getLatitude(), location.getLongitude()));         EventBus.getDefault().post(mLocation);      }      @Override     public void onDestroy() {         super.onDestroy();         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "onDestroy - Estou sendo destruido ");      }      @Nullable     @Override     public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {         return null;     }      @Override     public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult connectionResult) {         Log.i(LOGSERVICE, "onConnectionFailed ");      }      private void initLocationRequest() {         mLocationRequest = new LocationRequest();         mLocationRequest.setInterval(5000);         mLocationRequest.setFastestInterval(2000);         mLocationRequest.setPriority(LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY);      }      private void startLocationUpdate() {         initLocationRequest();          if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {             // TODO: Consider calling             //    ActivityCompat#requestPermissions             // here to request the missing permissions, and then overriding             //   public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int requestCode, String[] permissions,             //                                          int[] grantResults)             // to handle the case where the user grants the permission. See the documentation             // for ActivityCompat#requestPermissions for more details.             return;         }         LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.requestLocationUpdates(mGoogleApiClient, mLocationRequest, this);     }      private void stopLocationUpdate() {         LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.removeLocationUpdates(mGoogleApiClient, this);      }      protected synchronized void buildGoogleApiClient() {         mGoogleApiClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder(this)                 .addOnConnectionFailedListener(this)                 .addConnectionCallbacks(this)                 .addApi(LocationServices.API)                 .build();     }  } 

Answer 2

I don't understand what exactly is the problem with implementing location listening functionality in the Service. It looks pretty similar to what you do in Activity. Just define a location listener and register for location updates. You can refer to the following code as example:

Manifest file:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" /> <application     android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"     android:label="@string/app_name" >     <activity android:label="@string/app_name" android:name=".LocationCheckerActivity" >         <intent-filter >             <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />             <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />         </intent-filter>     </activity>     <service android:name=".MyService" android:process=":my_service" /> </application> 

The service file:

import android.app.Service; import android.content.Context; import android.content.Intent; import android.location.Location; import android.location.LocationManager; import android.os.Bundle; import android.os.IBinder; import android.util.Log;  public class MyService extends Service {      private static final String TAG = "BOOMBOOMTESTGPS";     private LocationManager mLocationManager = null;     private static final int LOCATION_INTERVAL = 1000;     private static final float LOCATION_DISTANCE = 10f;      private class LocationListener implements android.location.LocationListener {         Location mLastLocation;          public LocationListener(String provider) {             Log.e(TAG, "LocationListener " + provider);             mLastLocation = new Location(provider);         }          @Override         public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {             Log.e(TAG, "onLocationChanged: " + location);             mLastLocation.set(location);         }          @Override         public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {             Log.e(TAG, "onProviderDisabled: " + provider);         }          @Override         public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {             Log.e(TAG, "onProviderEnabled: " + provider);         }          @Override         public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {             Log.e(TAG, "onStatusChanged: " + provider);         }     }      LocationListener[] mLocationListeners = new LocationListener[]{             new LocationListener(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER),             new LocationListener(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER)     };      @Override     public IBinder onBind(Intent arg0) {         return null;     }      @Override     public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {         Log.e(TAG, "onStartCommand");         super.onStartCommand(intent, flags, startId);         return START_STICKY;     }      @Override     public void onCreate() {         Log.e(TAG, "onCreate");         initializeLocationManager();         try {             mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(                     LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, LOCATION_INTERVAL, LOCATION_DISTANCE,                     mLocationListeners[1]);         } catch (java.lang.SecurityException ex) {             Log.i(TAG, "fail to request location update, ignore", ex);         } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {             Log.d(TAG, "network provider does not exist, " + ex.getMessage());         }         try {             mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(                     LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, LOCATION_INTERVAL, LOCATION_DISTANCE,                     mLocationListeners[0]);         } catch (java.lang.SecurityException ex) {             Log.i(TAG, "fail to request location update, ignore", ex);         } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {             Log.d(TAG, "gps provider does not exist " + ex.getMessage());         }     }      @Override     public void onDestroy() {         Log.e(TAG, "onDestroy");         super.onDestroy();         if (mLocationManager != null) {             for (int i = 0; i < mLocationListeners.length; i++) {                 try {                     mLocationManager.removeUpdates(mLocationListeners[i]);                 } catch (Exception ex) {                     Log.i(TAG, "fail to remove location listners, ignore", ex);                 }             }         }     }      private void initializeLocationManager() {         Log.e(TAG, "initializeLocationManager");         if (mLocationManager == null) {             mLocationManager = (LocationManager) getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);         }     } }