hardware.location.gps I have to give additional permissions??? What additionally must exist?

[Leonidas_S_]

I accepted this email.. I have to give additional permissions??? What additionally must exist?

from Google >>>

Hello Google Play Developer,

We're writing to let you know that the apps listed at the end of this email may be affected by an upcoming platform change.

Action required: If your app requires GPS hardware to operate properly, you will need to explicitly add the "android.hardware.location.gps" uses-feature to your manifest.

What’s changing

We’re making a change on October 15th, 2016 that will affect apps targeting API version 21 (Android 5.0, Lollipop) or higher that use ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION but don't explicitly have the "android.hardware.location.gps" uses-feature. Going forward, these apps will be available to install on devices that don't have GPS hardware. In most cases this won't be an issue since Wi-Fi and Cell-ID based location provides high enough fidelity for the typical operation of these apps. However, any apps that require GPS hardware, such as GPS navigators, should explicitly add the "android.hardware.location.gps" uses-feature to their manifest.

If your app requires GPS to function properly and you do not include android.hardware.location.gps in your manifest declaration, your users may have a poor app experience.

Also, if you’re using the fused location provider and wish to receive the most accurate location samples from GPS (i.e. with PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY), you must include the "android.hardware.location.gps" feature in your app’s manifest to ensure that Google Play only distributes your app to devices with GPS sensors.

You can read more about this change in the Android Developers Help Center.

Regards,

The Google Play Team

Up to 20 affected app(s) and version(s) are listed below. If you have more than 20 apps in your catalogue, make sure to check each app for this issue.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

These two threads answer the question quite well:

• https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2211532
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/39603270/when-do-i-need-android-hardware-location-gps-and-android-hardware-location-netwo

It appears that the cordova-plugin-geolocation plugin.xml file has not yet been updated to include the required permissions. You can modify that plugin to make it work using lines #2 thru #4 in the code fragment that "risingj" provides in the adobe thread. Note, this means you must:

• download the cordova-plugin-geolocation plugin to someplace OTHER THAN the plugins directory in your project
• add the lines needed for your situation, like "risingj" shows in his example (in the already existing <android> section of that plugin's plugin.xml file)
• and then do a "local import" of that plugin into your project

You could also create a "dummy plugin" to do the same thing, which does not require modifying the Cordova geo plugin (as described above). See the following for help on create a single file custom plugin:

• https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/intel-xdk/topic/680309
• https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/faqs/general#android-manifest
• https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/faqs/cordova#add-cordova-resource

Note that using the "dummy plugin" approach is an especially good idea if you are using some other geo plugin, or using the geo features that are built into the device webview.