How to Create a Location Aware App

The Majority of the apps suggest contents and services based on your location. Sometimes this might have helped us in certain situations. But what\’s the reason behind the rise of such location aware app? It\’s very simple! These maps and location services enhance interactions between customers and businesses, which ultimately allows the businesses to be more profitable.

According to statistics, the location-based services market was a $36.2 billion revenue making market in 2019 and is expected to cross a value of $126.4 billion by 2025.Features like GPS route tracking, mapping, navigation, Geo-targeting, determining a user’s location, and estimating travel times are commonly integrated into apps. These features have already proven handy in delivery, logistics, and other service industries.Â

What technologies are used for determining Geo location?

GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) determines the geographical position of a user with the help of satellite systems. GPS gives you both accuracy and speed. But there are some drawbacks, such as high battery consumption and as well as loss of signal due to obstructions of objects.Â

Cell ID

Cell Identification (Cell ID) lets you determine a user’s position based on signals from cell towers sent to the device’s GSM/WCDMA/CDMA modem. This works even when GPS is lost but the drawback is that it’s far less accurate than GPS. The determination of a location depends on how close the device is to a cell tower.

Wi-Fi

The user\’s location is determined by mapping nearby Wi-Fi hotspots to a hotspot database. The user’s geoposition is determined based on the signal strength indication (RSSI), which is similar to the Cell ID method, only Wi-Fi signals are used instead of cell network signals. With Wi-Fi positioning, you can rely on defining a user’s geolocation and don’t have to worry about battery drain. Drawback is that you need a number of hotspots to accurately define the user’s position.

BLE

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) uses devices that sends signals to users’ devices via Bluetooth. Small BLE devices that work on batteries are easy to install and commonly used indoors. The accuracy of geopositioning in this case is really high.

What features should you add to your location aware app?

• Determining a user’s current position – Apps like Swiggy, Zomato, Dunzo etc used such features by which we users can check the position of the delivery executive.
• Maps – Apps like Uber, Ola have integrated map features to allow users to see where they are.
• Navigation – Google maps is the best example for using this feature. Interesting fact! Audi MMI Connect, an app for Audi drivers to enhance vehicle functionality and navigation. Indoor navigation is also on rise as the number of malls are increasing.
• Calculating travel times – Food delivery, grocery delivery, package delivery uses this features to allow us know the estimated time of arrival.
• Real-time location tracking – As mentioned before, Swiggy, Zomato, Uber eats etc uses this to allow to know the exact location of the delivery executive at any point of time. Even, Uber and Ola uses this by which we can know which all taxis are available near us, and the closest taxi is allotted to us.

What tools will help you create a custom geolocation app?

Google Maps

In 2018, Google combined its 18 standalone APIs into three products: Maps, Places, and Routes, which made it even simpler to implement location awareness into an app. To work with most of these tools, you first need to get an API key: a unique identifier used to authenticate requests from your app.Â

MapsÂ

You can add maps based on Google Maps data to your application, customize those maps. Maps includes:Â

• The Maps SDK for Android, which automatically handles access to Google Maps servers, downloads and displays data, and responds to map gestures.Â
• The Maps JavaScript API is used for adding customizable interactive maps to a website. This tool has four map types (road map, satellite, hybrid, terrain) which developers can modify using layers and styles.
• The Maps Embed API allows developers to add an interactive map to a web application.Â
• The Maps Static API generates up-to-date static maps with custom markers for a chosen location.Â
• The Street View Static API works similarly to the Maps Static API and allows for embedding static Street View panoramas in a web app.Â
• The Maps URLs tool needs no Google API Key and can generate a cross-platform link to Google Maps and perform searches, get directions, or display map views and panoramic images.

RoutesÂ

The next one is  Routes, which allows users to build the best way from place A to place B and accumulate data about traffic and road accidents. This product consists of three APIs:

• Directions API
• Roads API
• Distance Matrix APIÂ

Places

This lets developers access Google’s huge database of more than 100 million places all over the world. It includes –

Geo coding API that converts addresses into location coordinates (and vice versa)Â

• Geo location API
• Time Zone APIÂ
• Places APIÂ
• Places SDK, which is available for both iOS and Android.
• Places LibraryÂ

Demo