Find your location

One of the main reasons to use a mapping application is to find out where you are.

The LocationEngine provided by the HERE SDK implements a comprehensive location solution that works with several location sources such as GPS or other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, mobile network signals and Wi-Fi network signals to determine accurate locations.

For Android devices sub-meter accuracy is only supported when your credentials are enabled for this (see below).

Add the required permissions

Before you can start using the LocationEngine in your app, you will need to add the required permissions to the app's AndroidManifest.xml file:

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

For all example apps accompanying this user guide, we use a convenience class called PermissionsRequestor which takes care of the burdening task to request the user's permission.

An app using native location services such as GPS will ask for the user's permission. Not all devices provide the same capabilities and may have certain hardware restrictions that can lead to varying results.

Prior to using the LocationEngine, it may be a good idea to check if the native location services are enabled. On most Android devices a user can decide to turn the location services on, and even increase the accuracy, by opening the device's Settings and navigating to the Security & location section.

Handle the user's consent whether to gather information

The LocationEngine contains functionality that can gather certain information about the surroundings of the mobile device in order to improve the HERE services used by the HERE SDK. An example of such information is the strength of the nearby Wi-Fi and mobile network signals.

The HERE SDK provides a ConsentEngine that handles the flow to acquire the user’s consent to collect such data. In addition, it allows to retrieve the current status and to revoke a previous decision whether to collect data or not. The application must ensure that this is accessible for the user at all times.

Before starting the LocationEngine, you need to ensure that the user's consent to collect the before mentioned information has been handled. It does not matter what the answer was (if the user accepted the collection of data or not), only that they were shown the consent dialog and that an answer was given. The LocationEngine will return LocationEngineStatus.USER_CONSENT_NOT_HANDLED status when attempting to start it without having handled the user's consent.

The code snippet below creates an instance of the ConsentEngine, checks if the user’s consent has already been requested and if not, invokes a UI dialog (pictured also below) which explains the details of information gathering to the user, and provides them with the possibility to either grant or deny permission.

try {
    consentEngine = new ConsentEngine();
} catch (InstantiationErrorException e) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Initialization of ConsentEngine failed: " + e.getMessage());
}

// Check if user consent has been handled.
if (consentEngine.getUserConsentState() == Consent.UserReply.NOT_HANDLED) {

    // Show dialog.
    consentEngine.requestUserConsent();
}

// The execution can continue while the dialog is being shown.

It is recommended to not call requestUserConsent() while loading a map scene.

The dialog contains a link to a web page describing the privacy practices of HERE and supports 37 languages. When shown, the dialog will be displayed according to the device's language preferences, or in English, if they are not supported.

The user's response persists between the usage sessions of the application and can be retrieved using the getUserConsentState() method, which returns a Consent.UserReply value:

switch(consentEngine.getUserConsentState()) {
    case GRANTED:
        //The user has previously given permission.
        consentStateTextView.setText(R.string.consent_state_granted);
        break;
    case DENIED:
        // The user has previously denied permission.
    case NOT_HANDLED:
        //The user has not been asked for consent.
    case REQUESTING:
        //The dialog is currently being shown to the user.
        consentStateTextView.setText(R.string.consent_state_denied);
        break;
    default:
        throw new RuntimeException("Unknown consent state.");
}

Keep in mind that the application must provide the possibility for the user to see what response they have given earlier, by calling the getUserConsentState() method. Above we use the consentStateTextView to show the current state. In addition, the application must also make it possible for the user to change their mind on the consent at any time, by calling the requestUserConsent() method and displaying the consent dialog again.

When requestUserConsent() is called the HERE SDK shows a new Activity containing the dialog. When the dialog is dismissed, the previous Activity is resumed. If a MapView is shown before the dialog is opened, the MapView will be paused until it is shown again.

Customize the consent dialog

In order to use the LocationEngine, it is mandatory to request the consent from your users. By default, this happens with the help of the above APIs.

