Showing current location in offline mode with gps

Question

Hi I am a bit new to android and I have been wanted to develop an android app which is supposed to show the current location of the user on a map like google map in offline mode. Can I show the location with just GPS and without Internet connection ? Needless to say that this offline thing is vitally important for me. Any help would be appreciated. Tnx in advance

Answer 1

You can get the GPS location (although it will be less precise without GSM tower localisation). However, the map part may be tricky. You can use the Google Maps API in your app, like MapActivity, but the map itself has to be downloaded from the web.

So you will need some custom solution for this, probably through a different map provider than Google Maps.

You may be able to do it a bit differently - obtain the location in your app and then open Google Maps with an Intent, passing the received coordinates. This should allow the user to use any offline-stored maps they may have.

Answer 2

You can get raw NMEA data from GPS via NmeaListener or better OnNmeaMessageListener (IMHO it more complex), and parse RMC sentence like this:

public class CustomNmeaListener implements GpsStatus.NmeaListener{

    private GoogleMap mGoogleMap;
    private Marker mMarkerPosition = null;
    private BitmapDescriptor mMarkerMoveDescriptor;
    private BitmapDescriptor mMarkerStopDescriptor;

    public CustomNmeaListener(GoogleMap googleMap, int markerMoveResource, int markerStopResource){
        this.mGoogleMap = googleMap;

        mMarkerMoveDescriptor = BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromResource(markerMoveResource);
        mMarkerStopDescriptor = BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromResource(markerStopResource);
    }

    @Override
    public void onNmeaReceived(long timestamp, String nmea) {
        double latitude;
        double longitude;
        float speed;
        float angle;

        // parse NMEA RMC sentence
        // Example $GPRMC,123519,A,4807.038,N,01131.000,E,022.4,084.4,230394,003.1,W*6A
        //   nmea    [0]   [1]  [2]  [3]   [4]   [5]   [6] [7]   [8]   [9]   [10]  [11]
        if (nmea.startsWith("$GPRMC")) {

            String[] nmeaParts = nmea.split(",");

            // if RMC data valid ("active")
            if (nmeaParts[2].equals("A")) {
                latitude = parseLatitude(nmeaParts[3], nmeaParts[4]);
                longitude = parseLongitude(nmeaParts[5], nmeaParts[6]);
                speed = parseSpeed(nmeaParts[7]);
                angle = parseAngle(nmeaParts[8]);

                // remove marker on "old" position
                if (mMarkerPosition != null) {
                    mMarkerPosition.remove();
                }

                MarkerOptions positionMarkerOptions;

                if (speed > 0) {
                    positionMarkerOptions = new MarkerOptions()
                            .position(new LatLng(latitude, longitude))
                            .icon(mMarkerMoveDescriptor)
                            .anchor(0.5f, 0.5f)
                            .rotation(angle);
                } else {
                    positionMarkerOptions = new MarkerOptions()
                            .position(new LatLng(latitude, longitude))
                            .icon(mMarkerStopDescriptor)
                            .anchor(0.5f, 0.5f)
                            .rotation(0);
                }
                mMarkerPosition = mGoogleMap.addMarker(positionMarkerOptions);
            }
        }

    }

    static float parseLatitude(String lat, String sign) {
        float latitude = Float.parseFloat(lat.substring(2)) / 60.0f;
        latitude +=  Float.parseFloat(lat.substring(0, 2));
        if(sign.startsWith("S")) {
            latitude = -latitude;
        }
        return latitude;
    }

    static float parseLongitude(String lon, String sign) {
        float longitude = Float.parseFloat(lon.substring(3)) / 60.0f;
        longitude +=  Float.parseFloat(lon.substring(0, 3));
        if(sign.startsWith("W")) {
            longitude = -longitude;
        }
        return longitude;
    }

    static float parseSpeed(String knots) {
        float speed;
        try {
            speed = Float.parseFloat(knots);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            speed = 0;
        }
        return speed;
    }

    static float parseAngle(String ang) {
        float angle;
        try {
            angle = Float.parseFloat(ang);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            angle = 0;
        }
        return angle;
    }
}

and set RMC sentence interval on requestLocationUpdates() call

try {
    mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
            LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER,
            <your_update_interval>,
            LOCATION_DISTANCE,
            this
    );
 } catch (java.lang.SecurityException ex) {
    Log.d(TAG, "fail to request location update, ignore", ex);
 }

And for map service you should use custom solution, because, even for offline maps Google Maps need Internet connection at least for MAPS API KEY check. As first approach you can use simple ImageView with map screenshot.