Platform Differences

The plugin provides a unified API across platforms. Some features are platform-specific by nature — this page maps what's available where.

Methods

Method availability by platform
Feature	iOS	Android	Web
`configure()`	✅	✅	✅
`start()`	✅	✅	✅
`stop()`	✅	✅	✅
`getState()`	✅	✅	✅
`getCurrentPosition()`	✅	✅	✅
`checkPermissions()`	✅	✅	✅
`requestPermissions()`	✅	✅	✅
`getVersion()`	✅	✅	✅
`addGeofence()`	✅	✅	❌
`addGeofences()`	✅	✅	❌
`removeGeofence()`	✅	✅	❌
`removeAllGeofences()`	✅	✅	❌
`getGeofences()`	✅	✅	❌
`checkBatteryOptimization()`	❌	✅	❌
`requestBatteryOptimization()`	❌	✅	❌

Events

Event availability by platform
Feature	iOS	Android	Web
`onLocation`	✅	✅	✅
`onHeartbeat`	✅	✅	✅
`onProviderChange`	✅	✅	❌
`onHttp`	✅	✅	❌
`onDebug`	✅	✅	❌
`onBatteryWarning`	❌	✅	❌
`onAccuracyWarning`	✅	❌	❌
`onMockLocation`	❌	✅	❌
`onPermissionRationale`	❌	✅	❌
`onTrialExpired`	✅	✅	❌
`onGeofence`	✅	✅	❌

Behavioral Differences

Background Execution

iOS: Uses Background Location Mode, the system may throttle updates when the app is suspended. Significant Location Change (SLC) is used as a fallback to relaunch the app.

Android: Uses a Foreground Service with a persistent notification. No throttling — as long as the service runs, updates flow continuously.

Heartbeat Timer

iOS: Uses a background-safe timer. The system may delay callbacks depending on Background App Refresh state.

Android: Uses Handler.postDelayed in the foreground service — precise timing.

Permissions

iOS: "Always" permission via requestAlwaysAuthorization. Users may grant "While Using" first, then promote later.

Android: ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION + ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION must be requested separately. POST_NOTIFICATIONS permission required for Android 13+.

Geofencing

iOS: Uses CLCircularRegion. Monitoring persists across app restarts. System limit: 20 regions per app.

Android: Uses GeofencingClient. The plugin re-registers geofences after device reboot. Limit: 100 per app, plugin enforces 20.

Web (Development Fallback)

The web implementation uses navigator.geolocation.watchPosition. It supports basic location tracking and heartbeats for development and testing. Geofencing, HTTP posting, and native services are not available on the web platform.