Android : Where to call GPS : onCreate or onStart?

Question

I'm building an android app, it basically just gets the user's coordinates using GPS, and then using those coordinates calls an API (using HTTPrequest) to get the city.

My question is, where should I be doing this (calling the GPS and the HTTPrequest) : in the onCreate() or the onStart() function of my main file?

And if I can do it from both, which is the better practice?

Also, are GPS calls and HTTPRequests synchronous or asynchronous? — Karan, Jun 21 '11 at 07:18

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 21 '11 at 10:17

It largely depends on your use case... Read again the activity lifecycle

I'd sugguest onStart() because the user can perfectly start the activity, do something else (android has enought resources to keep the activity in memory) and the next day, he is in another city and start the activity again, but onCreate() won't be called.
from how Google maps work, I'd even say that they placed the geolocalisation in onResume()
onStart() is always called after onCreate(). What's easy to say: it does not make sense to call it in both cases

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 21 '11 at 07:13

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You must call GPS only then you need to get location. Because it get many energy from your device.

The small tutorial to use GPS is here http://www.hrupin.com/2011/04/06/android-gps-using-how-to-get-current-location-example

Hope it is useful for you.

answered Jun 21 '11 at 07:13

ihrupin

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I need it in the beginning. So should I get the location in oncreate or onstart? – Karan Jun 21 '11 at 07:19
In this case you must run GPS in onStart – ihrupin Jun 21 '11 at 07:22

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:48

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you can call your gps location class from onCreate.and then do your http request in onLocationChanged(Location location) of LocationListner.

here is the good example for gps. What is the simplest and most robust way to get the user's current location on Android?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:48

Community

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answered Jun 21 '11 at 07:22

Hitendra

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 21 '11 at 07:22

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when onstart() is called your activity is visible to the user but when onCreate() is called your activity is being Initialized.... My suggestion would be to call gps in onCreate and http request in a seperate thread.

answered Jun 21 '11 at 07:22

Abhay Kumar

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Android : Where to call GPS : onCreate or onStart?

4 Answers4