Location sharing allows users to send a static position or share their real-time location with other participants in a channel. Stream Chat supports both static and live location sharing.
There are two types of location sharing:
Static Location: A one-time location share that does not update over time.
Live Location: A real-time location sharing that updates over time.
The SDK handles location message creation and updates, but location tracking must be implemented by the application using device location services.
The location sharing feature must be activated at the channel level before it can be used. You have two configuration options: activate it for a single channel using configuration overrides, or enable it globally for all channels of a particular type via channel type settings.
// Enabling it for a channelawait channel.updatePartial({ set: { config_overrides: { shared_locations: true, }, },});// Enabling it for a channel typeconst update = await client.updateChannelType("messaging", { shared_locations: true,});
# Enabling it for a channel typeclient.chat.update_channel_type( "messaging", automod="disabled", automod_behavior="flag", max_message_length=5000, shared_locations=True,)
require 'getstream_ruby'Models = GetStream::Generated::Models# Enabling it for a channel typeclient.chat.update_channel_type('messaging', Models::UpdateChannelTypeRequest.new( shared_locations: true))
// Enabling it for a channel type$client->updateChannelType("messaging", new Models\UpdateChannelTypeRequest(sharedLocations: true));
// Enabling it for a channel typeclient.Chat().UpdateChannelType(ctx, "messaging", &getstream.UpdateChannelTypeRequest{ Automod: "disabled", AutomodBehavior: "flag", MaxMessageLength: 5000, SharedLocations: getstream.PtrTo(true),})
// Enabling it for a channel typeawait chat.UpdateChannelTypeAsync("messaging", new UpdateChannelTypeRequest{ SharedLocations = true,});
// Enabling it for a channel typechat.updateChannelType("messaging", UpdateChannelTypeRequest.builder() .automod("disabled") .automodBehavior("flag") .maxMessageLength(5000) .sharedLocations(true) .build()).execute();
/// Get a channel controller for the channel.let channelController = chatClient.channelController(for: ChannelId(type: .messaging, id: "general"))/// Send a message with a static location.let location = LocationInfo(latitude: 10, longitude: 10)channelController.sendStaticLocation(location)/// Alternatively, you can create a new message with a `NewLocationInfo` object and endAt as nil.let newLocation = NewLocationInfo(latitude: 10, longitude: 10, endAt: nil)channelController.createNewMessage(text: "", location: newLocation)
// Send a static location message$client->sendMessage("messaging", "general", new Models\SendMessageRequest( message: new Models\MessageRequest( text: "Message with static location", userID: $userId, sharedLocation: new Models\SharedLocation( createdByDeviceID: "test_device_id", latitude: 37, longitude: -122, ), ),));
channel := client.Chat().Channel("messaging", channelID)// Send a message with a SharedLocation objectchannel.SendMessage(ctx, &getstream.SendMessageRequest{ Message: getstream.MessageRequest{ UserID: getstream.PtrTo(userID), SharedLocation: &getstream.SharedLocation{ Longitude: longitude, Latitude: latitude, CreatedByDeviceID: getstream.PtrTo("test-device"), }, },})
// Create a shared location for the initial messagevar location = new SharedLocation{ Longitude = longitude, Latitude = latitude, EndAt = null, // null for static location CreatedByDeviceID = "test-device",};// Send a message with shared locationawait chat.SendMessageAsync("channel-type", "channel-id", new SendMessageRequest{ Message = new MessageRequest { Text = "Test message for shared location", SharedLocation = location, },});
Live location sharing enables real-time location updates for a specified duration. The SDK manages the location message lifecycle, but your application is responsible for providing location updates.
