Service not available while calling geoCoder.getFromLocation()

API will throw a "Service not Available exception" if such service is unavailable on the device. Use method isPresent() to check for the existence of the service.

See also: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/location/Geocoder.html

Restart the device and it will fix the issue.

Workaround using direct access to google maps:

    public static LatLng getLocationFromString(String address)
        throws JSONException {

    HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet(
            "http://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address="
                    + URLEncoder.encode(address, "UTF-8") + "&ka&sensor=false");
    HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();
    HttpResponse response;
    StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();

    try {
        response = client.execute(httpGet);
        HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
        InputStream stream = entity.getContent();
        int b;
        while ((b = stream.read()) != -1) {
            stringBuilder.append((char) b);
        }
    } catch (ClientProtocolException e) {
    } catch (IOException e) {
    }

    JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(stringBuilder.toString());

    double lng = ((JSONArray) jsonObject.get("results")).getJSONObject(0)
            .getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location")
            .getDouble("lng");

    double lat = ((JSONArray) jsonObject.get("results")).getJSONObject(0)
            .getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location")
            .getDouble("lat");

    return new LatLng(lat, lng);
}

    public static List<Address> getStringFromLocation(double lat, double lng)
        throws ClientProtocolException, IOException, JSONException {

    String address = String
            .format(Locale.ENGLISH,                                 "http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?latlng=%1$f,%2$f&sensor=true&language="
                            + Locale.getDefault().getCountry(), lat, lng);
    HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet(address);
    HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();
    HttpResponse response;
    StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();

    List<Address> retList = null;

    response = client.execute(httpGet);
    HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
    InputStream stream = entity.getContent();
    int b;
    while ((b = stream.read()) != -1) {
        stringBuilder.append((char) b);
    }

    JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(stringBuilder.toString());

    retList = new ArrayList<Address>();

    if ("OK".equalsIgnoreCase(jsonObject.getString("status"))) {
        JSONArray results = jsonObject.getJSONArray("results");
        for (int i = 0; i < results.length(); i++) {
            JSONObject result = results.getJSONObject(i);
            String indiStr = result.getString("formatted_address");
            Address addr = new Address(Locale.getDefault());
            addr.setAddressLine(0, indiStr);
            retList.add(addr);
        }
    }

    return retList;
}

The actual reason why Geocoder was not working is because the NetworkLocator was killed in action. Probably due to less memory or maybe you used the Task Manager to kill all services?

I'm not sure but this is a guess. I've seen this before. Last year I wrote a reconnect mechanism to load the NetworkLocator.apk and bind to the GeocoderService. I think this change has not merged into JellyBean so this problem persists.

It can be only solved by reboot. (The NetworkLocationService is loaded at boot)

Edit: You won't see this problem in JBP or KK, this service is moved into the playstore app .