Location Services for Workflows

[Tyler Eich]

It is very difficult to get a user's current location via workflow. Alfred, though, can access OS X's Location Services API. A {location} token would make retrieving this data faster, more accurate, and easier. {location:latitude} and {location:longitude} would be cool too 

 

Cheers 

[Tyler Eich]

Does anybody have a working solution for retrieving the current user location from a workflow?

 

I've tried using command-line binaries (e.g. whereami), but it seems OS X does not properly register them under Location Services settings unless they are installed as an app. For example, the System Preferences Privacy pane appears buggy when using such binaries, with the binary's entry disappearing at random.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[ctwise]

It is very difficult to get a user's current location via workflow. Alfred, though, can access OS X's Location Services API. A {location} token would make retrieving this data faster, more accurate, and easier. {location:latitude} and {location:longitude} would be cool too 

 

Cheers 

 

I'm going to register my disagreement with Alfred providing location services to workflows. Yes, it would be very, very helpful to workflow creators. But turning it on for Alfred would turn it on for _all_ workflows, and I, personally, don't want that.

[Tyler Eich]

I'm going to register my disagreement with Alfred providing location services to workflows. Yes, it would be very, very helpful to workflow creators. But turning it on for Alfred would turn it on for _all_ workflows, and I, personally, don't want that.

 

I don't want all workflows to have access to my location either.

 

My thought was a permissions system, similar to what OS X implements for apps. Like a checkbox for the workflow that enables the {location} token. On installation (or first run), Alfred asks the user to grant access to location data; if the user denies access, Alfred replaces {location} with an empty string (or something similar). The script is responsible for handling the denied request.

 

It really is a lot to ask, but I've flipped the internet upside down looking for a stable, consistent way to get user location from a script. I've found all manner of command line tools, but none work consistently when bundled in a workflow. I've even build custom app bundles for this purpose; these don't work in a workflow folder either.