Geofencing

Getting Started

Operating Systems

Android

iOS

Windows

Geofencing lets your app react when a user enters or exits a geographic area — even when the app is not running. Unlike GPS tracking, geofencing is managed by the operating system and is highly battery efficient, making it ideal for location-triggered background tasks.

Platform Notes

Feature	Android	iOS	Windows
Max Regions	60	20	Unlimited
Background Support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Google Play Fallback	GPS-direct when unavailable	N/A	N/A

Setup

Shiny.Locations

Shiny.Hosting.Maui

Creating Your Delegate

Implement IGeofenceDelegate to handle geofence enter/exit events. This delegate fires in the background when a boundary is crossed.

public class MyGeofenceDelegate : IGeofenceDelegate
{
    readonly ILogger<MyGeofenceDelegate> logger;

    // Full dependency injection support - treat as a singleton
    public MyGeofenceDelegate(ILogger<MyGeofenceDelegate> logger)
    {
        this.logger = logger;
    }

    public async Task OnStatusChanged(GeofenceState newStatus, GeofenceRegion region)
    {
        if (newStatus == GeofenceState.Entered)
        {
            this.logger.LogInformation("Entered region: {Region}", region.Identifier);
            // send a notification, sync data, trigger an action, etc.
        }
        else if (newStatus == GeofenceState.Exited)
        {
            this.logger.LogInformation("Exited region: {Region}", region.Identifier);
        }
    }
}

Using the Geofence Manager

Inject IGeofenceManager to manage geofence regions at runtime.

Requesting Permission

Always request access before starting monitoring:

IGeofenceManager geofenceManager; // injected

var access = await geofenceManager.RequestAccess();
if (access != AccessState.Available)
{
    // Handle denied/restricted - show user messaging
    return;
}

Starting & Stopping Monitoring

// Start monitoring a region
await geofenceManager.StartMonitoring(new GeofenceRegion(
    "work",
    new Position(43.6532, -79.3832),  // latitude, longitude
    Distance.FromMeters(200)           // radius
));

// Stop monitoring a specific region
await geofenceManager.StopMonitoring("work");

// Stop monitoring all regions
await geofenceManager.StopAllMonitoring();

GeofenceRegion Options

var region = new GeofenceRegion(
    Identifier: "coffee-shop",
    Center: new Position(43.6532, -79.3832),
    Radius: Distance.FromMeters(100),
    SingleUse: false,       // true = auto-remove after first trigger
    NotifyOnEntry: true,    // fire delegate on enter
    NotifyOnExit: true      // fire delegate on exit
);

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`Identifier`	`string`	required	Unique ID for the region
`Center`	`Position`	required	Latitude/longitude of the circle center
`Radius`	`Distance`	required	Radius of the circular geofence
`SingleUse`	`bool`	`false`	Automatically stop monitoring after first trigger
`NotifyOnEntry`	`bool`	`true`	Fire delegate when entering the region
`NotifyOnExit`	`bool`	`true`	Fire delegate when exiting the region

Querying State

// Get all currently monitored regions
var regions = geofenceManager.GetMonitorRegions();

// Request the current state of a region (inside or outside)
var state = await geofenceManager.RequestState(region);
// GeofenceState.Entered, GeofenceState.Exited, or GeofenceState.Unknown

// Check current permission status without prompting
var status = geofenceManager.CurrentStatus;

GPS-Direct Geofencing

By default, AddGeofencing uses the native OS geofencing APIs. On Android, if Google Play Services is unavailable, Shiny automatically falls back to GPS-direct geofencing.

You can also explicitly opt into GPS-direct mode:

services.AddGpsDirectGeofencing<MyGeofenceDelegate>();

How It Works

Shiny handles all the platform complexity behind a single API:

Android: Uses Google Play Services geofencing when available, falls back to GPS-direct otherwise
iOS 18+: Uses the modern CLMonitor API
iOS < 18: Uses the legacy CLLocationManager region monitoring API
Windows: Uses Windows.Devices.Geolocation.Geofencing

Monitored regions are automatically persisted and restored on app restart — you don’t need to re-register them.

AI Coding Assistant

Use the shiny-locations skill with Claude Code or GitHub Copilot for contextual code generation, GPS delegates, geofencing setup, and best practices.

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Samples

Main Samples