---
title: "Android location permissions"
slug: "android-sdk-location"
updated: 2026-06-09T21:40:29Z
published: 2026-06-09T21:40:29Z
canonical: "docs.xtremepush.com/android-sdk-location"
stale: true
---
> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.xtremepush.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Android location permissions
Enable support for geofences and iBeacons
Location services will allow you to add geofence or iBeacon regions related to your app on the Xtremepush platform. This allows you to analyse your app audiences, visits to your locations and trigger notifications when they enter/exit/dwell at your locations.
## Enable location services
In the standard [Integration of the Android SDK](/documentation/docs/android-sdk-integration), Location Services are switched off. To use location features you first need to add the permissions to your app by adding the following to your app manifest file:
```java
```
Then you can turn on the location feature by calling `setEnableLocations(true)` when initialising the Xtremepush SDK in your activities' `onCreate` method:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableLocations(true)
.create(this);
```
To turn on geofence and iBeacon monitoring individually, you can instead set the following options:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableGeo(true)
.setEnableBeacons(true)
.create(this);
```
## Fine tuning Location Services
The methods listed in this section can be used to fine tune the Xtremepush location services.
We have tested many variations of settings for accuracy and impact on battery. The following settings represent the default values for each of these methods (explained further below), which we have found give very good accuracy for geofences and iBeacon with a low impact on battery.
```java
.setEnableLocations(true)
.setLocationUpdateTimeout(30)
.setBeaconLocationForegroundTimeout(4.0)
.setBeaconLocationBackgroundTimeout(4.0)
.setBeaconForegroundScanDuration(2.1)
.setBeaconBackgroundScanDuration(2.1)
```
### Location update timeout
The `setLocationUpdateTimeout()` method is used to set the location update timeout, which can improve the accuracy of detected entry and exit events from geofence regions. By default, a location check will be performed every 30 seconds.
Setting a value will cause an additional GPS check at the interval specified in seconds. For example calling `setLocationUpdateTimeout(10)` will perform an additional check every 10 seconds. Such a value will achieve very good geofence detection accuracy with some cost to battery life.
This parameter is configurable so developers can find a trade off between accuracy and the impact on battery.
To set an additional GPS check at an interval of 10 seconds you would make the following call when initialising the SDK:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableLocations(true)
.setLocationUpdateTimeout(10)
.create(this);
```
### Low power mode
The `setLowPowerGeo()` method can be used to disable the additional location checks described directly above.
If this method is called with a `true` parameter then no additional location checks will be performed. This supersedes any usage of the `setLocationUpdateTimeout()` method.
Location checks are enabled by default. If disabled by passing `true` to this method, they can be re-enabled by calling the method again with a `false` parameter.
To enable low-power geofence mode you would make the following call when initialising the SDK:
```plaintext
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableGeo(true)
.setLowPowerGeo(true)
.create(this);
```
### iBeacon scan timeout
The `setBeaconLocationForegroundTimeout()` and `setBeaconLocationBackgroundTimeout()` methods are used to set the interval between the end of one iBeacon scan and the start of another, in seconds. It can be used to vary the frequency of scans for iBeacons. This parameter is configurable so developers can find a trade-off between the resolution of beacon events and the impact on battery. Setting a lower value can improve the speed of detecting enter and exit events from beacon-fenced regions with some impact on battery.
The two methods allow the separate configuration of the iBeacon scanning interval for when the app is open in the foreground or running in the background. This allows developers to reduce the frequency of iBeacon scans if the app is not open in order to save battery life if desired.
The default value is 4 seconds interval between scans in both foreground and background mode. To manually turn on the Xtremepush iBeacon scanning services and set the beacon location scan interval to 4 seconds, you would make the following call when initialising the SDK:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableBeacons(true)
.setBeaconLocationForegroundTimeout(4.0)
.setBeaconLocationBackgroundTimeout(4.0)
.create(this);
```
### iBeacon scan duration
The `setBeaconForegroundScanDuration()` and `setBeaconBackgroundScanDuration()` methods are used to set the duration of each iBeacon scan, in seconds. This parameter is configurable so developers can find a trade-off between accuracy and the impact on battery. Setting a higher value can improve the accuracy of beacon detection with some impact on battery.
The two methods allow the separate configuration of the iBeacon scanning duration for when the app is open in the foreground or running in the background. This allows developers to reduce the duration of iBeacon scans if the app is not open in order to save battery life if desired.
The default value 2.1 seconds scan duration in both foreground and background mode. To manually turn on the Xtremepush iBeacon scanning services and set the beacon location scan durations to 2.1 seconds, you would make the following call when initialising the SDK:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableBeacons(true)
.setBeaconForegroundScanDuration(2.1)
.setBeaconBackgroundScanDuration(2.1)
.create(this);
```
## Location Services Dialogs
The methods in this section can be used to override the default settings for the runtime permission requests on Android 6 and for turning on device location services.
### Location permission request
iBeacon and location scanning both require a location runtime permission request, as of Android 6. By default, runtime permission requests are enabled in the SDK, for applications using location services and running on Android 6+. If this functionality is not desired, then `setRequestPermissions(false)` can be used to disable these permission requests:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableLocations(true)
.setRequestPermissions(false)
.create(this);
```
The same method can also be used to customise and localise the text in the request permission rationale dialog. This dialog shows if the user initially denies the permission request and then reopens the app. The text in this dialog provides more context around the permission request and then allows the user to reopen the permission request again. The `setRequestPermissions()` method also takes two additional string parameters, which can be used to customise the title and message text of the dialog:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableLocations(true)
.setRequestPermissions(true, "title", "message")
.create(this);
```
### Device location settings
There is an option in the Android device settings to turn location services on or off. If this option is turned off, none of the apps running on the device will be able to check the location of the device itself.
If location services are enabled in the Xtremepush SDK then it will check to see whether location services are enabled. If location services are disabled on the device, the SDK will launch a prompt asking the user to enable them in the device settings. This prompt can be disabled if this functionality is not required:
```java
mPushConnector = new PushConnector.Builder("XPUSH_APP_KEY", "GOOGLE_SENDER_ID")
.setEnableLocations(true)
.setEnableLocationDialog(false)
.create(this);
```
## Not using location
> [!NOTE]
> SDK versions before 9.0.0
>
> If you are using version of the SDK before version 9.0.0 this is how you would have previously stopped your app from requesting location permission by adding the following to your manifest file:
```java
```