Can Unity do this? (Background GPS triggers)

Question

Hello, Haven't tried Unity yet and the answers on the matter that I found on the forums are non-definitive in my opinion.

I just spent a month using another cross app development framework to discover it has no way to let an app in background keep monitoring gps positions and behave accordingly: the gps tracking and listening to events ends as soon as it is put in background. (yes, my fault, I should have checked it first). Basically, it is a simple touring app, I don't want the user to always keep the smartphone in their hand but rather enjoy the surroundings, then when they get to sensible hotspots, I make the device vibrate or play an audio file, or a notification ... the crux is, phone is in their pocket, possibly locked, and the listening for gps location or other triggers needs to be made in background.

So, now wiser and before I use up another month to see if it is possible or not by myself - is there a definitive answer on that? Some say that the app needs to be flagged as run in background BUT that that setting only works for web player and PC ... others say it is possible.

So, is it possible or not? the answer to this question would make me switch over to Unity over the previous framework, so it is vital for me to have a definitive answer, even better if there were a Proof of Concept app or code that I could try myself to see if it fits my bill ....

Many thanks!

Answer 1

Answer by splitpete · Jul 24, 2017 at 07:08 PM

This project was done in Unity and used background location and audio. That said, native code was needed for both iOS and Android in order to make it work.

https://www.motive.io/case-studies/ubc-gps-tour-app/

Add comment · Share

Answer 2

Answer by olegekbondar · Apr 30, 2017 at 05:23 PM

check here: http://www.devhelp.me/unity-background-location-service-step-by-step/

Add comment · Show 1 · Share

Khariton · Jun 14, 2017 at 11:13 AM 0

Share

I don't seem to be able to make it work. I am only interested in the Android part. How do I remove any iOS dependencies as I don't have XCode, and am running all on windows?

Answer 3

Answer by Khariton · Jul 25, 2017 at 05:20 PM

Thanks @splitpete , that's a very interesting use case. what was the part that needed native code ?

Add comment · Show 2 · Share

splitpete · Jul 25, 2017 at 05:44 PM 0

Share

The background location/audio part. I suppose it doesn't answer the original question but it is an example of a Unity app which calls native code to enable that functionality.

Khariton · Jul 26, 2017 at 08:41 AM 0

Share

Well, it kind of does ... I read it as "it's not possible to do background geofencing without native code". Thanks

Can Unity do this? (Background GPS triggers)

3 Replies

Your answer

Follow this Question

Related Questions