It is possible to customize the look and the content of the dialog. For this, ask HERE to certify the application’s own customized user consent dialog. Once the certification is received the application can use the methods grantUserConsent() and denyUserConsent() to communicate the user’s response to the HERE SDK - calling requestUserConsent() is no longer necessary when HERE approves that a custom dialog can be initiated by an application. The communicated user’s response is persisted by the HERE SDK, and the method getUserConsentState() can be used to retrieve the previously given response.

It is, under certain pre-requirements, also possible to request or update the consent decision in a different way: For example, if your users have given their consent already on an external website. However, this has to be discussed with the HERE team individually for your solution.

Learn more about this option or initiate the certification process by contacting HERE via your HERE Sales representative or via our help page.

Create a locationEngine

Creating a new LocationEngine is simple:

try {
    locationEngine = new LocationEngine();
} catch (InstantiationErrorException e) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Initialization of LocationEngine failed: " + e.getMessage());
}

Get the last known location

Once the engine is initialized, the last known location can be obtained, as long as the engine has been started at least once before and received at least one position, otherwise null will be returned. This information will remain, so the last known location will also be available between application sessions.

Location myLastLocation = locationEngine.getLastKnownLocation();

if (myLastLocation != null) {
    // Log the last known location coordinates.
    Log.d(TAG, "Last known location: " + myLastLocation.coordinates.latitude + ", " + myLastLocation.coordinates.longitude);
}

Get notified on location events

Next before starting the LocationEngine, it's a good idea to register a LocationStatusListener so that you will be notified of changes in the engine's status. To do so, implement the LocationStatusListener interface and register it with the location engine's addLocationStatusListener() method. Check the API Reference for more information on the different statuses.

private final LocationStatusListener locationStatusListener = new LocationStatusListener() {
    @Override
    public void onStatusChanged(@NonNull LocationEngineStatus locationEngineStatus) {
        Log.d(TAG, "LocationEngineStatus: " + locationEngineStatus.name());
    }

    @Override
    public void onFeaturesNotAvailable(@NonNull List<LocationFeature> features) {
        for (LocationFeature feature : features) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Feature not available: " + feature.name());
        }
    }
};

// ...

// Add the listener.
locationEngine.addLocationStatusListener(locationStatusListener);

Additionally, through the listener's onFeaturesNotAvailable() callback you will be notified of any LocationFeature that is not available. If a feature that you need is not available, contact your HERE representative. Note: LocationFeature enum is currently a pending feature.

The last thing to consider before starting the engine is registering a LocationListener, which provides the onLocationUpdated() callback that sends a notification once a new Location is detected. You can do so in a similar way as with the previously mentioned LocationStatusListener:

private final LocationListener locationListener = new LocationListener() {
    @Override
    public void onLocationUpdated(@NonNull Location location) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Received location: " + location.coordinates.latitude + ", " + location.coordinates.longitude);
    }
};

// ...

// Add the listener.
locationEngine.addLocationListener(locationListener);

Apart from the current geographic coordinates, the Location instance may contain many more useful information, such as the current altitude, bearing, speed, accuracy and more. See the Access Accuracy Information from a Location section below for more information.

You can add as many LocationStatusListener and LocationListener as you need by calling the respective addLocationStatusListener() and addLocationListener() methods.

Start and stop receiving locations

You are now ready to call the LocationEngine's start() method:

try {
    consentEngine = new ConsentEngine();
    locationEngine = new LocationEngine();
} catch (InstantiationErrorException e) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Initialization failed: " + e.getMessage());
}

if (consentEngine.getUserConsentState() == Consent.UserReply.NOT_HANDLED) {
    consentEngine.requestUserConsent();
}

// ...

startLocating();

// ...

private void startLocating() {
    locationEngine.addLocationStatusListener(locationStatusListener);
    locationEngine.addLocationListener(locationListener);
    locationEngine.start(LocationAccuracy.BEST_AVAILABLE);
}

The most straightforward way to start the engine is by passing it one of the pre-defined LocationAccuracy modes, as in the code snippet above. See the table below or check the API Reference for more information about all the available modes.

