useLocationTracking

Lightweight hook that only monitors whether location tracking is currently active. Use this when you need to display tracking status without managing the tracking lifecycle.

import { useLocationTracking } from '@gabriel-sisjr/react-native-background-location';

Platform: Android and iOS

---

Signature

function useLocationTracking(autoRefresh?: boolean): UseLocationTrackingResult

---

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
autoRefresh	boolean	true	Whether to automatically check tracking status on mount

---

Return Value

Returns a UseLocationTrackingResult object.

Property	Type	Description
isTracking	boolean	Whether location tracking is currently active
tripId	string | null	Current trip ID if tracking is active, null otherwise
refresh	() => Promise<void>	Manually re-check tracking status from the native module
isLoading	boolean	Whether a status check is in progress

---

Behavior Details

Mount Check

When autoRefresh is true (the default), the hook calls isTracking() on the native module when the component mounts and populates the state with the result.

Manual Refresh

Call refresh() to re-query the native module for the current tracking status. This is useful when you know tracking state may have changed externally (e.g., via a different component or screen).

Native Module Unavailability

If the native module is not available (e.g., running in a simulator), the hook logs a warning and reports { isTracking: false, tripId: null }.

---

Usage

Status badge

import { useLocationTracking } from '@gabriel-sisjr/react-native-background-location';

function StatusBadge() {
  const { isTracking, tripId } = useLocationTracking();

  return (
    <View>
      <Text>Status: {isTracking ? 'Tracking' : 'Stopped'}</Text>
      {tripId && <Text>Trip: {tripId}</Text>}
    </View>
  );
}

Manual refresh

function TrackingIndicator() {
  const { isTracking, refresh, isLoading } = useLocationTracking();

  return (
    <View>
      <Text>{isTracking ? 'Active' : 'Inactive'}</Text>
      <Button title="Refresh" onPress={refresh} disabled={isLoading} />
    </View>
  );
}

Without auto-refresh

function LazyStatus() {
  const { isTracking, refresh } = useLocationTracking(false);

  // Status won't be checked until refresh() is called
  useEffect(() => {
    // Check status when some condition is met
    if (someCondition) {
      refresh();
    }
  }, [someCondition, refresh]);

  return <Text>{isTracking ? 'On' : 'Off'}</Text>;
}

---

When to Use

Use useLocationTracking when you:

• Only need to read tracking status (not start/stop)
• Want a lightweight hook with minimal overhead
• Need a status indicator in a component far from the tracking controller

Use useBackgroundLocation instead when you need to start/stop tracking, manage trip data, or access stored locations.

Feature	useLocationTracking	useBackgroundLocation
Read tracking status	Yes	Yes
Start/stop tracking	No	Yes
Access locations	No	Yes
Trip management	No	Yes
Lifecycle callbacks	No	Yes
Bundle size impact	Minimal	Larger