@barryhieu/react-native-background-geolocation

Forked from @hariks789/react-native-background-geolocation due to inactivity. Original Repo: @mauron85/react-native-background-geolocation

Installation

yarn add @barryhieu/react-native-background-geolocation

Android setup

In android/settings.gradle

...
include ':@barryhieu_react-native-background-geolocation-common'
project(':@barryhieu_react-native-background-geolocation-common').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/@barryhieu/react-native-background-geolocation/android/common')
include ':@barryhieu_react-native-background-geolocation'
project(':@barryhieu_react-native-background-geolocation').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/@barryhieu/react-native-background-geolocation/android/lib')
...

Common Android and iOS setup

node ./node_modules/@barryhieu/react-native-background-geolocation/scripts/postlink.js

iOS setup

1. Add UIBackgroundModes location to Info.plist
2. Add NSMotionUsageDescription App requires motion tracking to Info.plist (required by ACTIVITY_PROVIDER)
3. Add NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription App requires background tracking to Info.plist
4. Add NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription App requires background tracking to Info.plist
5. Add NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription App requires background tracking to Info.plist

Android background service issues

There are repeatedly reported issues with some android devices not working in the background. Check if your device model is on dontkillmyapp list before you report new issue. For more information check out dontkillmyapp.com.

Another confusing fact about Android services is concept of foreground services. Foreground service in context of Android OS is different thing than background geolocation service of this plugin (they're related thought). Plugin's background geolocation service actually becomes foreground service when app is in the background. Confusing, right? :D

If service wants to continue to run in the background, it must "promote" itself to foreground service. Foreground services must have visible notification, which is the reason, why you can't disable drawer notification.

The notification can only be disabled, when app is running in the foreground, by setting config option startForeground: false (this is the default option), but will always be visible in the background (if service was started).

Recommend you to read https://developer.android.com/about/versions/oreo/background

Description

React Native fork of cordova-plugin-background-geolocation with battery-saving "circular region monitoring" and "stop detection".

This plugin can be used for geolocation when the app is running in the foreground or background.

You can choose from following location providers:

• DISTANCE_FILTER_PROVIDER
• ACTIVITY_PROVIDER
• RAW_PROVIDER

See Which provider should I use? for more information about providers.

Dependencies

Versions of libraries and sdk versions used to compile this plugin can be overridden in android/build.gradle with ext declaration.

(Optional) Compatibility

If you are using react-native-maps or another lib that requires Google Play Services such as Exponent.js, then in addition to the instalation steps described here, you must set Google Play Services library version to match the version used by those libraries. (in this case 9.8.0)

Add following to android/build.gradle

ext {
  googlePlayServicesVersion = "9.8.0"
}

Example Apps

The repository react-native-background-geolocation-example hosts an example app for both iOS and Android platform.

Quick example

import React, { Component } from "react";
import { Alert } from "react-native";
import BackgroundGeolocation from "@barryhieu/react-native-background-geolocation";

