Android: Simple way to make a geofence?

Question

I'm new to Android development and am creating an app that allows a User to create a Geo fence around a specific location for reminders. For example: Making a geofence around a grocery store to remind the user as he enters to pick up Orange Juice.

Does anyone know of a tutorial that could help in developing something like this?

Answer 1

AFAIK there are no tutorials for geofencing, but it's pretty simple (assuming you want a circular fence).

• This tutorial will tell you how to get the user's location
• Any of these links will show you how to calculate the distance between their current location and the centerpoint for their fence
• Calculate their distance from the center at regular intervals. I'd let them set the interval through a settings screen and start with a default around five minutes because anything more than that is a hefty battery drain. Store that distance every time you get it.
• If their last distance compared to their new distance crosses the boundary, perform your action. For instance, I worked on an app that would alert a parent if the child left a friend's house or arrived at school.

Answer 2

You can use the new GeoFence class released at Google IO 2013:

http://developer.android.com/reference/com/google/android/gms/location/Geofence.html

Answer 3

I´ve found this simple and working example

http://www.javacodegeeks.com/2011/01/android-proximity-alerts-tutorial.html

Answer 4

An new API called Proxim.io was recently developed that serves your purpose. The website is www.proxim.io. Here is a quote from the developer documentation:

Proxim.io is a platform for delivering relevant messages to your application users. Messages that are delivered based on real-time location, topics of interest, and geo-triggers. Messages can be delivered to a device via Push, or can be routed to a software system through an API (Web Events).