what it is, how it has improved and how you can use it

Let’s tell you what it is and how to use the function Approximate location of Android 16. This is a privacy option that helps you use applications that need to know where you are, but without giving away the exact point where you are.

This is a function that in the new version of the operating system has been significantly improved so that there are no cases where they can know where you are precisely as well. We’re going to explain what approximate location is, how it has improved in Android 16, and then we’ll tell you how to use it.

What is Approximate Location

Your mobile applications They need to have access to a series of elements of the mobile to be able to function. For example, an app that allows you to take a photo needs you to grant it permission to access the camera, while those that need to locate you on a map ask for permission to access the location.

The problem with location permission specifically is that by default you give your exact geoposition. And this creates a problem. Perhaps it is enough for the application to know the city or area of ​​the city where you live, but you don’t want it to have to know exactly the street and number where you are.

On Android you have the option to disable precise location and use only the approximate one. The precise option used GPS from your phone’s sensors to triangulate your position within a range of 3 to 50 meters, and the other used A-GPS (Wi-Fi and cell towers) to give a vague estimate of the area where you are in three square kilometers.

On the surface, the paroxymated location should help you hide the exact place you are, but in sparsely populated and populated areas it may fail and end up also exposing a very precise point where you are.

What has been improved about the approximate location

Approximate location didn’t always keep your privacy. If you are in a densely populated area it could hide you well, but in a low-density town or rural area, the approximate location could easily locate you. All this because I couldn’t hide you that much among thousands of people, there are few houses and roads, and the apps could identify your specific location as well.

So that the benefits of approximate location are not so easily canceled in these specific areas, a new function called density-based coarse locations either approximate locations based on density. This allows the system to check population density to take it into account before sharing your location.

This way, if Android detects that you are in a sparsely populated area will send an even less precise location than normal to the application. This way, there won’t be as much difference in the privacy you have when you are using the approximate location in a highly populated area or one that is less populated.

This feature works by adding support for population density providers, which will be provided by the Google Play services that manage the location APIs. Here, the important thing is to know that you won’t have to do anything differentbecause all the procedures will be done within your mobile.

How to use approximate location

There are two ways you can use this feature to use the approximate location. The first is when an app asks you for permission for the first time, displaying a pop-up window where you can choose between precise and approximate location, and choose whether to always use it, not use the location, or while the app is being used.

The other method is to configure it manually in the settings. You have to go to the app section, choose the one you want to manage, and click on the option Permissions. Here, you will be able to manually disable precise location.

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