class BgTracking extends Component {
  componentDidMount() {
    BackgroundGeolocation.configure({
      desiredAccuracy: BackgroundGeolocation.HIGH_ACCURACY,
      stationaryRadius: 50,
      distanceFilter: 50,
      notificationTitle: "Background tracking",
      notificationText: "enabled",
      debug: true,
      startOnBoot: false,
      stopOnTerminate: true,
      locationProvider: BackgroundGeolocation.ACTIVITY_PROVIDER,
      interval: 10000,
      fastestInterval: 5000,
      activitiesInterval: 10000,
      stopOnStillActivity: false,
      url: "http://192.168.81.15:3000/location",
      httpHeaders: {
        "X-FOO": "bar",
      },
      // customize post properties
      postTemplate: {
        lat: "@latitude",
        lon: "@longitude",
        foo: "bar", // you can also add your own properties
      },
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("location", (location) => {
      // handle your locations here
      // to perform long running operation on iOS
      // you need to create background task
      BackgroundGeolocation.startTask((taskKey) => {
        // execute long running task
        // eg. ajax post location
        // IMPORTANT: task has to be ended by endTask
        BackgroundGeolocation.endTask(taskKey);
      });
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("stationary", (stationaryLocation) => {
      // handle stationary locations here
      Actions.sendLocation(stationaryLocation);
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("error", (error) => {
      console.log("[ERROR] BackgroundGeolocation error:", error);
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("start", () => {
      console.log("[INFO] BackgroundGeolocation service has been started");
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("stop", () => {
      console.log("[INFO] BackgroundGeolocation service has been stopped");
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("authorization", (status) => {
      console.log(
        "[INFO] BackgroundGeolocation authorization status: " + status
      );
      if (status !== BackgroundGeolocation.AUTHORIZED) {
        // we need to set delay or otherwise alert may not be shown
        setTimeout(
          () =>
            Alert.alert(
              "App requires location tracking permission",
              "Would you like to open app settings?",
              [
                {
                  text: "Yes",
                  onPress: () => BackgroundGeolocation.showAppSettings(),
                },
                {
                  text: "No",
                  onPress: () => console.log("No Pressed"),
                  style: "cancel",
                },
              ]
            ),
          1000
        );
      }
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("background", () => {
      console.log("[INFO] App is in background");
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("foreground", () => {
      console.log("[INFO] App is in foreground");
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("abort_requested", () => {
      console.log("[INFO] Server responded with 285 Updates Not Required");

      // Here we can decide whether we want stop the updates or not.
      // If you've configured the server to return 285, then it means the server does not require further update.
      // So the normal thing to do here would be to `BackgroundGeolocation.stop()`.
      // But you might be counting on it to receive location updates in the UI, so you could just reconfigure and set `url` to null.
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.on("http_authorization", () => {
      console.log("[INFO] App needs to authorize the http requests");
    });

    BackgroundGeolocation.checkStatus((status) => {
      console.log(
        "[INFO] BackgroundGeolocation service is running",
        status.isRunning
      );
      console.log(
        "[INFO] BackgroundGeolocation services enabled",
        status.locationServicesEnabled
      );
      console.log(
        "[INFO] BackgroundGeolocation auth status: " + status.authorization
      );

      // you don't need to check status before start (this is just the example)
      if (!status.isRunning) {
        BackgroundGeolocation.start(); //triggers start on start event
      }
    });

    // you can also just start without checking for status
    // BackgroundGeolocation.start();
  }

  componentWillUnmount() {
    // unregister all event listeners
    BackgroundGeolocation.removeAllListeners();
  }
}

export default BgTracking;

API

configure(options, success, fail)

| Parameter | Type | Platform | Description | | --------- | ------------- | -------- | ----------------- | | options | JSON Object | all | Configure options |

Configure options:

