2026-08-25 · Technical Compliance

Foreground Services and Geofencing - Approved Use Case Removed (August 26, 2026 Deadline)

1. Deadline: from August 26, 2026, geofencing is no longer an approved use case for the location foreground service type (FOREGROUND_SERVICE_LOCATION). The change was announced on April 15, 2026.

2. Affected apps: any app that declares a foreground service whose only purpose is geofencing.

3. Required action: remove FOREGROUND_SERVICE_LOCATION from your manifest on ALL tracks (production, alpha, beta, internal) - and FOREGROUND_SERVICE too if geofencing is the only use.

4. Migration: use the OS Geofence API (Google Play services GeofencingClient). It needs only ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION and delivers enter/exit/dwell events via a PendingIntent - no continuous foreground service required.

5. Limits: max 100 geofences per app per device user; set expiration durations; remove geofences when no longer needed to save battery.

6. Apps that also do continuous location tracking: keep the location foreground service only for that use case and run geofencing through the Geofence API.

7. Test on every track before the deadline - after August 26, a foreground service declaration can no longer rely on geofencing as an approved use case.

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