const channel = client.channel("type", "id");// Send a message with a live location.// Live location differs from the static location by the termination timestamp end_at.channel.sendSharedLocation({ created_by_device_id: "device-id", end_at: "2225-07-22T09:30:12.507Z", latitude: 10, longitude: 10, message_id: "message-id",});
// Start a live location sharing and automatically stops after 10 minutes.val tenMinutesFromNow = Date().apply { time += 10.minutes.inWholeMilliseconds }chatClient.startLiveLocationSharing( cid = "channelType:channelId", latitude = -8.0421, longitude = -34.9351, deviceId = "my-device-id", endAt = tenMinutesFromNow,).enqueue { /* ... */ }
/// Get a channel controller for the channel.let channelController = chatClient.channelController(for: ChannelId(type: .messaging, id: "general"))/// Send a message with a live location with the initial coordinates.let location = LocationInfo(latitude: 10, longitude: 10)let oneMinuteFromNow = Date().addingTimeInterval(60)channelController.startLiveLocationSharing(location, endDate: oneMinuteFromNow)
final initialLocation = LocationCoordinates( latitude: 37.7749, longitude: -122.4194,);// Send a live location message with an end time.final response = await channel.startLiveLocationSharing( location: initialLocation, endSharingAt: DateTime.timestamp().add(Duration(hours: 1)), // 1 hour later createdByDeviceId: 'test_device_id', // Optional);
import datetimefrom getstream.models import MessageRequest, SharedLocation# Send a live location message (with end_at)now = datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc)one_hour_later = now + datetime.timedelta(hours=1)channel = client.chat.channel("messaging", "channel-id")channel.send_message( MessageRequest( text="Message with live location", shared_location=SharedLocation( latitude=37.7749, longitude=-122.4194, created_by_device_id="test_device_id", end_at=one_hour_later, ), user_id=user_id, ))
require 'getstream_ruby'Models = GetStream::Generated::Models# Send a message with a live location (with end_at)channel_id = SecureRandom.uuidresponse = client.chat.send_message('messaging', channel_id, Models::SendMessageRequest.new( message: Models::MessageRequest.new( user_id: user_id, shared_location: Models::SharedLocation.new( created_by_device_id: SecureRandom.uuid, latitude: 40.7128, longitude: -74.0060, end_at: (Time.now + 3600).iso8601 ) )))
// Send a live location message (with end_at)$client->sendMessage("messaging", "general", new Models\SendMessageRequest( message: new Models\MessageRequest( userID: $userId, sharedLocation: new Models\SharedLocation( createdByDeviceID: "test_device_id", latitude: 37, longitude: -122, endAt: new \DateTime("+1 hour"), ), ),));
channel := client.Chat().Channel("messaging", channelID)// Send a message with a SharedLocation object with end_at for live locationt := time.Now().Add(1 * time.Hour)endAt := getstream.Timestamp{Time: &t}channel.SendMessage(ctx, &getstream.SendMessageRequest{ Message: getstream.MessageRequest{ UserID: getstream.PtrTo(userID), SharedLocation: &getstream.SharedLocation{ Longitude: longitude, Latitude: latitude, EndAt: &endAt, CreatedByDeviceID: getstream.PtrTo("test-device"), }, },})
// Create a shared location for live location sharing (with EndAt)var location = new SharedLocation{ Longitude = longitude, Latitude = latitude, EndAt = DateTime.UtcNow.AddHours(1), // Set duration for live location CreatedByDeviceID = "test-device",};// Send a message with shared locationawait chat.SendMessageAsync("channel-type", "channel-id", new SendMessageRequest{ Message = new MessageRequest { Text = "Test message for live location sharing", SharedLocation = location, },});
// Create shared location with end_at for live locationSharedLocation sharedLocation = SharedLocation.builder() .createdByDeviceID(deviceId) .latitude(latitude) .longitude(longitude) .endAt(endAt) .build();// Send message with shared locationMessageRequest messageRequest = MessageRequest.builder() .sharedLocation(sharedLocation) .userID(userId) .build();var response = chat.channel(channelType, channelId) .sendMessage(SendMessageRequest.builder() .message(messageRequest) .build());
You can stop live location sharing for a specific message using the message controller:
const channel = client.channel("type", "id");// to stop location sharing at least message id has to be providedchannel.stopLiveLocationSharing({ message_id: "message-id",});
// Stop a live location sharing.chatClient.stopLiveLocationSharing( messageId = "live-location-message-id", deviceId = "my-device-id",).enqueue { /* ... */ }
/// Get the message controller for the live location messagelet messageController = chatClient.messageController( cid: channelId, messageId: liveLocationMessageId)/// Stop live location sharingmessageController.stopLiveLocationSharing()
// Stop live location sharing for a specific message.final location = await client.stopLiveLocation( messageId: liveLocationMessageId, createdByDeviceId: 'test_device_id', // Optional);
import datetime# Stop live location sharing by setting end_at to nowclient.update_live_location( message_id=message_id, end_at=datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc), latitude=new_latitude, longitude=new_longitude, user_id=user_id,)
require 'getstream_ruby'Models = GetStream::Generated::Models# Stop live location sharing by setting end_at to nowclient.common.update_live_location(Models::UpdateLiveLocationRequest.new( message_id: message_id, latitude: 40.7128, longitude: -74.0060, end_at: Time.now.iso8601), user_id)