After the LocationEngine has been started, you will receive LocationEngineStatus.ALREADY_STARTED if you try to start it again without calling stop() first. You can use the method isStarted() to check if the engine is started or not. Similarly, if you have started a LocationEngine and try to start another one without stopping the first, you will get LocationEngineStatus.ALREADY_STARTED error. Only one engine can be started at a time.

If you don't want to receive more location updates, you can stop the engine by calling the stop() method. Remember to remove the listeners when they are no longer needed:

public void stopLocating() {
    locationEngine.stop();
}

// ...

locationEngine.removeLocationListener(locationListener);
locationEngine.removeLocationStatusListener(locationStatusListener);

In general, it is recommended to stop the LocationEngine when an app gets disposed.

Enable background updates

If you target Android 10 (API level 29) or higher and you want to continue receiving location updates while the application is running in the background, you need to enable such capability by adding the following permission to the app's AndroidManifest.xml file:

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

Note that in order to support Android 14 or newer, also the FOREGROUND_SERVICE_LOCATION permission is required.

In addition, if you want to keep the application running in background on Android API level 29 or higher, you need to start a foreground service or similar. Remember that requesting background locations is different than requesting a foreground location permission. Check the Android documentation for more details. You can also refer to the positioning with background updates example app. The app shows how to use a foreground service and fetch location updates in background.

Additionally the user needs to be requested for autorization. Check the Add the Required Permissions section a suggestion on how to request permissions from the user.

A full working flow showing background location updates can be seen in the PositioningWithBackgroundUpdates example app you can find on GitHub. Take a look at this tutorial for a summary of the required steps to set up a foreground service.

Specify location options

If you want more control over what options are taken into account when generating the locations, you can create a LocationOptions object, configure it to your liking, and start the engine with it.

// ...

// Create a new LocationOptions object. By default all options are enabled.
LocationOptions locationOptions = new LocationOptions();

// Use WiFi and satellite (GNSS) positioning only.
locationOptions.wifiPositioningOptions.enabled = true
locationOptions.satellitePositioningOptions.enabled = true
locationOptions.sensorOptions.enabled = false;
locationOptions.cellularPositioningOptions.enabled = false

// Receive a location approximately every minute, but not more often than every 30 seconds.
locationOptions.notificationOptions.smallestIntervalMilliseconds = TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(30);
locationOptions.notificationOptions.desiredIntervalMilliseconds = TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(60);

locationEngine.start(locationOptions);

// ...

The table below shows an overview of the available LocationAccuracy modes, and how they are internally translated to LocationOptions:

Sub-meter navigation

Starting the LocationEngine with LocationAccuracy.SUB_METER_NAVIGATION mode will enable HERE HD GNSS positioning. The HD GNSS (High Definition Global Navigation Satellite System) feature will allow high definition positioning for various use cases from lane assistance and turn-by-turn guidance to augmented reality. HD GNSS is a cloud-based solution that enables mass market devices to achieve sub-meter accuracy across the globe.

HD GNSS has special requirements for used Android devices. For this feature to work, Android version of the device has to be at least 12 (API 31). More specifically, device must support the following:

• Raw GNSS measurements
• GNSS carrier phase measurements (ADR)
• Dual frequency GNSS receiver (L5)

See also Android documentation for more details.

It is the responsibility of the user to ensure conditions above hold with the used device. If not, the desired accuracy level may not be reached.

Conditions above do hold for some Android devices with earlier versions also. It is possible to successfully use LocationAccuracy.SUB_METER_NAVIGATION mode with some of these versions but this should only be done for development and testing purposes.

This feature is not available by default, but has to be separately activated. Users require credentials to gain access to HERE HD GNSS correction data. Contact us for more details.

Access accuracy information from a Location

Except for the coordinates and the timestamp, all other Location fields are optional. For example, the received Location object may contain the information about the bearing angle, as well as the current speed, but this is not guaranteed to be available. Unavailable values will be returned as null. What kind of sources are used for positioning (as defined by the above mentioned LocationOptions), and the device's capabilities affect what fields will be available.

if (location.speedInMetersPerSecond != null) {
    Log.d(TAG, "Speed (m/s): " + location.speedInMetersPerSecond);
} else {
    Log.d(TAG, "Speed (m/s): Not available");
}

The horizontalAccuracyInMeters field, which is present in the Location object, also known as the "radius of uncertainty", provides an estimate of the area within which the true geographic coordinates are likely to lie with a 68% probability. This is used to draw a halo indicator around the current location. The illustration below depicts the inner green circle as the location.coordinates and the surrounding circle as the accuracy circle with a radius of horizontalAccuracyInMeters. The true geographical coordinates may lie inside (68%) or outside (32%) the accuracy circle.

