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Send messages to users based on where they are. OneSignal can segment users by country, GPS coordinates, or custom tags so you can create timely, relevant outreach based on physical location. As users interact with your app and location tracking is enabled, their coordinates update periodically (approximately every 5 minutes while the app is in use) and can be used to send messages via Journeys or any message creation tool.
OneSignal does not track GPS location by default. The SDK only collects latitude and longitude when all three of these conditions are met:
  1. Your app has the correct location permissions and dependencies.
  2. Your app explicitly enables sharing with OneSignal. Without this, your app may collect location data but will not share it with OneSignal.
  3. The user grants location permission at the system prompt.
See Location tracking setup for configuration. For background on the SDK’s location behavior, see You’re in Control: How Location Actually Works in OneSignal’s SDK.

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Target by country

Country is determined by the device’s IP address and updates automatically each time the user opens your app. The value uses the ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 two-letter country code (for example, US, GB, CA). Target by country using the country field in Segments or in the filters parameter of the Create segment API: 
"filters": [
  { "field": "country", "relation": "=", "value": "US" }
]

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Target by location (latitude, longitude, and radius)

If your mobile app collects GPS location and shares it with OneSignal, the SDK updates the user’s coordinates approximately every 5 minutes (based on permission and system rules). If the app is force-stopped, location cannot be tracked until the user opens it again.

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Location tracking setup

Location tracking is configured in your mobile app’s code, not in the OneSignal Dashboard. At a minimum, your app must:
  • Add native location permissions and dependencies for iOS and Android.
  • Enable the Location.isShared flag to share coordinates with OneSignal.
  • Request the system location permission, or use an in-app message as a soft pre-prompt for better opt-in rates.

Mobile SDK location reference

Full setup and per-platform code for iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Unity, and Cordova/Ionic.
Once location tracking is enabled, you can create segments or send messages via our API using the location filter.
OneSignal segment builder showing the location radius filter with latitude, longitude, and radius fields

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Web push latitude and longitude tracking

OneSignal does not collect latitude/longitude for web. However, you can use tags to set the location from your web app or use the Update User API to set the location from your server. Tagging example:
  1. Request location access in your web app using the browser’s Geolocation API.
  2. Use JavaScript to detect the user’s coordinates.
  3. Send those coordinates to OneSignal using tags.
OneSignal.User.addTags({
  lat: "37.160",
  long: "-117.773"
});
Once the tags are set, create a geofenced segment by combining tag range filters. For example, to target users inside the bounding box 37° ≤ lat < 38° and -118° ≤ long < -117°, add these four filters in the segment builder:
  • Tag lat greater than 37
  • Tag lat less than 38
  • Tag long greater than -118
  • Tag long less than -117

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Target by city or custom location

OneSignal does not natively detect city or area codes. To target by city or custom location:
  • Let users input a city or region in a form.
  • Or use JavaScript with reverse geocoding (e.g., Google Maps API) to infer city from coordinates.
  • Send the city name as a data tag.
OneSignal.User.addTag("city", "San Francisco");

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FAQ

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Does location tracking work on web?

Not natively. OneSignal’s Web SDK does not collect GPS coordinates. To use location-based segments for web push, collect coordinates yourself from the browser’s Geolocation API and send them to OneSignal as tags, then build range-filter segments on those tags. See Web push latitude and longitude tracking.

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Why is my app not tracking location?

Verify all three setup conditions are met: your app has the correct location permissions and dependencies installed, Location.isShared is set to true, and the user has granted location permission at the system prompt. See the Mobile SDK location reference for platform-specific setup and common fixes, including the Android play-services-location dependency.

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How often does the SDK update location?

When location tracking is enabled, the SDK updates coordinates approximately every 5 minutes while the app is in use. If the app is force-stopped, location updates pause until the user opens the app again.

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Can I target users by city?

Not natively. OneSignal tracks country (via IP address) and GPS coordinates (via the SDK), but not city or area code. You can infer city from coordinates using a reverse geocoding service and store it as a tag. See Target by city or custom location.

Location opt-in prompt

Use an in-app message as a soft pre-prompt before requesting native location permission.

Segments

Create audience segments using location filters, tags, and user properties.