I have been doing some reading about CLBeaconRegion and I have setup some iBeacons successfully and had it trigger location updates, even while the application is in the background.
However, from what I've read and carry over from CLRegion, I understand that it should be possible to hit locationManager:didEnterRegion: after the application is terminated.
I've setup my CLBeaconRegion like this:
beaconRegion = [[CLBeaconRegion alloc] initWithProximityUUID:[[NSUUID alloc] initWithUUIDString:SERVICE_UUID]
major:0
minor:0
identifier:BEACON_ID];
[beaconRegion setNotifyOnEntry:YES];
[beaconRegion setNotifyOnExit:YES];
[beaconRegion setNotifyEntryStateOnDisplay:YES];
But I am not able to trigger the CLLocationManager's delegate from termination. I've left the region (confirmed by a notification), travelled further away from the beacon, waited for 30 seconds, then travelled back to the beacon, but it does not trigger the delegate while terminated (works great while in the background and foreground).
Should this work from termination? Am I missing something? Any help would be great.
I believe that when you are in the background or not running, it calls locationManager:didDetermineState:forRegion: instead of locationManager:didEnterRegion:, and then only if you've set notifyEntryStateOnDisplay to TRUE.
This is the expected behavior on iOS 7. However, this behavior has been changed under iOS 7.1. iOS 7.1 reverts delegate calls back to pre-iOS 7 behavior.
I've documented this behavior in a blog post of mine.
http://www.simplymadeapps.com/blog/2014/03/7-1-brings-back-geofence-behavior/
EDIT: The below is no longer true as of 7.1. You can still receive notifications even when the application has closed
The behavior of applications being swiped away in the application switcher now has the effect you're describing under iOS 7.
Users who remove your application from the switcher have made a decision to not allow your app to run in the background. Thus, region monitoring will not re-open your application.
Check out the "What’s New with Multitasking" session from WWDC 2013 for more information.
Yeah,
Same behaviour is being noticed .Sometimes even while calling setNotifyEntryStateOnDisplay, didEnterRegion not called even when in foreground.
Related
I have a navigation app that supports CarPlay connection.
When running with CarPlay, some users report that they appear to not have GPS connection.
Looking at the logs I noticed that on app launch we're getting didFailWithError with error code kCLErrorDenied, so according to Apple's recommendation we stop updating location.
This comes immediately after receiving locationManagerDidChangeAuthorization with kCLAuthorizationStatusAuthorizedWhenInUse with accuracy=0.
In this flow we also check CLLocationManager.locationServicesEnabled which returns true, CLLocationManager.authorizationStatus which returns kCLAuthorizationStatusAuthorizedWhenInUse and CLLocationManager.accuracyAuthorization which returns CLAccuracyAuthorizationFullAccuracy.
Users also confirm that they did give location permissions to the app and had location services enabled, also this issue was resolved after a few restarts of the app.
All the cases I encountered were on CarPlay using iOS 16.
Any idea why kCLErrorDenied could be triggered when there are location permissions?
Just in case someone else encounters this issue - this happens when we start location updates while the app is still in the background and we only have permissions for "While Using".
This is more prominent on CarPlay since it's possible to go to the home screen and disconnect. When reconnecting the app would wake up while in the background and try to start updating location.
The solution was to only start updating location when the app is in active state.
I am trying to make an app to track the user GPS all the time, this app is a kind of car GPS tracker to get the location of driver all the time and send it to server.
I have tried to add "location updates" to the "background modes" but the app will automatically suspends after 10 mins when going into background.
Is there a way to make this app run all the time and get the GPS location?
