• In Android 8: Apps in the background can only retrieve the user's location a few times per hour.

• Before Android 10: Location permission is a single resource, and the application can be used everywhere with only one authorization (foreground and background).

• In Android 10: The background location becomes an independent resource. In addition to the foreground request, the application must explicitly request this permission.

• In Android 11: It is not possible to request background location permission at the same time as others, and the application must request it separately. In addition, requesting this permission will not prompt the user immediately like other permissions, but will take the user to the Settings page so that the user can update the permission level.

Before Android 10

Location permission only needs to be requested once, and apps in the foreground and background can be used. The user has only 2 options: authorize or not authorize.

@TargetApi(28)
fun Context.checkLocationPermissionAPI28(locationRequestCode : Int) {
    if (!checkSinglePermission(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) ||
        !checkSinglePermission(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION)) {
        val permList = arrayOf(
            Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION,
            Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
        )
        requestPermissions(permList, locationRequestCode)
    }
}

private fun Context.checkSinglePermission(permission: String) : Boolean {
    return ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, permission) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED
}

Android 10

In this version, ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION is added, you can request this permission to obtain both the foreground and background permissions, like the following:

@TargetApi(29)
private fun Context.checkLocationPermissionAPI29(locationRequestCode : Int) {
    if (checkSinglePermission(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) &&
        checkSinglePermission(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) &&
        checkSinglePermission(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION)) return
    val permList = arrayOf(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, 
                           Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION,
                           Manifest.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION)
    requestPermissions(permList, locationRequestCode)
    
}

private fun Context.checkSinglePermission(permission: String) : Boolean {
    return ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, permission) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED
}

Similarly, if the foreground permission (ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION or ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) is requested, the Android operating system will automatically add the background permission (ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION) to the request. It is similar to the declaration of , whether ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION or ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION is declared, ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION will be added during the installation process.

The user now has three options: background (anytime), foreground (only during APP use), and reject.

Android 11

In addition to the above, developers also need to add some other steps.

There are two scenarios here. The first one is when only requesting permission from the front desk. In this case, we usually use ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION or ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION. However, the pop-up window for requesting authorization is slightly different from the previous one. In Android 11, Google added an option Only this time.

Please note that even if ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION is added to the list of permissions to request, the system will ignore it.

The second situation is that the application also needs background permission. For this, you must prepare your own dialog box and use a clear message to explain the use of the background location.

When the user agrees, he will be directed to the application settings page, where he can choose the permission level he wants to grant.

@TargetApi(30)
private fun Context.checkBackgroundLocationPermissionAPI30(backgroundLocationRequestCode: Int) {
    if (checkSinglePermission(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION)) return
    AlertDialog.Builder(this)
        .setTitle(R.string.background_location_permission_title)
        .setMessage(R.string.background_location_permission_message)
        .setPositiveButton(R.string.yes) { _,_ ->
            // this request will take user to Application's Setting page
            requestPermissions(arrayOf(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION), backgroundLocationRequestCode)
        }  
        .setNegativeButton(R.string.no) { dialog,_ ->
            dialog.dismiss()
        } 
        .create()
        .show()
}

In Android 11, we have 4 permission levels for location information.

When the user selects Allow all the time, the APP has the permission to use location information in the background.