Android Location Providers – GPS or Network Provider?

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There are 3 location providers in Android.

They are:

gps –> (GPS, AGPS): Name of the GPS location provider. This
provider determines location using satellites. Depending on
conditions, this provider may take a while to return a location fix.
Requires the permission android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION.

network –> (AGPS, CellID, WiFi MACID): Name of the network
location provider. This provider determines location based on
availability of cell tower and WiFi access points. Results are
retrieved by means of a network lookup. Requires either of the
permissions android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION or
android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION.

passive –> (CellID, WiFi MACID): A special location provider for
receiving locations without actually initiating a location fix. This
provider can be used to passively receive location updates when other
applications or services request them without actually requesting the
locations yourself. This provider will return locations generated by
other providers. Requires the permission
android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, although if the GPS is not
enabled this provider might only return coarse fixes. This is what
Android calls these location providers, however, the underlying
technologies to make this stuff work is mapped to the specific set of
hardware and telco provided capabilities (network service).

The best way is to use the “network” or “passive” provider first,
and then fallback on “gps”, and depending on the task, switch between
providers. This covers all cases, and provides a lowest common
denominator service (in the worst case) and great service (in the best
case).

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Article Reference : Android Location Providers – gps, network, passive By Nazmul Idris

Code Reference : https://stackoverflow.com/a/3145655/28557

———————–Update———————–

Now Android have Fused location provider

The Fused Location Provider intelligently manages the underlying location technology and gives you the best location according to your needs. It simplifies ways for apps to get the user’s current location with improved accuracy and lower power usage

Fused location provider provide three ways to fetch location

  1. Last Location: Use when you want to know current location once.
  2. Request Location using Listener: Use when application is on screen / frontend and require continues location.
  3. Request Location using Pending Intent: Use when application in background and require continues location.

References :

Official site : http://developer.android.com/google/play-services/location.html

Fused location provider example:
GIT : https://github.com/kpbird/fused-location-provider-example

http://blog.lemberg.co.uk/fused-location-provider

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