You have two options here:
1) Regular location tracking. This type of tracking works with kCLAuthorizationStatusAuthorizedWhenInUse and kCLAuthorizationStatusAuthorizedAlways authorizations. When CLLocationManager started tracking location once it will receive location updates in delegate method locationManager:didUpdateLocations:. App can go to suspended state, but when location manager receive new location app goes to background state and handles new location in delegate method. How to setup location manager:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.locationManager = [[CLLocationManager alloc] init];
// Setup location tracker accuracy
self.locationManager.desiredAccuracy = kCLLocationAccuracyBestForNavigation;
// Distance filter
self.locationManager.distanceFilter = 50.f;
// Assign location tracker delegate
self.locationManager.delegate = self;
// This setup pauses location manager if location wasn't changed
[self.locationManager setPausesLocationUpdatesAutomatically:YES];
// For iOS9 we have to call this method if we want to receive location updates in background mode
if([self.locationManager respondsToSelector:#selector(allowsBackgroundLocationUpdates)]){
[self.locationManager setAllowsBackgroundLocationUpdates:YES];
}
[self.locationManager startUpdatingLocation];
}
2) Signification location changes tracking. This type of tracking works only with kCLAuthorizationStatusAuthorizedAlways authorization. It receives new location only each 500 meters, so distance filter and desiredAccuracy don't work here. App can go to suspended state, and even can be terminated by system, but when location updates app goes to background state and receives location in delegate method locationManager:didUpdateLocations:.If app was terminated by system, it will be relaunched in background with UIApplicationLaunchOptionsLocationKey key in launch options in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions app delegate method. How to setup this type on tracking:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.locationManager = [[CLLocationManager alloc] init];
// Assign location tracker delegate
self.locationManager.delegate = self;
// For iOS9 we have to call this method if we want to receive location updates in background mode
if([self.locationManager respondsToSelector:#selector(allowsBackgroundLocationUpdates)]){
[self.locationManager setAllowsBackgroundLocationUpdates:YES];
}
[self.locationManager startMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges];
}
You should notice that both of these methods does not guarantee that your application does not go to suspended state.
Also, if app was terminated by user (for example from app switcher by swipe) location tracking in background will not work.
UPDATE (corresponding to comments)
Here is my code examples that work for me:
For Regular tracking. Run the example, provide access to user location, tap Start button to start location updates. To test locations in simulator choose in simulator menu Debug > Location > Freeway Drive. Now you can push app to background by home button (Command+Shift+H). Leave simulator for more than 10 minutes, and all this time app will receive locations. When you return to app you will see red pins on the map.
For Significant changes. Run the app and test by the same way as for previous example.
Monitoring Significant changes can be started only by method [self.locationManager startMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges];
UPDATE (iOS 11)
Changes to location tracking in iOS 11
iOS 11 also makes some major changes to existing APIs. One of the affected areas is location tracking. If your app only uses location while the app is in the foreground, as most apps do, you might not have to change anything at all; however, if it’s one of those apps that continuously track user’s location throughout the day, you should probably book some time this summer for making some changes in how you do the tracking and testing possible usage scenarios.
follow this link: https://mackuba.eu/2017/07/13/changes-to-location-tracking-in-ios-11/
I am sure it is useful for the author because the question was asked in Feb 2016 and I am giving an answer in June 2019. This answer maybe is useful for other users.
Recently, I was working with the same requirement. After 2-3 week hard work, I did it. For other users, I create a helper class for it. Which is available in GitHub.
Please use HSLocationManager for your requirement. I have achieved the same requirements in one of my project
Location manager that allows getting background location updates every
n seconds with desired location accuracy.
Advantage:
OS will never kill our app if the location manager is currently
running.
Give periodically location update when it required(range is between 2 -
170 seconds (limited by max allowed background task time))
Customizable location accuracy and time period.
Low memory consumption(Singleton class)
In reply to comment 1 in the solution (I can't comment anywhere yet): you didn't seem to solve the problem as your app gets suspended and doesn't update the location any more after 10 minutes.
I had the same issue: I had set setAllowsBackgroundLocationUpdates to YES, and I had the NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription key in my Info.plist, but my App also used to stop tracking location after 10 minutes.
I solved it by adding both NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription and NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription to the Info.plist file so it looks like this:
<key>NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs to use your location</string>
<key>NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs to use your location</string>
set it.it take power of battery but your application run in Background.OS does not Suspend your App
[self.locationManager setPausesLocationUpdatesAutomatically:NO];
I've implemented the use of GeoFences in my app. I've created a new CLLocationManager property and initialised it in my app's viewDidLoad method simply like so:
[[self.locationManager alloc] init];
I set the delegate to self, start monitoring for regions using startMonitoringForRegion:
Then, I emulate my location while running it using Xcode and the methods didEnterRegion and didExitRegion. The app works perfect while running, but I haven't got the chance to test it as I don't know how to emulate my location while the app is terminated, see my other question
Therefore, I was hoping to get some answers on these questions:
Can I manage background work just like normal with the didEnterRegion and didExitRegion methods? Like calculating, etc?