| Parameter | Type | Platform | Description | Provider* | Default | | ------------------------- | ----------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------------------ | | locationProvider | Number | all | Set location provider @see PROVIDERS | N/A | DISTANCE_FILTER_PROVIDER | | desiredAccuracy | Number | all | Desired accuracy in meters. Possible values [HIGH_ACCURACY, MEDIUM_ACCURACY, LOW_ACCURACY, PASSIVE_ACCURACY]. Accuracy has direct effect on power drain. Lower accuracy = lower power drain. | all | MEDIUM_ACCURACY | | stationaryRadius | Number | all | Stationary radius in meters. When stopped, the minimum distance the device must move beyond the stationary location for aggressive background-tracking to engage. | DIS | 50 | | debug | Boolean | all | When enabled, the plugin will emit sounds for life-cycle events of background-geolocation! See debugging sounds table. | all | false | | distanceFilter | Number | all | The minimum distance (measured in meters) a device must move horizontally before an update event is generated. @see Apple docs. | DIS,RAW | 500 | | stopOnTerminate | Boolean | all | Enable this in order to force a stop() when the application terminated (e.g. on iOS, double-tap home button, swipe away the app). | all | true | | startOnBoot | Boolean | Android | Start background service on device boot. | all | false | | interval | Number | Android | The minimum time interval between location updates in milliseconds. @see Android docs for more information. | all | 60000 | | fastestInterval | Number | Android | Fastest rate in milliseconds at which your app can handle location updates. @see Android docs. | ACT | 120000 | | activitiesInterval | Number | Android | Rate in milliseconds at which activity recognition occurs. Larger values will result in fewer activity detections while improving battery life. | ACT | 10000 | | stopOnStillActivity | Boolean | Android | @deprecated stop location updates, when the STILL activity is detected | ACT | true | | notificationsEnabled | Boolean | Android | Enable/disable local notifications when tracking and syncing locations | all | true | | startForeground | Boolean | Android | Allow location sync service to run in foreground state. Foreground state also requires a notification to be presented to the user. | all | false | | notificationTitle | String optional | Android | Custom notification title in the drawer. (goes with startForeground) | all | "Background tracking" | | notificationText | String optional | Android | Custom notification text in the drawer. (goes with startForeground) | all | "ENABLED" | | notificationIconColor | String optional | Android | The accent color to use for notification. Eg. #4CAF50. (goes with startForeground) | all | | | notificationIconLarge | String optional | Android | The filename of a custom notification icon. @see Android quirks. (goes with startForeground) | all | | | notificationIconSmall | String optional | Android | The filename of a custom notification icon. @see Android quirks. (goes with startForeground) | all | | | activityType | String | iOS | [AutomotiveNavigation, OtherNavigation, Fitness, Other] Presumably, this affects iOS GPS algorithm. @see Apple docs for more information | all | "OtherNavigation" | | pauseLocationUpdates | Boolean | iOS | Pauses location updates when app is paused. *@see Apple docs | all | false | | saveBatteryOnBackground | Boolean | iOS | Switch to less accurate significant changes and region monitory when in background | all | false | | url | String | all | Server url where to send HTTP POST with recorded locations @see HTTP locations posting | all | | | syncUrl | String | all | Server url where to send fail to post locations @see HTTP locations posting | all | | | syncThreshold | Number | all | Specifies how many previously failed locations will be sent to server at once | all | 100 | | httpHeaders | Object | all | Optional HTTP headers sent along in HTTP request | all | | | maxLocations | Number | all | Limit maximum number of locations stored into db | all | 10000 | | postTemplate | Object\|Array | all | Customization post template @see Custom post template | all | |

* DIS = DISTANCE_FILTER_PROVIDER ACT = ACTIVITY_PROVIDER RAW = RAW_PROVIDER

Partial reconfiguration is possible by later providing a subset of the configuration options:

BackgroundGeolocation.configure({
  debug: true
});

In this case new configuration options will be merged with stored configuration options and changes will be applied immediately.

Important: Because configuration options are applied partially, it's not possible to reset option to default value just by omitting it's key name and calling configure method. To reset configuration option to the default value, it's key must be set to null!

// Example: reset postTemplate to default
BackgroundGeolocation.configure({
  postTemplate: null
});

getConfig(success, fail)

Platform: iOS, Android

Get current configuration. Method will return all configuration options and their values in success callback. Because configure method can be called with subset of the configuration options only, getConfig method can be used to check the actual applied configuration.

