Solving the Expo Location Crash on Android: A Guide to Properly Navigating with Fetched Coordinates

Discover how to resolve the `Expo Location Crash on Android` issue when navigating to a map view after fetching location coordinates. Follow our step-by-step guide to ensure smooth operation on your React Native application.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/76871153/ asked by the user 'daniel sas' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/14924191/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/76872086/ provided by the user 'Fiston Emmanuel' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/12431576/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Expo location crash on android when navigating with fetched coord navigation payload

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/licensing
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Expo Location Crash on Android: What You Need to Know

If you are developing a React Native application using Expo and you’ve encountered issues with your app crashing on Android when navigating to a map view, you're not alone. This problem often arises when trying to fetch coordinates for the user's location but results in unexpected crashes. While your application may work seamlessly on iOS, the Android version behaves differently due to underlying differences in how data is handled.

In this guide, we will troubleshoot the common issues related to navigating into a map view page with fetched coordinates, particularly focusing on ensuring the correct types are used when passing these coordinates.

The Problem: Android Crashing When Fetching Coordinates

When attempting to navigate to a map view after fetching the coordinates from Expo’s location services, many developers have reported that the app crashes specifically on Android devices. This issue appears to stem from the way data is serialized and handled by React Navigation and the Google Maps SDK on Android.

Identifying the Cause

Data serialization: React Navigation serializes parameters passed between screens, converting them into strings.

Google Maps SDK expectation: The Google Map SDK for Android expects latitude and longitude values as FLOATs (decimal numbers) rather than serialized STRING values.

This mismatch can lead to crashes when the app tries to navigate with incorrect data types.

The Solution: Always Cast Coordinates to FLOAT

To prevent crashes and ensure your coordinates are properly recognized by the Google Maps SDK on Android, it's imperative to cast values to FLOAT before using them for navigation. Below is a step-by-step guide to implementing this solution effectively.

Step 1: Update Your Map Component

Let’s modify the Map component to ensure that the latitude and longitude are parsed as FLOATs. Here’s how you can update your code:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Adjust Permission Handling

Ensure that you handle permissions correctly to get the user's location before navigating. Here's an example of how to manage location permissions:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion: Smooth Navigation with Proper Configuration

By ensuring that your latitude and longitude values are cast to FLOATs, you can avoid crashes on Android when navigating to your map view. Always remember:

React Navigation serializes parameters as strings.

Google Maps SDK requires coordinates as FLOAT.

Properly handle permissions to access the user's location.

With these adjustments, your React Native app should perform reliably on both iOS and Android, providing a seamless user experience. Happy coding!

Видео Solving the Expo Location Crash on Android: A Guide to Properly Navigating with Fetched Coordinates канала vlogize