Background Geolocation for Capacitor

April 17, 2026 · View on GitHub

The most sophisticated background location-tracking & geofencing SDK with battery-conscious motion-detection intelligence for iOS and Android.

The SDK uses motion-detection APIs (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer) to detect when the device is moving or stationary:

Moving — location recording starts automatically at the configured distanceFilter (metres)
Stationary — location services turn off automatically to conserve battery

Important

This is v9. For the previous version see v8.x. v8.x license keys do not work with v9 — log in to the Customer Dashboard to generate a v9 key. See the Migration Guide for details.

:books: Documentation

Capacitor

:key: Licensing

Tip

The SDK is fully functional in DEBUG builds — no license required. Try before you buy.

A license is required only for RELEASE builds on Android. Purchase a license

:open_file_folder: Example Apps

Two example apps are included in the example/ directory:

App	Description
`example/basic`	Minimal getting-started app — configure, toggle tracking, view events. Start here.
`example/advanced`	Full-featured reference app with live map, geofence tools, all settings, and Transistor server integration.

See the example README for setup instructions.

📦 SDK availability

Platform	Package
Capacitor	This repo
React Native	`react-native-background-geolocation`
Expo	`react-native-background-geolocation`
Flutter	`flutter_background_geolocation`
Cordova	`cordova-background-geolocation-lt`
Swift / iOS	`background-geolocation`
Kotlin / Android	`background-geolocation`