Detecting GPS on/off switch in Android phones

Question

I would like to detect when the user changes the GPS settings on or off for an Android phone. Meaning when user switches GPS sattelite on/off or detection via access points etc.

Marven

+1, 5 marked as favorite question and only 1 upvoted?! – Clarissaclarisse

Answer 1

As I have found out the best way to do this is to attach to the

<action android:name="android.location.PROVIDERS_CHANGED" />

intent.

For instance:

<receiver android:name=".gps.GpsLocationReceiver">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.location.PROVIDERS_CHANGED" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

And then in the code:

public class GpsLocationReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver implements LocationListener 
...

@Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
        if (intent.getAction().matches("android.location.PROVIDERS_CHANGED"))
        { 
            // react on GPS provider change action 
        }
}

Marven

Works not only for GPS but also for network location services. – Revers

Upvoted, but why do you need <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />? – Oxidation

4 years ago it was needed, I think ... who would know. Try it without if it works so much better. – Marven

for what purpose you are using .matches() method instead of equals()/equalsIgnoreCase()??? – Doubleripper

Probably it was copy pasted from some working code where .matches() was appropriate. In this case .equals() is better. But both will work. Hey it's 4+ years since then ... who would now. – Marven

you don't need implements LocationListener – Vintner

@Vintner this question is 7 years old ... in 2011 you had to – Marven

For API level 26 and above, this solution doesn't work due to restrictions in implicit broadcast. It fails with "BroadcastQueue: Background execution not allowed: receiving Intent { act=android.location.PROVIDERS_CHANGED } " Read More at: developer.android.com/guide/components/broadcast-exceptions and developer.android.com/about/versions/oreo/background – Manipulator

Answer 2

Here is a code sample for a BroadcastReceiver detecting GPS location ON/OFF events:

private BroadcastReceiver locationSwitchStateReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {

        @Override
        public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {

            if (LocationManager.PROVIDERS_CHANGED_ACTION.equals(intent.getAction())) {

                LocationManager locationManager = (LocationManager) context.getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
                boolean isGpsEnabled = locationManager.isProviderEnabled(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
                boolean isNetworkEnabled = locationManager.isProviderEnabled(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER);

                if (isGpsEnabled || isNetworkEnabled) {
                    //location is enabled
                } else {
                    //location is disabled
                }
            }
        }
    };

Instead of changing your manifest file, you can register your BroadcastReceiver dynamically:

IntentFilter filter = new IntentFilter(LocationManager.PROVIDERS_CHANGED_ACTION);
filter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_PROVIDER_CHANGED);
mActivity.registerReceiver(locationSwitchStateReceiver, filter);

Don't forget to unregister the receiver in your onPause() method:

mActivity.unregisterReceiver(locationSwitchStateReceiver);

Phonemic

It works. But why onReceive comes multiple times? – Apicella

Different actions maybe. What it the value of intent.getAction() when onReceive is called ? – Phonemic

Answer 3

Try this,

try {
        locationManager = (LocationManager) getSystemService(LOCATION_SERVICE);

        if (locationManager.isProviderEnabled(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER)) {

            Log.i("About GPS", "GPS is Enabled in your devide");
        } else {
            //showAlert
        }

Mercury

I know how to detect if a provider is on or off. But I would like to detect the change, when the user switches a provider on or off in a setting dialog. – Marven

Answer 4

Impement android.location.LocationListener, there you have two functions

public void onProviderEnabled(String provider);
public void onProviderDisabled(String provider);

Using this you can find out when the requested provider is turned on or off

Bonedry

This should be the accepted answer. The accepted answer is already using LocationListener, so why not use the given methods for the task. – Bailable

You can detect on/off state but you can't detect the change (switch) – Marven