cordova-plugin-nativegeocoder Alternative for Capacitor

The cordova-plugin-nativegeocoder alternative for Capacitor is @capgo/capacitor-nativegeocoder. It keeps the same promise as the Cordova plugin: geocode on device through Core Location on iOS and Android Geocoder, without routing every lookup through a paid HTTP geocoding bill. Replace callback-style nativegeocoder.reverseGeocode with NativeGeocoder.reverseGeocode() and use the same option names where they overlap.

Why leave cordova-plugin-nativegeocoder

cordova-plugin-nativegeocoder is at 3.5.1 on npm with modified 8 March 2023. The source repository is sebastianbaar/cordova-plugin-nativegeocoder. The README still documents cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-nativegeocoder and callback signatures with separate latitude and longitude arguments.

Capacitor migrations hit friction because:

• The global nativegeocoder object is Cordova-specific.
• Success handlers return field names like administrativeArea and addressLines that your TypeScript models must mirror manually.
• The plugin does not ship as a Capacitor package on npm.

@capgo/capacitor-nativegeocoder targets Capacitor 8 in the maintained v8 line. It adds a web implementation that calls the Google Geocoding API when you supply apiKey, while iOS and Android stay on the OS geocoder. Capgo fixes ship in the public repo where a human still reviews, tests and merges 50+ pull requests daily.

Install

bun add @capgo/capacitor-nativegeocoder
bunx cap sync

Android (android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml):

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.location.gps" />

iOS: set NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription in Info.plist (and the always string if your flow requires it). iOS geocoding needs network access even though coordinates come from the native APIs.

Usage example

import { NativeGeocoder } from '@capgo/capacitor-nativegeocoder';

export async function lookupAddress(lat: number, lng: number) {
  const { addresses } = await NativeGeocoder.reverseGeocode({
    latitude: lat,
    longitude: lng,
    useLocale: true,
    maxResults: 1,
  });

  return addresses[0]?.locality;
}

Forward geocode before opening maps navigation:

const { addresses } = await NativeGeocoder.forwardGeocode({
  addressString: '1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA',
  maxResults: 1,
});
const { latitude, longitude } = addresses[0];

Pair with @capgo/capacitor-launch-navigator which expects coordinate pairs, not free-form addresses.

Migrating from Cordova to Capacitor

Drop nativegeocoder.* callbacks. Pass one options object per call and read addresses from the resolved promise.

API mapping table

Read the Cordova Known Issues section when you debug locale-specific formatting. Capgo returns the same underlying platform data.

Links and next steps

• Plugin docs: https://capgo.app/docs/plugins/nativegeocoder/
• Marketing page: /plugins/capacitor-nativegeocoder/
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@capgo/capacitor-nativegeocoder
• GitHub: https://github.com/Cap-go/capacitor-nativegeocoder/
• Cordova upstream: https://github.com/sebastianbaar/cordova-plugin-nativegeocoder

Permission changes require a native build via Capgo Build. Geocoding UI logic can ship faster with live updates. Full Cordova exit path: migrating Cordova to Capacitor.