// Stop live location sharing by setting endAt to now$client->updateLiveLocation($userId, new Models\UpdateLiveLocationRequest( messageID: $messageId, latitude: $latitude, longitude: $longitude, endAt: new \DateTime("now"),));
// Stop live location sharing by setting EndAt to nowt := time.Now()endAt := getstream.Timestamp{Time: &t}_, err := client.UpdateLiveLocation(ctx, &getstream.UpdateLiveLocationRequest{ UserID: getstream.PtrTo(userID), MessageID: messageID, Latitude: &longitude, Longitude: &latitude, EndAt: &endAt,})
// Stop live location sharing by setting EndAt to nowawait client.UpdateLiveLocationAsync(new UpdateLiveLocationRequest{ MessageID = liveLocationMessageId, // The ID of the live location message Longitude = longitude, Latitude = latitude, EndAt = DateTime.UtcNow, // Set EndAt to now to stop sharing});
// Stop live location sharing by setting endAt to nowclient.updateLiveLocation(UpdateLiveLocationRequest.builder() .messageID(initialMessage.getId()) .UserID(userId) .latitude(latitude) .longitude(longitude) .endAt(new Date()) .build()) .execute();
Your application must implement location tracking and provide updates to the SDK. The SDK handles updating all the current user's active live location messages and provides a throttling mechanism to prevent excessive API calls.
// simple call to update a locationawait client.updateLocation({ latitude: 1, longitude: 2, message_id: "message-id",});
// Query user's active live locations (call only once when user is connected).chatClient.queryActiveLocations().enqueue { /* ... */ }// Listen for changes in current user's active live locations.chatClient.globalStateFlow .flatMapLatest { it.currentUserActiveLiveLocations } .onEach { userActiveLiveLocations -> if (userActiveLiveLocations.isEmpty()) { // Stop receiving device location updates if there's no active live locations. } else { // Start receiving device location updates (check for location permissions). } } .launchIn(coroutineScope)// Update live location when device location changes.for (deviceLocation in result.locations) { userActiveLiveLocations .filterNot { it.endAt?.before(Date()) ?: false } // Filter out expired locations .forEach { activeLiveLocation -> chatClient.updateLiveLocation( messageId = activeLiveLocation.messageId, latitude = deviceLocation.latitude, longitude = deviceLocation.longitude, deviceId = "my-device-id", ).enqueue { /* ... */ } }}
/// Get the current user controller.let currentUserController = chatClient.currentUserController()/// Set delegate to receive live location updates.currentUserController.delegate = self/// Load active live locations (call only once at app start or when chat is initialized)currentUserController.loadActiveLiveLocationMessages()/// Update location when device location changes.func locationDidUpdate(_ newLocation: LocationInfo) { currentUserController.updateLiveLocation(newLocation)}
// Update the user's live location (e.g., when device location changes)final updatedLocation = await client.updateLiveLocation( messageId: liveLocationMessageId, createdByDeviceId: 'test_device_id', // Optional location: LocationCoordinates( latitude: newLatitude, longitude: newLongitude, ),);
# Update the user's live location (e.g., when device location changes)client.update_live_location( message_id=message_id, latitude=new_latitude, longitude=new_longitude, user_id=user_id,)
require 'getstream_ruby'Models = GetStream::Generated::Models# Get the user's active live locationsresponse = client.common.get_user_live_locations(user_id)# Update the user's live locationclient.common.update_live_location(Models::UpdateLiveLocationRequest.new( message_id: message_id, latitude: new_latitude, longitude: new_longitude), user_id)
// Update the user's live location (e.g., when device location changes)$client->updateLiveLocation($userId, new Models\UpdateLiveLocationRequest( messageID: $messageId, latitude: $newLatitude, longitude: $newLongitude,));
// Get current user active live locationsresp, err := client.GetUserLiveLocations(ctx, &getstream.GetUserLiveLocationsRequest{ UserID: getstream.PtrTo(userID),})// Update active live locations of the current userfor _, location := range resp.Data.ActiveLiveLocations { _, err = client.UpdateLiveLocation(ctx, &getstream.UpdateLiveLocationRequest{ UserID: getstream.PtrTo(userID), MessageID: location.MessageID, Latitude: &newLatitude, Longitude: &newLongitude, })}
// Get all active live locations for the current uservar activeLocations = await client.GetUserLiveLocationsAsync(userID);// Update all active live locations for the userforeach (var location in activeLocations.ActiveLiveLocations){ await client.UpdateLiveLocationAsync(new UpdateLiveLocationRequest { MessageID = location.MessageID, Longitude = newLongitude, // updated longitude Latitude = newLatitude, // updated latitude EndAt = endAt, // keep the same end time });}
// Get active live locationsvar activeLocations = client.getUserLiveLocations(GetUserLiveLocationsRequest.builder() .UserID(userId) .build()) .execute().getData();// Update active live locationsfor (var location : activeLocations.getActiveLiveLocations()) { client.updateLiveLocation(UpdateLiveLocationRequest.builder() .messageID(location.getMessageID()) .UserID(userId) .latitude(newLatitude) .longitude(newLongitude) .build()) .execute();}
Whenever the location is updated, the message will automatically be updated with the new location.
