LocationService.FusedLocation returning null only on some devices

Question

I am trying to get the last known location of the user.

After Google API is connected, I call my function:

@Override
public void onConnected(Bundle bundle) {
    initilizeMap();
}

The function looks like this:

private void initilizeMap(){
    mLastLocation = LocationServices.FusedLocationApi
            .getLastLocation(mGoogleApiClient);

    if (mLastLocation != null){
        ...
    }else{
        // location unknown
    }
}

I opened up the Google maps first to get the current location of the user. However, mLastLocation is still null.

The most interesting thing is that the code is working on Sony tablet. But I changed my phone today to Nexus and it is not working on this device!

How can I fix this?

P.S. I included these permissions in my manifest file:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />

and android version is 6.0.1

Looks like the code is okay, maybe it has to do with your phone? — Eric S., Mar 23 '16 at 18:30
@EricS. I hope it is not! I just bought it :( Google maps is working though — Jahongir Rahmonov, Mar 23 '16 at 18:30
I'm sure your phone is fine, I thought maybe a setting or something. — Eric S., Mar 23 '16 at 18:31
@Pztar, I included necessary permissions in the manifest file. I manually enabled the Location in the device! Do you mean this? Just in case, android version is 6.0.1 — Jahongir Rahmonov, Mar 23 '16 at 18:45
No, If you're running Android 6.0 or higher you need to request runtime permissions. http://developer.android.com/training/permissions/requesting.html — Pztar, Mar 23 '16 at 18:47
Oh yeah that must be it. It should've shown a red-squiggly warning on Android Studio, but it'll let you compile. I remember I had the same problem last month. @Pztar you should post that as an answer. — Eric S., Mar 23 '16 at 19:12
@Pztar, that was it! I checked to see if user granted a permission. If not, I requested it. Then it went to work just as expected! Thanks a ton! If you will post it as an answer, I will accept it! — Jahongir Rahmonov, Mar 23 '16 at 19:17

Pztar · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-23T19:33:41.173

Any dangerous permissions as listed here need to be requested at run time, as shown on Requesting Permissions at Run Time otherwise you'll get a Permission Denied error which can have unexpected results in your app.

You check a permission with: ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(thisActivity, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION)

it can return either PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED or PackageManager.PERMISSION_DENIED

if you get a PackageManager.PERMISSION_DENIED then you can request that permission with:

ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(thisActivity, new String[]{Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION}, MY_PERMISSIONS_REQUEST_ACCESS_LOCATION);

where MY_PERMISSION_REQUEST_ACCESS_LOCATION is your defined int variable that is passed to the callback of onRequestPermissionsResult where you handle the outcome of the permission allow/deny.

LocationService.FusedLocation returning null only on some devices

1 Answers1