Location needs to be enabled for BLE Scanning on Android 6.0

Just going to report this here for others.

Related to: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33045581/location-needs-to-be-enabled-for-bluetooth-low-energy-scanning-on-android-6-0

Apparently the solution is: I solved this by setting targetSdkVersion to 22 in gradle file. You must declare ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION in the manifest but, BLE scanning will work even if user denies this permission from App Settings.

However my targetSdkVersion was set to 24 so I cannot downgrade my app or Google Play Console will complain.

Another solution would be if this library:

Can use BluetoothAdapter.startDiscovery().It will scan for both Bluetooth Smart and classic Bluetooth devices, but location services do not need to be enabled.(You still need ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permissions on Android 6.)

Thoughts about changing this?

[dariuszseweryn]

My question was if I targeted and used the Sdk 22 would it be possible to use this library without enabling location?

Yes — it would be possible. There are two caveats though:

1. Google will not accept your app to the Play Store
2. I am not sure how if the system would return you scan advertisements if the user has disabled location services / GPS switch

[omarbakeer]

You should not ignore Location when searching for BLE devices

I really appreciate your support Dariusz, but my use case requires the minimum configuration, and I don’t need the location or any of its related features (like the rssi). My question was if I targeted and used the Sdk 22 would it be possible to use this library without enabling location? Thank you