BackgroundGeolocation.getConfig(function(config) {
  console.log(config);
});

start()

Platform: iOS, Android

Start background geolocation.

stop()

Platform: iOS, Android

Stop background geolocation.

getCurrentLocation(success, fail, options)

Platform: iOS, Android

One time location check to get current location of the device.

| Option parameter | Type | Description | | -------------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | timeout | Number | Maximum time in milliseconds device will wait for location | | maximumAge | Number | Maximum age in milliseconds of a possible cached location that is acceptable to return | | enableHighAccuracy | Boolean | if true and if the device is able to provide a more accurate position, it will do so |

| Success callback parameter | Type | Description | | -------------------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | location | Object | location object (@see Location event) |

| Error callback parameter | Type | Description | | ------------------------ | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | code | Number | Reason of an error occurring when using the geolocating device | | message | String | Message describing the details of the error |

Error codes:

| Value | Associated constant | Description | | ----- | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | | 1 | PERMISSION_DENIED | Request failed due missing permissions | | 2 | LOCATION_UNAVAILABLE | Internal source of location returned an internal error | | 3 | TIMEOUT | Timeout defined by `option.timeout was exceeded |

checkStatus(success, fail)

Check status of the service

| Success callback parameter | Type | Description | | -------------------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | isRunning | Boolean | true/false (true if service is running) | | locationServicesEnabled | Boolean | true/false (true if location services are enabled) | | authorization | Number | authorization status |

Authorization statuses:

• NOT_AUTHORIZED
• AUTHORIZED - authorization to run in background and foreground
• AUTHORIZED_FOREGROUND iOS only authorization to run in foreground only

Note: In the Android concept of authorization, these represent application permissions.

showAppSettings()

Platform: Android >= 6, iOS >= 8.0

Show app settings to allow change of app location permissions.

showLocationSettings()

Platform: Android

Show system settings to allow configuration of current location sources.

getLocations(success, fail)

Platform: iOS, Android

Method will return all stored locations. This method is useful for initial rendering of user location on a map just after application launch.

| Success callback parameter | Type | Description | | -------------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------ | | locations | Array | collection of stored locations |

BackgroundGeolocation.getLocations(function (locations) {
  console.log(locations);
});

getValidLocations(success, fail)

Platform: iOS, Android

Method will return locations which have not yet been posted to server.

| Success callback parameter | Type | Description | | -------------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------ | | locations | Array | collection of stored locations |

deleteLocation(locationId, success, fail)

Platform: iOS, Android

Delete location with locationId.

deleteAllLocations(success, fail)

Note: You don't need to delete all locations. The plugin manages the number of stored locations automatically and the total count never exceeds the number as defined by option.maxLocations.

Platform: iOS, Android

Delete all stored locations.

Note: Locations are not actually deleted from database to avoid gaps in locationId numbering. Instead locations are marked as deleted. Locations marked as deleted will not appear in output of BackgroundGeolocation.getValidLocations.

switchMode(modeId, success, fail)

Platform: iOS

Normally the plugin will handle switching between BACKGROUND and FOREGROUND mode itself. Calling switchMode you can override plugin behavior and force it to switch into other mode.

In FOREGROUND mode the plugin uses iOS local manager to receive locations and behavior is affected by option.desiredAccuracy and option.distanceFilter.

In BACKGROUND mode plugin uses significant changes and region monitoring to receive locations and uses option.stationaryRadius only.

// switch to FOREGROUND mode
BackgroundGeolocation.switchMode(BackgroundGeolocation.FOREGROUND_MODE);

// switch to BACKGROUND mode
BackgroundGeolocation.switchMode(BackgroundGeolocation.BACKGROUND_MODE);

forceSync()

Platform: Android, iOS

Force sync of pending locations. Option syncThreshold will be ignored and all pending locations will be immediately posted to syncUrl in single batch.

getLogEntries(limit, fromId, minLevel, success, fail)

Platform: Android, iOS

Return all logged events. Useful for plugin debugging.

| Parameter | Type | Description | | ---------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | limit | Number | limits number of returned entries | | fromId | Number | return entries after fromId. Useful if you plan to implement infinite log scrolling* | | minLevel | String | return log entries above level. Available levels: ["TRACE", "DEBUG", "INFO", "WARN", "ERROR] | | success | Function | callback function which will be called with log entries |

*Example of infinite log scrolling

Format of log entry:

| Parameter | Type | Description | | ------------ | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | id | Number | id of log entry as stored in db | | timestamp | Number | timestamp in milliseconds since beginning of UNIX epoch | | level | String | log level | | message | String | log message | | stackTrace | String | recorded stacktrace (Android only, on iOS part of message) |

removeAllListeners(event)

Unregister all event listeners for given event. If parameter event is not provided then all event listeners will be removed.

