Chapter 4
Proximity Alerts
What's in this chapter?
Using the geocoding API to convert a location to latitude and longitude points
Using Android proximity alerts
Understanding the limitations of the proximity alert API
Achieving better battery life with an alternative proximity alert implementation
Previous chapters discussed the basics of the Android location service: how to get a device's current location and how to track a device as it moves. This chapter discusses the proximity alert functionality of the location service. Proximity alerts present a slightly different paradigm in that they allow an app to be notified when a device enters or leaves a defined area as opposed to notifying an app when new location data is available. In addition to showcasing the proximity alert functionality, this chapter also presents some of the limitations associated with proximity alerts.
To demonstrate the Android proximity alert functionality, this chapter provides an app that allows a user to set a proximity alert for a target area. Once the device enters or leaves the target area, the app displays a notification to alert the user that the device has either entered or left the target area.
App Structure
The example app must perform three main tasks to achieve the overall goal of notifying the user when the device enters or leaves a user-defined area. These tasks are:
- To allow the user to define the target location in terms that can be used by the LocationManager to set a proximity alert
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