[android] Best way to get user GPS location in background in Android

With the help of GoogleApiClient's LocationServices API we can get the current location of the user/device in specific time interval. This can be added into a background service which updates the Activity when onLocationChanged callbacks

The background service will keep running as long as the application exists in the memory and sticks to the notification drawer. The service handles the following functionalities,

• Connecting to Google LocationServices API
• Getting the current location
• Sharing the result to the Activity

Service With Location Listener

 public class LocationMonitoringService extends Service implements
    GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks, GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener,
    LocationListener {
    ...
    ...
    ...
    @Override
    public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
    mLocationClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder(this)
            .addConnectionCallbacks(this)
            .addOnConnectionFailedListener(this)
            .addApi(LocationServices.API)
            .build();

    mLocationRequest.setInterval(10000); //10 secs
    mLocationRequest.setFastestInterval(5000); //5 secs


    int priority = LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY; //by default
    //PRIORITY_BALANCED_POWER_ACCURACY, PRIORITY_LOW_POWER, PRIORITY_NO_POWER are the other priority modes


    mLocationRequest.setPriority(priority);
    mLocationClient.connect();

    //Make it stick to the notification panel so it is less prone to get cancelled by the Operating System.
    return START_STICKY;
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
        return null;
    }

    /*
    * LOCATION CALLBACKS
    */
    @Override
    public void onConnected(Bundle dataBundle) {
    if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
        // TODO: Consider calling
        //    ActivityCompat#requestPermissions
        // here to request the missing permissions, and then overriding
        //   public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int requestCode, String[] permissions,
        //                                          int[] grantResults)
        // to handle the case where the user grants the permission. See the documentation
        // for ActivityCompat#requestPermissions for more details.

        Log.d(TAG, "== Error On onConnected() Permission not granted");
        //Permission not granted by user so cancel the further execution.
        return;
    }
    LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.requestLocationUpdates(mLocationClient, mLocationRequest, this);

     Log.d(TAG, "Connected to Google API");
     }

    /*
     * Called by Location Services if the connection to the
     * location client drops because of an error.
     */
     @Override
     public void onConnectionSuspended(int i) {
       Log.d(TAG, "Connection suspended");
     }

     @Override
     public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult connectionResult) {
       Log.d(TAG, "Failed to connect to Google API");
     }

     //to get the location change
     @Override
     public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
       Log.d(TAG, "Location changed");

       if (location != null) {               

           //Do something with the location details,             
           if (location != null) {
           //call your API
             callAPI(String.valueOf(location.getLatitude()), String.valueOf(location.getLongitude()));
           }

      }
     }
    }

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