Location Services not working in iOS 8

Question

My app that worked fine on iOS 7 doesn't work with the iOS 8 SDK.

CLLocationManager doesn't return a location, and I don't see my app under Settings -> Location Services either. I did a Google search on the issue, but nothing came up. What could be wrong?

Answer 1

I ended up solving my own problem.

Apparently in iOS 8 SDK, requestAlwaysAuthorization (for background location) or requestWhenInUseAuthorization (location only when foreground) call on CLLocationManager is needed before starting location updates.

There also needs to be NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription or NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription key in Info.plist with a message to be displayed in the prompt. Adding these solved my problem.

For more extensive information, have a look at: Core-Location-Manager-Changes-in-ios-8

Answer 2

I was pulling my hair out with the same problem. Xcode gives you the error:

Trying to start MapKit location updates without prompting for location authorization. Must call -[CLLocationManager requestWhenInUseAuthorization] or -[CLLocationManager requestAlwaysAuthorization] first.

But even if you implement one of the above methods, it won't prompt the user unless there is an entry in the info.plist for NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription or NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription.

Add the following lines to your info.plist where the string values represent the reason you you need to access the users location

<key>NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription</key> <string>This application requires location services to work</string>  <key>NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription</key> <string>This application requires location services to work</string> 

I think these entries may have been missing since I started this project in Xcode 5. I'm guessing Xcode 6 might add default entries for these keys but have not confirmed.

You can find more information on these two Settings here