Background location tracking

Android requires the use of a foreground service to track location in the background. Foreground services permit your app to asynchronously perform operations that are noticeable to the user (a status bar notification let users know that your app is executing an operation and consuming system resources).

The following prerequisites must be satisfied before you are able to receive location events in the background:

• Ensure SystemLocationDataSource.backgroundUpdatesEnabled is set to true.

• Add the following location permissions to the AndroidManifest.xml:

  android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

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  <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
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      <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION" />
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      <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />
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      <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />
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      <application
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          android:label="flutter_project_template"
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          android:name="${applicationName}"
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          android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher">
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          {/* ... */}

  To learn more about requesting user authorization, see the Note in the Location data sources section of the Device location guide topic.

If you need background location updates in your iOS app, you can update your project to add the background mode capability.

The following prerequisites must be satisfied before you are able to receive location events in the background:

• Ensure SystemLocationDataSource.backgroundUpdatesEnabled is set to true.

• The app must request authorization from the user to access the device location while it is in the background. You can do this by adding location property list keys such as NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription, to your project’s plist file.

  Info.plist

  <key>UIBackgroundModes</key>
  <array>
      <string>location</string>
  </array>
  <key>NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription</key>
  <string>This app requires background location updates for tracking your position.</string>
  <key>NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription</key>
  <string>This app needs access to location when open.</string>

To learn more about requesting user authorization, see the Note in the Location data sources section of the Device location guide topic.