Events

| Name | Callback param | Platform | Provider* | Description | | -------------------- | ------------------- | -------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | location | Location | all | all | on location update | | stationary | Location | all | DIS,ACT | on device entered stationary mode | | activity | Activity | Android | ACT | on activity detection | | error | { code, message } | all | all | on plugin error | | authorization | status | all | all | on user toggle location service | | start | | all | all | geolocation has been started | | stop | | all | all | geolocation has been stopped | | foreground | | Android | all | app entered foreground state (visible) | | background | | Android | all | app entered background state | | abort_requested | | all | all | server responded with "285 Updates Not Required" | | http_authorization | | all | all | server responded with "401 Unauthorized" |

Location event

| Location parameter | Type | Description | | ---------------------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | id | Number | ID of location as stored in DB (or null) | | provider | String | gps, network, passive or fused | | locationProvider | Number | location provider | | time | Number | UTC time of this fix, in milliseconds since January 1, 1970. | | latitude | Number | Latitude, in degrees. | | longitude | Number | Longitude, in degrees. | | accuracy | Number | Estimated accuracy of this location, in meters. | | speed | Number | Speed if it is available, in meters/second over ground. | | altitude | Number | Altitude if available, in meters above the WGS 84 reference ellipsoid. | | bearing | Number | Bearing, in degrees. | | isFromMockProvider | Boolean | (android only) True if location was recorded by mock provider | | mockLocationsEnabled | Boolean | (android only) True if device has mock locations enabled |

Locations parameters isFromMockProvider and mockLocationsEnabled are not posted to url or syncUrl by default. Both can be requested via option postTemplate.

Note: Do not use location id as unique key in your database as ids will be reused when option.maxLocations is reached.

Note: Android currently returns time as type of String (instead of Number) @see issue #9685

Activity event

| Activity parameter | Type | Description | | ------------------ | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | confidence | Number | Percentage indicating the likelihood user is performing this activity. | | type | String | "IN_VEHICLE", "ON_BICYCLE", "ON_FOOT", "RUNNING", "STILL", | | | | "TILTING", "UNKNOWN", "WALKING" |

Event listeners can registered with:

const eventSubscription = BackgroundGeolocation.on('event', callbackFn);

And unregistered:

eventSubscription.remove();

Note: Components should unregister all event listeners in componentWillUnmount method, individually, or with removeAllListeners

HTTP locations posting

All locations updates are recorded in the local db at all times. When the App is in foreground or background, in addition to storing location in local db, the location callback function is triggered. The number of locations stored in db is limited by option.maxLocations and never exceeds this number. Instead, old locations are replaced by new ones.

When option.url is defined, each location is also immediately posted to url defined by option.url. If the post is successful, the location is marked as deleted in local db.

When option.syncUrl is defined, all locations that fail to post will be coalesced and sent in some time later in a single batch. Batch sync takes place only when the number of failed-to-post locations reaches option.syncTreshold. Locations are sent only in single batch when the number of locations reaches option.syncTreshold. (No individual locations will be sent)

The request body of posted locations is always an array, even when only one location is sent.

Warning: option.maxLocations has to be larger than option.syncThreshold. It's recommended to be 2x larger. In any other case the location syncing might not work properly.

Custom post template

With option.postTemplate it is possible to specify which location properties should be posted to option.url or option.syncUrl. This can be useful to reduce the number of bytes sent "over the "wire".

All wanted location properties have to be prefixed with @. For all available properties check Location event.