Likewise, in the case of altitude, if the verticalAccuracyInMeters value is 10 meters, this indicates that the actual altitude is expected to fall within a range of altitude - 10m to altitude + 10m with a probability of 68%. Other accuracy values, like bearingAccuracyInDegrees and speedAccuracyInMetersPerSecond will follow the same rule: a smaller uncertainty results in a better accuracy.

Achieving probabilities other than 68% (CEP68)

What if the given probability of 68% (CEP68) is not enough - is it possible to achieve an accuracy of 99%? Yes, it is: Since the given circular error probability (CEP) follows a chi-squared distribution with two degrees-of-freedom, it is easy to calculate the desired probability based on the following formulas:

The table above can be used to visualize various probability levels for a halo indicator on the map. For example, if the horizontal accuracy is 20 meters, you can (roughly) double the radius to achieve a probability of 99%. The accuracy value is always given as CEP68, that means:

CEP99 = 2.01 x CEP68 = 2.01 x 20m = 40.2m

Now you can draw a radius of 40.2 meters around the found location - and with a probability of 99%, the real location will lie within that circle. On the other hand, the probability for a radius of 0 meters is 0%.

Legal requirement

Using the HERE SDK location features requires you to show the HERE SDK consent dialog in your application as described above. Users must be able to see their current consent decision and to revoke any previous consent decision - otherwise, you are not allowed to use the HERE SDK location features and you must refer to the Android location APIs instead.

Tutorial: Show your current location on a map

A LocationIndicator is used for representing device's current location on map. Before the indicator is updated with a current location value, a default Location is set, which can be the last known location - or just any place the user should see before the first location update arrives. By default, the horizontal accuracy is visualized with a MapCircle that has a radius of horizontalAccuracyInMeters.

//LocationIndicator object to represent current location.
private LocationIndicator locationIndicator;

// ...

private void addMyLocationToMap(@NonNull Location myLocation) {
    //Create and setup location indicator.
    locationIndicator = new LocationIndicator();
    // Enable a halo to indicate the horizontal accuracy.
    locationIndicator.setAccuracyVisualized(true);
    locationIndicator.setLocationIndicatorStyle(LocationIndicator.IndicatorStyle.PEDESTRIAN);
    locationIndicator.updateLocation(myLocation);
    locationIndicator.enable(mapView);
    //Update the map viewport to be centered on the location.
    MapMeasure mapMeasureZoom = new MapMeasure(MapMeasure.Kind.DISTANCE, CAMERA_DISTANCE_IN_METERS);
    mapView.getCamera().lookAt(myLocation.coordinates, mapMeasureZoom);
}


// ...

private void updateMyLocationOnMap(@NonNull Location myLocation) {
    //Update the location indicator's location.
    locationIndicator.updateLocation(myLocation);
    //Update the map viewport to be centered on the location, preserving zoom level.
    mapView.getCamera().lookAt(myLocation.coordinates);
}

// ...

//Default start-up location.
private final static GeoCoordinates defaultLocation = new GeoCoordinates(52.520798, 13.409408);

final Location myLastLocation = locationEngine.getLastKnownLocation();

if (myLastLocation != null) {
    addMyLocationToMap(myLastLocation);
} else {
    final Location defaultLocation = new Location(defaultCoordinates);
    defaultLocation.time = new Date();
    addMyLocationToMap(defaultLocation);
}

// ...

private final LocationListener locationListener = location -> {
    updateMyLocationOnMap(location);
};

As shown in the implementation above, you can pass the Location object to the location indicator by calling updateLocation(). In this example, the goal is to track the user's current location - therefore, the map viewport's center location is updated as well.