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My android app is crashing when I try to enable GPS on my android 4.4 (Kitkat). It's been working fine till Android 4.3 . I am using following code to turn on GPS

Intent intent = new Intent("android.location.GPS_ENABLED_CHANGE");
intent.putExtra("enabled", true);
this.sendBroadcast(intent);

In my Log Cat its giving security exception.

My LogCat details are as :-

11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818): Caused by: java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: not allowed to send broadcast android.location.GPS_ENABLED_CHANGE from pid=3818, uid=10084
11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818):  at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1461)
11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818):  at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1415)
11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818):  at android.app.ActivityManagerProxy.broadcastIntent(ActivityManagerNative.java:2373)
11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818):  at android.app.ContextImpl.sendBroadcast(ContextImpl.java:1127)
11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818):  at android.content.ContextWrapper.sendBroadcast(ContextWrapper.java:365)
11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818):  at com.sus.SUSV7_1.Activity.Splash_ScreenActivity.turnGPSOn(Splash_ScreenActivity.java:66)
11-27 12:47:37.410: E/AndroidRuntime(3818):  at com.sus.SUSV7_1.Activity.Splash_ScreenActivity.onCreate(Splash_ScreenActivity.java:26)

When I comment the code then its working fine. Is there any specific parameter to enable GPS manually on Android 4.4.

mmBs
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Praveen Sharma
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2 Answers2

12

This never was meant to be public API.

There even is an issue on AOSP bug tracker regarding this topic: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=35924

I guess, they just fixed this security whole.

You might want to direct the user to change the GPS settings:

startActivity(context, new Intent(Settings.ACTION_LOCATION_SOURCE_SETTINGS));
Parag Chauhan
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flx
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-7
   public class GPSService extends Service implements LocationListener {

// saving the context for later use
private final Context mContext;

// if GPS is enabled
boolean isGPSEnabled = false;
// if Network is enabled
boolean isNetworkEnabled = false;
// if Location co-ordinates are available using GPS or Network
public boolean isLocationAvailable = false;

// Location and co-ordinates coordinates
Location mLocation;
double mLatitude;
double mLongitude;

// Minimum time fluctuation for next update (in milliseconds)
private static final long TIME = 30000;
// Minimum distance fluctuation for next update (in meters)
private static final long DISTANCE = 20;

// Declaring a Location Manager
protected LocationManager mLocationManager;

public GPSService(Context context) {
    this.mContext = context;
    mLocationManager = (LocationManager) mContext
            .getSystemService(LOCATION_SERVICE);

}

/**
 * Returs the Location
 * 
 * @return Location or null if no location is found
 */
public Location getLocation() {
    try {

        // Getting GPS status
        isGPSEnabled = mLocationManager
                .isProviderEnabled(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);

        // If GPS enabled, get latitude/longitude using GPS Services
        if (isGPSEnabled) {
            mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
                    LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, TIME, DISTANCE, this);
            if (mLocationManager != null) {
                mLocation = mLocationManager
                        .getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
                if (mLocation != null) {
                    mLatitude = mLocation.getLatitude();
                    mLongitude = mLocation.getLongitude();
                    isLocationAvailable = true; // setting a flag that
                                                // location is available
                    return mLocation;
                }
            }
        }

        // If we are reaching this part, it means GPS was not able to fetch
        // any location
        // Getting network status
        isNetworkEnabled = mLocationManager
                .isProviderEnabled(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER);

        if (isNetworkEnabled) {
            mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
                    LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, TIME, DISTANCE, this);
            if (mLocationManager != null) {
                mLocation = mLocationManager
                        .getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER);
                if (mLocation != null) {
                    mLatitude = mLocation.getLatitude();
                    mLongitude = mLocation.getLongitude();
                    isLocationAvailable = true; // setting a flag that
                                                // location is available
                    return mLocation;
                }
            }
        }
        // If reaching here means, we were not able to get location neither
        // from GPS not Network,
        if (!isGPSEnabled) {
            // so asking user to open GPS
            askUserToOpenGPS();
        }

