GPS Android - get positioning only once

Question

Is there a way to access the GPS once instead of having a looper that constantly checks for location updates?

In my scenario all I'm interested in is finding the current co-ordinates and not a continuous connection with the GPS satellite. Does anyone have any ideas how this can be done? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Dont use the getLastKnownLocation because that could be returning null or old data.

This code Only fetches the location once a button is pressed and not every time. People use to leave the location listener listen in every instance and that kills the battery life so Use the code snippet I have posted by doing lots of research:

// get the text view and buttons from the xml layout
Button button = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btnGetLocation);
final TextView latitude = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textview4);
final TextView longitude = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textview5);
final LocationListener locationListener = new LocationListener() {
        @Override
        public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
            mlocation = location;
            Log.d("Location Changes", location.toString());
            latitude.setText(String.valueOf(location.getLatitude()));
            longitude.setText(String.valueOf(location.getLongitude()));
        }

        @Override
        public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {
            Log.d("Status Changed", String.valueOf(status));
        }

        @Override
        public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {
            Log.d("Provider Enabled", provider);
        }

        @Override
        public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {
            Log.d("Provider Disabled", provider);
        }
    };

    // Now first make a criteria with your requirements
    // this is done to save the battery life of the device
    // there are various other other criteria you can search for..
    Criteria criteria = new Criteria();
    criteria.setAccuracy(Criteria.ACCURACY_COARSE);
    criteria.setPowerRequirement(Criteria.POWER_LOW);
    criteria.setAltitudeRequired(false);
    criteria.setBearingRequired(false);
    criteria.setSpeedRequired(false);
    criteria.setCostAllowed(true);
    criteria.setHorizontalAccuracy(Criteria.ACCURACY_HIGH);
    criteria.setVerticalAccuracy(Criteria.ACCURACY_HIGH);

    // Now create a location manager
    final LocationManager locationManager = (LocationManager)getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);

   // This is the Best And IMPORTANT part
    final Looper looper = null;

   // Now whenever the button is clicked fetch the location one time
   button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
            locationManager.requestSingleUpdate(criteria, locationListener, looper);
       }
   });

Answer 2

First check if the last know location is recent. If not, I believe you must to set up onLocationChanged listener, but once you get your first valid location you can always stop the stream of updates.

Addition

public class Example extends Activity implements LocationListener {
    LocationManager mLocationManager;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        mLocationManager = (LocationManager) getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);

        Location location = mLocationManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
        if(location != null && location.getTime() > Calendar.getInstance().getTimeInMillis() - 2 * 60 * 1000) {
            // Do something with the recent location fix
            //  otherwise wait for the update below
        }
        else {
            mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 0, 0, this);
        }
    }

    public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
        if (location != null) {
            Log.v("Location Changed", location.getLatitude() + " and " + location.getLongitude());
            mLocationManager.removeUpdates(this);
        }
    }

    // Required functions    
    public void onProviderDisabled(String arg0) {}
    public void onProviderEnabled(String arg0) {}
    public void onStatusChanged(String arg0, int arg1, Bundle arg2) {}
}