Location

Edit

The Location plugin provides access to GeoLocation (typically GPS) functionality via the API:

public interface IMvxLocationWatcher
{
    void Start(
        MvxLocationOptions options, 
        Action<MvxGeoLocation> success, 
        Action<MvxLocationError> error);
    void Stop();
    bool Started { get; }
    
    MvxGeoLocation CurrentLocation { get; }
    MvxGeoLocation LastSeenLocation { get; }
    
    event EventHandler<MvxValueEventArgs<MvxLocationPermission>> OnPermissionChanged;
}

The Location plugin is implemented on all platforms (even Wpf).

Because of the Action based nature of the IMvxLocationWatcher API, it’s generally best not to use this interface directly inside ViewModels, but instead to use the API in a singleton service which can then send Messages to your ViewModels.

An example implementation of such a service is:

public class LocationService
    : ILocationService
{
    private readonly IMvxLocationWatcher _watcher;
    private readonly IMvxMessenger _messenger;

    public LocationService(IMvxLocationWatcher watcher, IMvxMessenger messenger)
    {
        _watcher = watcher;
        _messenger = messenger;
        _watcher.Start(new MvxLocationOptions(), OnLocation, OnError);
    }

    private void OnLocation(MvxGeoLocation location)
    {
        var message = new LocationMessage(this,
                                            location.Coordinates.Latitude,
                                            location.Coordinates.Longitude);

        _messenger.Publish(message);
    }

    private void OnError(MvxLocationError error)
    {
        Mvx.IoCProvider.Error("Seen location error {0}", error.Code);
    }
}

For a good walk-through of using the location plugin, including using it in tandem with the MvvmCross messenger, see both N=8 and N=9 in N+1 videos of MvvmCross - N+1 videos

Notes:

• the MvxLocationOptions object passed into the Start method provides a number of options like EnableHighAccuracy - not all of these options are well implemented on all platforms. For iOS8 and later, these options include the type of location permission request used (see https://github.com/MvvmCross/MvvmCross/pull/789)
• the default implementation is a good ‘general’ module if you just need ‘location information’ in your app. If your app requires more - e.g. control over time and distance tracking, geo-fencing, etc - then consider building your own plugin (or injecting your own service from the UI project on each platform). The source code for the Location plugin should provide you with a good starting place for this.
• it’s not unusual for Android developers to hit issues with location detection on different phones and on different Android - check StackOverflow and Issues for questions and answers - e.g. https://github.com/slodge/MvvmCross/issues/360
• some platforms (especially Android) insist on the Location Watcher being started/stopped on the UI thread
• the MvvmCross coordinates object - MvxCoordinates - does not currently come with any built-in maths operations. Algorithms for some common coordinate operations can be found on (for example) http://slodge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/calculating-distance-between-latlng.html.

Known issue

1. Android plugin does not track location in case MvxLocationOptions does not match current device GPS mode. For example MvxLocationOptions.Coarse works only with Battery saving mode and does not work for High accuracy and Device only. As a solution use Fused plugin: MvvmCross.Plugins.Location.Fused.Droid

Fused Location (Android only)

There is a new preferred way to access location in Android which is called FusedLocationApi: http://developer.android.com/intl/ru/training/location/index.html

There are few benefits of using it (over the old approach):

• Coarse option means Low power mode
• location still tracked when device’s GPS mode chagned
• the plugin is more power efficient in general

NOTE: the plugin requires GooglePlayServices (which is not installed by default on emulators)

This plugin is not compatible with default MvvmCross.Plugins.Location.Droid plugin. Ensure only one is used in Android project.