    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    // if reaching here means, location was not available, so setting the
    // flag as false
    isLocationAvailable = false;
    return null;
}

/**
 * Gives you complete address of the location
 * 
 * @return complete address in String
 */
public String getLocationAddress() {

    if (isLocationAvailable) {

        Geocoder geocoder = new Geocoder(mContext, Locale.getDefault());
        // Get the current location from the input parameter list
        // Create a list to contain the result address
        List<Address> addresses = null;
        try {
            /*
             * Return 1 address.
             */
            addresses = geocoder.getFromLocation(mLatitude, mLongitude, 1);
        } catch (IOException e1) {
            e1.printStackTrace();
            return ("IO Exception trying to get address:" + e1);
        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e2) {
            // Error message to post in the log
            String errorString = "Illegal arguments "
                    + Double.toString(mLatitude) + " , "
                    + Double.toString(mLongitude)
                    + " passed to address service";
            e2.printStackTrace();
            return errorString;
        }
        // If the reverse geocode returned an address
        if (addresses != null && addresses.size() > 0) {
            // Get the first address
            Address address = addresses.get(0);
            /*
             * Format the first line of address (if available), city, and
             * country name.
             */
            String addressText = String.format(
                    "%s, %s, %s",
                    // If there's a street address, add it
                    address.getMaxAddressLineIndex() > 0 ? address
                            .getAddressLine(0) : "",
                    // Locality is usually a city
                    address.getLocality(),
                    // The country of the address
                    address.getCountryName());
            // Return the text
            return addressText;
        } else {
            return "No address found by the service: Note to the developers, If no address is found by google itself, there is nothing you can do about it.";
        }
    } else {
        return "Location Not available";
    }

}



/**
 * get latitude
 * 
 * @return latitude in double
 */
public double getLatitude() {
    if (mLocation != null) {
        mLatitude = mLocation.getLatitude();
    }
    return mLatitude;
}

/**
 * get longitude
 * 
 * @return longitude in double
 */
public double getLongitude() {
    if (mLocation != null) {
        mLongitude = mLocation.getLongitude();
    }
    return mLongitude;
}

/**
 * close GPS to save battery
 */
public void closeGPS() {
    if (mLocationManager != null) {
        mLocationManager.removeUpdates(GPSService.this);
    }
}

/**
 * show settings to open GPS
 */
public void askUserToOpenGPS() {
    AlertDialog.Builder mAlertDialog = new AlertDialog.Builder(mContext);

    // Setting Dialog Title
    mAlertDialog.setTitle("Location not available, Open GPS?")
    .setMessage("Activate GPS to use use location services?")
    .setPositiveButton("Open Settings", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
        public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
            Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_LOCATION_SOURCE_SETTINGS);
            mContext.startActivity(intent);
            }
        })
        .setNegativeButton("Cancel",new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
            public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
                dialog.cancel();
                }
            }).show();
}

/** 
 * Updating the location when location changes
 */
@Override
public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
    mLatitude = location.getLatitude();
    mLongitude = location.getLongitude();
}

@Override
public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {
}

@Override
public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {
}

@Override
public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {
}

@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent arg0) {
    return null;
}}
  • 2
    Answers with example code are good, however with this amount of code it would be nice to add some kind of explanation about what it does, where it comes from, etc. – John Willemse Jun 20 '14 at 07:38
  • please avoid the automatic gps on off in 4.4 if you already got success to implement that code then i am sure this code will not work on all 4.4 devices,so for that use this service for use the gps feature. complete answer at link http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22528984/android-device-gps-on-off-programatically/24321707#24321707 – Imran Khan Jun 23 '14 at 05:31
  • how is this answer related to the question..i wasted my time to analyse and was in hope to found something meaningful. – Anchal Jan 19 '15 at 11:04