The SDK will also notify your application when it should start or stop location tracking as well as when the active live location messages change.
// reporter function necessary for LiveLocationManagerconst watchLocation = (handler) => { const timer = setInterval(() => { // retrieval of current location is a app-specific logic getCurrentPosition((position) => { handler({ latitude: position.coords.latitude, longitude: position.coords.longitude, }); }); }, 5000); return () => { clearInterval(timer); };};// the manager takes care of registering/ unregistering and reporting location updatesconst manager = new LiveLocationManager({ client, getDeviceId, // function should generate a unique device id watchLocation, // function should retrieve the location and pass it to the handler function});// to start watching and reporting the manager subscriptions have to be initiatedmanager.init();// to stop watching and reporting the manager subscriptions have cleaned upmanager.unregisterSubscriptions();
extension SomeObject: CurrentChatUserControllerDelegate { /// Called when the user starts sharing a live location and it wasn't already sharing a live location func currentUserControllerDidStartSharingLiveLocation( _ controller: CurrentChatUserController ) { // Start location monitoring (Needs to be implemented by the application) startLocationTracking() } /// Called when all live location sharing stops func currentUserControllerDidStopSharingLiveLocation( _ controller: CurrentChatUserController ) { // Stop location monitoring stopLocationTracking() } /// Called when active live location messages change func currentUserController( _ controller: CurrentChatUserController, didChangeActiveLiveLocationMessages messages: [ChatMessage] ) { // You can use this delegate method to track the active live location messages and // if needed render all of them in a UI component or you can use this for finer control // when to start or stop tracking locations. } /// Called when a live location update fails func currentUserController( _ controller: CurrentChatUserController, didFailToUpdateLiveLocation location: SharedLocation, with error: Error ) { // Handle error if needed }}
// You can listen to the current user's active live locations in order to determine when to start// or stop location tracking._activeLiveLocationsSubscription = _client.state.activeLiveLocationsStream .distinct((prev, curr) => prev.length == curr.length) .listen((locations) async { // If there are no more active locations to update, stop tracking. if (locations.isEmpty) return _stopTrackingLocation(); // Otherwise, start tracking the user's location. return _startTrackingLocation();});
Whenever a location is created or updated, the following WebSocket events will be sent:
message.new: When a new location message is created.
message.updated: When a location message is updated.
In Dart, these events are resolved to more specific location events:
location.shared: When a new location message is created.
location.updated: When a location message is updated.
You can easily check if a message is a location message by checking the message.sharedLocation property. For example, you can use this events to render the locations in a map view.
chatClient.subscribeFor(NewMessageEvent::class, MessageUpdatedEvent::class) { event -> // Check if the event is for the watching channel. if ((event as? CidEvent)?.cid == "my-watching-cid") { when (event) { is NewMessageEvent -> event.message.sharedLocation?.let { location -> // Add a new location to the map. } is MessageUpdatedEvent -> event.message.sharedLocation?.let { location -> // Update the existing location in the map. } else -> Unit } }}
let eventsController = ChatClient.shared.eventsController()eventsController.delegate = selfextension CustomMapView: EventsControllerDelegate { func eventsController(_ controller: EventsController, didReceiveEvent event: any Event) { /// Make sure the event is for the current channel. guard event.cid == currentChannelId else { return } if let event = event as? MessageNewEvent, let sharedLocation = event.message.sharedLocation { // Add the new location to the map. } else if let event = event as? MessageUpdatedEvent, let sharedLocation = event.message.sharedLocation { { // Update the location on the map. } }}
// Listen for location-specific eventsclient.on(EventType.locationShared).listen((event) { // Handle location shared event if needed});client.on(EventType.locationUpdated).listen((event) { // Handle location updated event if needed});
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