Two forms are supported:

jsonObject

BackgroundGeolocation.configure({
  postTemplate: {
    lat: '@latitude',
    lon: '@longitude',
    foo: 'bar' // you can also add your own properties
  }
});

jsonArray

BackgroundGeolocation.configure({
  postTemplate: ['@latitude', '@longitude', 'foo', 'bar']
});

Note: Keep in mind that all locations (even a single one) will be sent as an array of object(s), when postTemplate is jsonObject and array of array(s) for jsonArray!

Android Headless Task (Experimental)

A special task that gets executed when the app is terminated, but the plugin was configured to continue running in the background (option stopOnTerminate: false). In this scenario the Activity was killed by the system and all registered event listeners will not be triggered until the app is relaunched.

Note: Prefer configuration options url and syncUrl over headless task. Use it sparingly!

Task event

| Parameter | Type | Description | | -------------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | event.name | String | Name of the event [ "location", "stationary", "activity" ] | | event.params | Object | Event parameters. @see Events |

Keep in mind that the callback function lives in an isolated scope. Variables from a higher scope cannot be referenced!

Following example requires CORS enabled backend server.

Warning: callback function must by async!

BackgroundGeolocation.headlessTask(async (event) => {
    if (event.name === 'location' ||
      event.name === 'stationary') {
        var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
        xhr.open('POST', 'http://192.168.81.14:3000/headless');
        xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
        xhr.send(JSON.stringify(event.params));
    }
});

Important:

After application is launched again (main activity becomes visible), it is important to call start method to rebind all event listeners.

BackgroundGeolocation.checkStatus(({ isRunning }) => {
  if (isRunning) {
    BackgroundGeolocation.start(); // service was running -> rebind all listeners
  }
});

Transforming/filtering locations in native code

In some cases you might want to modify a location before posting, reject a location, or any other logic around incoming locations - in native code. There's an option of doing so with a headless task, but you may want to preserve battery, or do more complex actions that are not available in React.

In those cases you could register a location transform.

Android example:

When the Application is initialized (which also happens before services gets started in the background), write some code like this:

BackgroundGeolocationFacade.setLocationTransform(new LocationTransform() {
    @Nullable
    @Override
    public BackgroundLocation transformLocationBeforeCommit(@NonNull Context context, @NonNull BackgroundLocation location) {
    // `context` is available too if there's a need to use a value from preferences etc.

    // Modify the location
    location.setLatitude(location.getLatitude() + 0.018);

    // Return modified location
    return location;

    // You could return null to reject the location,
    // or if you did something else with the location and the library should not post or save it.
    }
});

iOS example:

In didFinishLaunchingWithOptions delegate method, write some code like this:

BackgroundGeolocationFacade.locationTransform = ^(MAURLocation * location) {
  // Modify the location
  location.latitude = @(location.latitude.doubleValue + 0.018);

  // Return modified location
  return location;

  // You could return null to reject the location,
  // or if you did something else with the location and the library should not post or save it.
};

Advanced plugin configuration

Change Account Service Name (Android)

Add string resource "account_name" into "android/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml"

<string name="account_name">Sync Locations</string>

Example of backend server

Background-geolocation-server is a backend server written in nodejs with CORS - Cross-Origin Resource Sharing support. There are instructions how to run it and simulate locations on Android, iOS Simulator and Genymotion.

Debugging sounds

| Event | ios | android | | ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | Exit stationary region | Calendar event notification sound | dialtone beep-beep-beep | | Geolocation recorded | SMS sent sound | tt short beep | | Aggressive geolocation engaged | SIRI listening sound | | | Passive geolocation engaged | SIRI stop listening sound | | | Acquiring stationary location sound | "tick,tick,tick" sound | | | Stationary location acquired sound | "bloom" sound | long tt beep |

NOTE: For iOS in addition, you must manually enable the Audio and Airplay background mode in Background Capabilities to hear these debugging sounds.