Geolocation API on the iPhone

javascript iphone geolocation gps

53,711

Solution 1

This code worked for me -- on the iPhone web browser Safari and as an added bonus it even worked with FireFox 3.5 on my laptop! The Geolocation API Specification is part of the W3 Consortium’s standards But be warned: it hasn’t been finalized as yet.

_{(source: bemoko.com)}
_{(source: bemoko.com)}

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD XHTML Mobile 1.0//EN" "http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/xhtml-mobile10.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>Geolocation API Demo</title>
<meta content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;" name="viewport"/>
<script>
function successHandler(location) {
    var message = document.getElementById("message"), html = [];
    html.push("<img width='256' height='256' src='http://maps.google.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=", location.coords.latitude, ",", location.coords.longitude, "&markers=size:small|color:blue|", location.coords.latitude, ",", location.coords.longitude, "&zoom=14&size=256x256&sensor=false' />");
    html.push("<p>Longitude: ", location.coords.longitude, "</p>");
    html.push("<p>Latitude: ", location.coords.latitude, "</p>");
    html.push("<p>Accuracy: ", location.coords.accuracy, " meters</p>");
    message.innerHTML = html.join("");
}
function errorHandler(error) {
    alert('Attempt to get location failed: ' + error.message);
}
navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(successHandler, errorHandler);
</script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="message">Location unknown</div>
</body>
</html>

Solution 2

Since iPhone OS 3.0 Safari supports getting geo location. See: Safari Reference Library:Getting Geographic Locations On the other side W3C Geo API specification is still in draft.

Solution 3

I updated MyWhirledView's code. Works great on my iOS 4.3 device. Google no longer requires an API key to access their static map library.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD XHTML Mobile 1.0//EN" "http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/xhtml-mobile10.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>iPhone 4.0 geolocation demo</title>
<meta content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;" name="viewport"/>
<script>
function handler(location) {
var message = document.getElementById("message");
message.innerHTML ="<img src='http://maps.google.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=" + location.coords.latitude + "," + location.coords.longitude + "&zoom=14&size=256x256&maptype=roadmap&sensor=false&markers=color:blue%7Clabel:ABC%7C" + location.coords.latitude + "," + location.coords.longitude + "' />";



message.innerHTML+="<p>Longitude: " + location.coords.longitude + "</p>";
message.innerHTML+="<p>Accuracy: " + location.coords.accuracy + "</p>";
message.innerHTML+="<p>Latitude: " + location.coords.latitude + "</p>";



}
navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(handler);
</script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="message">Location unknown</div>
</body>
</html>

53,711

Author by

Codebeef

Freelance Rails and iOS developer based in Manchester, UK. Developer behind Bouldr and it's iphone app. More projects available on my site, along with my portfolio and a little more about me. If you have a project you'd like helping out with, I'm available for freelance work.

Updated on June 16, 2020

Comments

Codebeef almost 4 years

Does anyone know whether the iPhone supports or will soon support the W3C Geolocation specification?

I'm looking to build an app for mobile users, but rather than spend the time developing apps for every different platform (iPhone, Android, etc...), I'd much prefer to create a web app that makes use of the W3C Standard.
hendry about 15 years

W3C Geolocation I believe is supported by Iphone's impending 3.0 upgrade.
Mehmet about 14 years

Is there any development on this issue?
user2471801 about 13 years

is this android or rim compatible?
Wrikken almost 13 years

I can confirm this is compatible with the newer versions of Opera too (well, at least the desktop version, haven't got it on my mobile).
SSH This almost 11 years

Thank you for the code! It worked for my on iPhone 5 iOS 6 , after I removed the XML declaration on the first line