Background service with location listener in android

I know I am posting this answer little late, but I felt it is worth using Google's fuse location provider service to get the current location.

Main features of this api are :

1.Simple APIs: Lets you choose your accuracy level as well as power consumption.

2.Immediately available: Gives your apps immediate access to the best, most recent location.

3.Power-efficiency: It chooses the most efficient way to get the location with less power consumptions

4.Versatility: Meets a wide range of needs, from foreground uses that need highly accurate location to background uses that need periodic location updates with negligible power impact.

It is flexible in while updating in location also. If you want current location only when your app starts then you can use getLastLocation(GoogleApiClient) method.

If you want to update your location continuously then you can use requestLocationUpdates(GoogleApiClient,LocationRequest, LocationListener)

You can find a very nice blog about fuse location here and google doc for fuse location also can be found here.

Update

According to developer docs starting from Android O they have added new limits on background location.

If your app is running in the background, the location system service computes a new location for your app only a few times each hour. This is the case even when your app is requesting more frequent location updates. However if your app is running in the foreground, there is no change in location sampling rates compared to Android 7.1.1 (API level 25).

First you need to create a Service. In that Service, create a class extending LocationListener. For this, use the following code snippet of Service:

public class LocationService extends Service {
public static final String BROADCAST_ACTION = "Hello World";
private static final int TWO_MINUTES = 1000 * 60 * 2;
public LocationManager locationManager;
public MyLocationListener listener;
public Location previousBestLocation = null;

Intent intent;
int counter = 0;

@Override
public void onCreate() {
    super.onCreate();
    intent = new Intent(BROADCAST_ACTION);
}

@Override
public void onStart(Intent intent, int startId) {
    locationManager = (LocationManager) getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
    listener = new MyLocationListener();
    if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
        return;
    }
    locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, 4000, 0, (LocationListener) listener);
    locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 4000, 0, listener);
}

@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent)
{
    return null;
}

protected boolean isBetterLocation(Location location, Location currentBestLocation) {
    if (currentBestLocation == null) {
        // A new location is always better than no location
        return true;
    }

    // Check whether the new location fix is newer or older
    long timeDelta = location.getTime() - currentBestLocation.getTime();
    boolean isSignificantlyNewer = timeDelta > TWO_MINUTES;
    boolean isSignificantlyOlder = timeDelta < -TWO_MINUTES;
    boolean isNewer = timeDelta > 0;

    // If it's been more than two minutes since the current location, use the new location
    // because the user has likely moved
    if (isSignificantlyNewer) {
        return true;
        // If the new location is more than two minutes older, it must be worse
    } else if (isSignificantlyOlder) {
        return false;
    }

    // Check whether the new location fix is more or less accurate
    int accuracyDelta = (int) (location.getAccuracy() - currentBestLocation.getAccuracy());
    boolean isLessAccurate = accuracyDelta > 0;
    boolean isMoreAccurate = accuracyDelta < 0;
    boolean isSignificantlyLessAccurate = accuracyDelta > 200;

    // Check if the old and new location are from the same provider
    boolean isFromSameProvider = isSameProvider(location.getProvider(),
            currentBestLocation.getProvider());

    // Determine location quality using a combination of timeliness and accuracy
    if (isMoreAccurate) {
        return true;
    } else if (isNewer && !isLessAccurate) {
        return true;
    } else if (isNewer && !isSignificantlyLessAccurate && isFromSameProvider) {
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}



/** Checks whether two providers are the same */
private boolean isSameProvider(String provider1, String provider2) {
    if (provider1 == null) {
        return provider2 == null;
    }
    return provider1.equals(provider2);
}



@Override
public void onDestroy() {
    // handler.removeCallbacks(sendUpdatesToUI);     
    super.onDestroy();
    Log.v("STOP_SERVICE", "DONE");
    locationManager.removeUpdates(listener);
}

public static Thread performOnBackgroundThread(final Runnable runnable) {
    final Thread t = new Thread() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            try {
                runnable.run();
            } finally {

            }
        }
    };
    t.start();
    return t;
}
public class MyLocationListener implements LocationListener
{

    public void onLocationChanged(final Location loc)
    {
        Log.i("*****", "Location changed");
        if(isBetterLocation(loc, previousBestLocation)) {
            loc.getLatitude();
            loc.getLongitude();
            intent.putExtra("Latitude", loc.getLatitude());
            intent.putExtra("Longitude", loc.getLongitude());
            intent.putExtra("Provider", loc.getProvider());
            sendBroadcast(intent);

        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {

    }

    public void onProviderDisabled(String provider)
    {
        Toast.makeText( getApplicationContext(), "Gps Disabled", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT ).show();
    }


    public void onProviderEnabled(String provider)
    {
        Toast.makeText( getApplicationContext(), "Gps Enabled", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
}

Add this Service any where in your project, the way you want! :)