LocationFetcher

⚠️ If you're using Jetpack Compose, see this README instead.

Simple location fetcher for Android Apps built with Kotlin and Coroutines.

Building location-aware Android apps can be a bit tricky. This library makes it as simple as:

class MyActivity : ComponentActivity() {

    private val locationFetcher = locationFetcher({ getString(R.string.location_rationale) }) {
        interval = 5.seconds
        priority = LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY
    }

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        locationFetcher.location
            .onEach { errorsOrLocation ->
                errorsOrLocation.tap { location ->
                    // Got location
                }.tapLeft { errors ->
                    // Handle errors (no permission/location settings disabled).
                    // Note that this library will automatically try to resolve errors.
                }
            }
            .flowWithLifecycle(Lifecycle.State.STARTED)
            .launchIn(this)
    }
}

This library provides a simple location component, LocationFetcher, requiring only an instance of either ComponentActivity, Fragment or Context, to make your Android app location-aware.

If the device's location services are disabled, or if your app is not allowed location permissions by the user, this library will automatically ask the user to enable location services in settings or to allow the necessary permissions as soon as you start collecting the LocationFetcher.location flow.

The service uses GPS and network as location providers by default and thus the app needs to declare use of the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION and ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permissions on its AndroidManifest.xml. Those permissions are already declared in this library, so manifest merging takes care of it.

You can personalize your LocationRequest to suit your needs using the custom configuration block.

Installation with Gradle

Setup Maven Central on project-level build.gradle

This library is hosted in Maven Central, so you must set it up for your project before adding the module-level dependency.

New way

The new way to install dependencies repositories is through the dependencyResolutionManagement DSL in settings.gradle(.kts).

Kotlin or Groovy:

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
}

OR

Old way

On project-level build.gradle:

Kotlin or Groovy:

allprojects {
  repositories {
    mavenCentral()
  }
}

Add dependency

On app-level build.gradle, add dependency:

dependencies {
  implementation("app.freel:locationfetcher:9.0.0")
}

Usage

Instantiating

On any ComponentActivity, Fragment, or Context class, you can instantiate a LocationFetcher by calling the extension functions on ComponentActivity, Fragmnet, or Context:

locationFetcher({ getString(R.string.location_rationale) }) {
    // configuration block
}

Alternatively, there are some LocationFetcher() method overloads. You can see all public builders in here.

If LocationFetcher is created with a ComponentActivity or Fragment, it will be able to show dialogs to request the user to enable permission in Android settings and to allow the app to obtain the device's location. If LocationFetcher is created with a non-UI Context, it won't be able to show dialogs.

Permission rationale

In accordance with Google's best practices and policies, if user denies location permission, we must tell the user the rationale for the need of the user location, then we can ask permission a last time. If denied again, we must respect the user's decision.

The rationale must be passed to LocationFetcher builders. It will be shown to the user as an AlertDialog.

Collecting location

Once instantiated, the component gives you three Flows to collect: one for new locations, one for settings status, and one for location permissions status. Usually, you only need to collect the location flow, as errors also flow through it already.

val LocationFetcher.location: SharedFlow<Either<Nel<LocationFetcher.Error>, Location>> // Nel stands for non-empty list.
val LocationFetcher.permissionStatus: SharedFlow<Boolean>
val LocationFetcher.settingsStatus: SharedFlow<Boolean>

To manually request location permissions or location settings enablement, you can call the following APIs:

suspend fun requestLocationPermissions()
suspend fun requestEnableLocationSettings()

Results will be delivered on the aforementioned flows.

Options

LocationFetcher supports the following configurations for location fetching when creating the component:

(Note: for GPS and Network providers, only interval and smallestDisplacement are used. If you want to use all options, limit providers to LocationRequest.Provider.Fused, which is the default)

locationFetcher("We need your permission to use your location for showing nearby items") {
    fastestInterval = 5.seconds
    interval = 15.seconds
    maxWaitTime = 2.minutes
    priority = LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY
    smallestDisplacement = 50f
    isWaitForAccurateLocation = false
    providers = listOf(
        LocationRequest.Provider.GPS,
        LocationRequest.Provider.Network, 
        LocationRequest.Provider.Fused
    )
    numUpdates = Int.MAX_VALUE
    debug = false
}

Alternatively, you might prefer to create a standalone configuration instance. It is useful, for example, when sharing a common configuration between multiple LocationFetcher instances:

val config = LocationFetcher.Config(
    rationale = "We need your permission to use your location for showing nearby items",
    fastestInterval = 5.seconds,
    interval = 15.seconds,
    maxWaitTime = 2.minutes,
    priority = LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY,
    smallestDisplacement = 50f,
    isWaitForAccurateLocation = false,
    providers = listOf(
        LocationRequest.Provider.GPS,
        LocationRequest.Provider.Network,
        LocationRequest.Provider.Fused
    ),
    numUpdates = Int.MAX_VALUE,
    debug = true
)
val locationFetcher = locationFetcher(config)