Geolocation: watchPosition() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

See full compatibility

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

The watchPosition() method of the Geolocation interface is used to register a handler function that will be called automatically each time the position of the device changes. You can also, optionally, specify an error handling callback function.

Note that in addition to requiring a secure context this feature may be blocked by the geolocation Permissions-Policy, and also requires that explicit permission be granted by the user. If required, the user will be prompted when this method is called. The permission state can be queried using the geolocation user permission in the Permissions API.

Syntax

watchPosition(success)
watchPosition(success, error)
watchPosition(success, error, options)

Parameters

success: A callback function that takes a GeolocationPosition object as an input parameter.
error Optional: An optional callback function that takes a GeolocationPositionError object as an input parameter.
options Optional: An optional object that provides configuration options for the location watch. See Geolocation.getCurrentPosition() for more details on possible options.

Return value

An integer ID that identifies the registered handler. The ID can be passed to the Geolocation.clearWatch() to unregister the handler.

Examples

let id;
let target;
let options;

function success(pos) {
  const crd = pos.coords;

  if (target.latitude === crd.latitude && target.longitude === crd.longitude) {
    console.log("Congratulations, you reached the target");
    navigator.geolocation.clearWatch(id);
  }
}

function error(err) {
  console.error(`ERROR(${err.code}): ${err.message}`);
}

target = {
  latitude: 0,
  longitude: 0,
};

options = {
  enableHighAccuracy: false,
  timeout: 5000,
  maximumAge: 0,
};

id = navigator.geolocation.watchPosition(success, error, options);

Specifications

Specification
Geolocation # watchposition-method

Browser compatibility

	desktop					mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android	WebView on iOS
`watchPosition`	Chrome – Full support Chrome 5 (Release date: 2010-05-25) footnote Full support	Edge – Full support Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29) footnote Full support	Firefox – Full support Firefox 3.5 (Release date: 2009-06-30) footnote Full support	Opera – Full support Opera 10.6 (Release date: 2010-07-01) footnote Full support	Safari – Full support Safari 5 (Release date: 2010-06-07) footnote Full support	Chrome Android – Full support Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27) footnote Full support	Firefox for Android – Full support Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29) footnote Full support	Opera Android – Full support Opera Android 11 (Release date: 2011-03-22) footnote Full support	Safari on iOS – Full support Safari on iOS 3 (Release date: 2009-06-17) footnote Full support	Samsung Internet – Full support Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27) footnote Full support	WebView Android – Full support WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09) footnote Full support	WebView on iOS – Full support WebView on iOS 3 (Release date: 2009-06-17) footnote Full support

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Full support: Full support