If my app is terminated, I enter a region, open my app - are my variables from didEnterRegion initialised and set up then?
Do I need to do anything else to set it up to work when my app is terminated, except for the normal CLLocationManager setup that I've done so far?
Thanks!
I have an iOS app that uses the CLLocationManager to monitor regions and to get GPS updates. Most of the time, I want my app to continue tracking the cellphone when it goes in background or even when it gets killed, and it works well (I can still see the small arrow in the status bar after my app gets killed). The problem is that I am not able to stop monitoring the regions and GPS updates after my app has been restarted by the Location Services.
When my app gets restarted by the Location Services, I instanciate the CLLocationManager and then call its methods stopRangingBeaconsInRegion and stopUpdatingLocation before setting its delegate to nil and itself to nil.
Thanks to NSLogger, I can see that my callbacks are no longer called, but the small arrow in the status bar stays there (and my app is the only one that I allowed to use the Location Services from the settings menu).
What did I miss? Is there a way to know what still uses the Location Services in my app?
When you call stopRangingBeaconsInRegion, where are you getting the list of regions? The proper way to do this is like below:
for (CLRegion *monitored in [self.locationManager monitoredRegions]) {
NSLog(#"Stopping monitoring on: %#", monitored.identifier);
[self.monitoringLocationManager stopMonitoringForRegion:monitored];
}
for (CLBeaconRegion *region in [self.locationManager rangedRegions]) {
NSLog(#"Stopping ranging on: %# ", region.identifier);
[self.rangingLocationManager stopRangingBeaconsInRegion:region];
}
I finally found that I missed to remove some of my numerous regions. The easy way to avoid this mistake is to retrieve the list of regions monitored with the property monitoredRegions and call stopRangingBeaconsInRegion for each of them. I also forgot to call stopMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges (I didn't know that my app was using it, since I am modifying the app of a former colleague).
How do you know that it is your app that is using the location services?
The small arrow appears if the iOS itself is using the location services in the background.
if you did call stopRangingBeaconsInRegion and stopUpdatingLocation before setting the delegate to nil and you are not getting any callbacks then your app is not using the location services.
My CLLocationManager starts when the user first enters the app. I am initializing it like this:
self.locationManager = [[CLLocationManager alloc] init];
self.locationManager.delegate = self;
self.locationManager.desiredAccuracy = kCLLocationAccuracyBest;
self.locationManager.distanceFilter = kDistanceFilter;
self.locationManager.headingFilter = kHeadingFilter;
And I am using geofencing.
I have defined in my .plist the required background modes.
If I test the app in the simulator using a gpx file, it works fine. So far, so good.
However, I read in these two links:
Start Location Manager in iOS 7 from background task
Background Location Services not working in iOS 7
That in iOS7, when the location does not change for a couple of minutes then the CLLocation goes to sleep.
My question is that:
I do not call didUpdateLocation at all, I only want the didEnterRegion, or didExitRegion. Theoretically, will it work , even the app is killed or user Location has not changed in the last hour and then decides to move?
There are a few elements in your questions:
1- In order not to rehash what is in a previous answer, I would first look at my answer at this link. It will help you resolve around the core location updates stopping if the user stops moving and how you can modify that behaviour:
iOS7 Core Location not updating
2- If the user kills an app in iOS7 (by flicking it up in the app switcher), the app will not restart and as such neither your location updates nor region monitoring will restart after the phone is restarted. On the other hand, if the app is killed because of memory pressures, iOS will restart the app and relaunch your location updates and region monitoring in the background. Also, if you reboot the phone, region monitoring will restart automatically. You obviously must have the background mode enabled.
3- Now you are talking about regions in your questions so I am assuming you have implemented CLCircularRegion. If not, that should be the first step and then "startMonitoringForRegion". In your case, even if the user has stopped moving for a while and then started moving, the app will be awaken/delegate called when the app enters or exit a region.
4- Make sure to use locationManager: didDetermineState: forRegion: as well. This will allow the app to determine if it is inside or outside of the region at start. This is useful when you think of an app being launched and no region crossing has happened but it is important to know whether the user is inside or outside of the region.
Hope this helps