Location-Based Messaging Added to iPhone and Android Apps with Minimal Battery Drain
Esri announced today that its cloud-based Geotrigger Service is now available, making it easier for developers to add location awareness and messaging to their iPhone and Android apps. With the Geotrigger Software Development Kit (SDK), mobile apps can send custom messages when a user enters or leaves locations specified by the application developer.
“The Esri location platform currently offers many services for developers, from geocoding and geoenrichment to routing and maps,” said Johan Herrlin, Esri senior business strategist. “Geotrigger boosts these existing services with location awareness and location-based alerts.”
Esri’s Geotrigger Service expands on the native geofencing features available within iOS and Android, including the ability to create complex polygon geofences and notify other servers or services when triggers are fired. Geotrigger Service also adds additional logic to reduce the battery drain when using location services on mobile devices. Geotrigger SDKs provide a consistent interface supporting faster development of apps for both iOS and Android.
Developers can add the following location-based functions to apps with Geotrigger Service:
• Notify citizens about road closures, emergencies, or public safety warnings based on their past or current location.
• Inform tourists about interesting places as they explore your city, theme park, and so forth.
• Engage customers with personalized content or deals the moment they enter a store—or a set amount of time later.
• Optimize customer service by notifying employees when a customer who just ordered something arrives at your store.
Esri’s Geotrigger Service is the new and improved version of Geoloqi’s original technology. Esri acquired Geoloqi in 2012, and its team formed Esri’s R&D Center in Portland, Oregon. Since joining the company, the team has improved existing core location technology and added to the Esri suite of tools for developers on the newly launched developers.arcgis.com.
Current Geoloqi customers are encouraged to migrate to Esri’s Geotrigger Service to take advantage of the easier-to-use SDKs, improved tools, overall increased performance, and lower pricing. The original service will retire 18 months after the launch of Geotrigger Service. Migration tools will be provided to existing Geoloqi customers.
“Geotrigger Service opens up a whole world of use cases, from stores wanting to engage customers to cities wanting to release an app to send civic alerts, local event information, or tourism info,” said Amber Case, director of Esri’s R&D Center in Portland. “Create an invisible button on a map, and when your phone gets within that button—that invisible region—something will happen. Your phone could even turn the lights on in your home as you pull into the driveway, and turn them off when you leave. When you combine Geotrigger Service with the other capabilities of the Esri developer platform, such as geocoding, data visualization, and demographics, developers can create powerful solutions.”