useGeoLocation

useGeoLocation is a custom hook that tracks the user's geolocation in real time using navigator.geolocation.watchPosition, with automatic retries on failure.

Usage

import { useGeoLocation } from "hookify-react";

export default function GeoLocationExample() {
  const { loading, error, coords } = useGeoLocation({ enableHighAccuracy: true });

  if (loading) return <p>Fetching location...</p>;
  if (error) return <p>Error: {error.message}</p>;

  return (
    <p>
      Latitude: {coords?.latitude}, Longitude: {coords?.longitude}
    </p>
  );
}

API Reference

Parameters

useGeoLocation accepts a single optional options object. Each property is optional:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
enableHighAccuracy	boolean	false	Requests the most accurate location possible (may consume more power).
maximumAge	number	0	Maximum age (in milliseconds) of a cached position before a fresh one is requested.
timeout	number	10000	Maximum time (in milliseconds) to wait for a position.
retryLimit	number	3	Maximum number of retry attempts when location retrieval fails.
retryDelay	number	2000	Delay (in milliseconds) between retry attempts.

Return Value

useGeoLocation returns an object containing:

Property	Type	Description
loading	boolean	true while a position is being fetched, otherwise false.
error	{ code: number; message: string } | null	Error details if location retrieval fails, otherwise null.
coords	GeolocationCoordinates | null	The latest coordinates (latitude, longitude, accuracy, etc.), or null before the first fix.

Behavior

• Subscribes to location updates via navigator.geolocation.watchPosition and exposes the latest coordinates.
• On error, automatically retries up to retryLimit times, waiting retryDelay milliseconds between attempts; on a successful fix the retry counter is reset.
• Options are consumed by their primitive values (not by object identity), so passing a fresh inline {} options object on every render does not cause an infinite re-subscription loop.
• Cleans up the active watcher and any pending retry timer when the component unmounts.
• Guards against missing navigator.geolocation: if geolocation is unsupported, it sets an error (code: 0) and stops loading instead of throwing.