Android: Location Permissions

Depending on the Android operating system being used, there are different location permission settings that can impact Avenza Maps.  This article will help outline the different permissions and settings required to ensure that all features within the app that rely on location permissions continue to work correctly.

If you are experiencing any difficulty after adjusting the settings accordingly, please don't hesitate to reach out to our Support team using the form at the top of the page!

Android 6, 7 and 8

Android 6, 7, 8, and 9 all share the same dialog and functionality in regards to background permissions. Upon requesting access to "Location", "Storage", or "Camera", the Android OS will issue a pop-up asking if you want to "Allow" or "Deny".

If you select "Deny", every request for location within the app will issue another notification. This one will have the same "Deny’" / "Allow" options but will have a checkbox saying “Don’t ask again”.

The app will continue checking for permissions EVERY time until either these permissions are allowed OR the user requests that Avenza Maps not ask again for permissions.

Upon selecting "Don’t ask again" (and ONLY upon selecting this checkbox) the system will stop sending permission dialogs and the user will not have access to the specified permission. Until it is enabled in Settings > Apps > Avenza Maps > Permissions. We have an in-app message shown to the user in such a case where the system will not again request permission.

Android 10

With Android 10, the initial dialog that is presented to users has changed in that the platform now only grants foreground permission. The difference can be seen in the text that is shown to the users. The two options that they are now presented with are “Allow only while using the app” and “Deny”

Allow only while the app is in use:

• Grants foreground permission to the app. For tools such as tracking or navigation that require background access, a prompt will appear asking for permission when these tools are launched.

Deny:

• Denies the specified permission

The app will continue checking for permissions EVERY time until either these permissions are allowed OR the user requests Avenza Maps to not ask again for permissions. If a user were to launch a tool that requires background access (such as Tracking or Geofencing) then we would issue a message asking users to allow location access. Upon clicking this a different system prompt will be issued, giving users control over allowing background access.

After clicking ‘Allow’ the user is shown the following dialog.

Clicking:

“Allow all the time”

• grants the user permanent background access for Avenza Maps.

“Keep while-in-use access”

• Keeps settings as is, where the app will not grant access to background permissions (note: Tools such as Tracking / Navigation will not work)

“Keep and don’t ask again”

• Keeps settings as is, will not issue further permission prompts

Upon forcing the OS to never ask again (either in the above dialog or after clicking ‘Deny’) we are unable to launch any future dialogs. The user will need to manually update their permissions through Settings > Apps > Avenza Maps > Permissions. We have an in-app message shown to the user in such a case where the system will not again request permission.

Android 11

Android 11 further changed the way that permissions work. Again, there is no way to grant background permissions from the initial dialog, but now there is a new option to only grant location access as a one-time use.

Now, the user is prompted with three options to choose for access to permissions.

“While using the app”:

• This grants the user foreground permissions which will remain in place after the user closes / re-opens the app

“Only this time”:

• This grants the user foreground permissions which will remain in place for only one use of the app

“Deny”:

• Denies the specified permission

When the user launches a tool that requires background access they are shown the same screen in past versions, specifying that AM requires access to location data. The difference is that now, we are unable to specify location access for the user. Instead, we direct them to the settings where they can enable their preferred location access for the app.

One of two settings will automatically be selected depending on what was set on launch.

• If the user selected “While using the app” > “Allow only while using the app” will be selected
• If the user selected “Only this time” > “Ask every time” will be selected

In order to grant permanent access to background locations, the user needs to select “Allow all the time” on this screen.

**NOTE: For Camera / Storage access Android 10 / 11 functions the same. The difference between the two platforms is in background permissions (which we use for location tools such as Tracking / Navigation**