Any iOS or Android devs here?

I have a question, that I hope you will answer:

It is possible for an app to log the users location, say every half hour, while the app is running in the background AND the screen of the device is locked?

Yes it is, just relaunch the app on memory clean

Yes... on both.
With iOS make sure your app declares itself as using location in the background.
Then, the location update method in the app will still perform. Don't abuse it with a call to an API every time... you will get rejected. I don't remember the specifics, but it is to execute within a very small amount of time.

Thanks guys!

When did devRant turned into stackoverflow.com?

And the answer is of course yes in both of them. How could RunKeeper or runtstic log your run if not?

It may come as a surprise to you, but I do not use those apps, so I can't tell you how or if they work when the screen is locked. A quick search on Google reveals a few problems with GPS and locked device screens though.

Sorry for asking my question here, but unlike Stackoverflow I got a quick, short and precise answer answer without taking a major detour through every theoretical approach to the problem possible. I'll investigate this later...

And that's exactly what I needed to move on with this wild business idea that suddenly popped up...

Have a great weekend!

@lewdogg yes. I will add that in mobile devices it is always better to batch API calls (if network access is involved)

@anon81 just imagine someone running while having to keep the screen unlocked.

Good to know you got your answer quickly.

I have been out from devRant for some weeks and now that I am using it again, I can see many people asking questions. You are not the only one. Excuse me if that annoyed you. It wasnt intentional.

@kekkyojin no hard feelings at all! Maybe questions could be tagged "QandA" and then only shown by searching for that tag?

@dfox

Uhh.... Google always knows where you are and where you've been?

https://google.com/maps/timeline/