Gearing Into the Geolocation Application Development Era

Location-based mobile and web apps are everywhere today, thanks to the rapid smartphone penetration rate and reliable internet speed.

Even a Markets and Markets report predicts that this hot software development trend will reach $40 billion by 2024. Taking into consideration the rampant market demand, coding a location-based app exposes your business to over 300 million potential users in the US alone. Not to mention that communication between brands and customers increase considerably via geolocation apps due to the real-time interaction dynamics.

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What are location-based applications?

Have you ever tried finding services or restaurants in your vicinity using an app, which prompts a message ‘Allow app to track your current location’ and then advises you with all the relevant businesses near you?

Well, those are geolocation apps.

A location-based app is a two-way street. For customers, it allows them to search for nearby stores, restaurants, movie theatres, pharmacies, and so on, depending on your search query. On the contrary, for businesses, it allows them to offer services to customers near their close geographical location.

With 3.8 billion smartphone users around the world, these geolocation apps have been a critical tool to look for people, places, or services nearby. The location details for such apps are shared via a Wi-Fi connection, cell towers, and satellite/GPS. Today, all smartphones have a built-in GPS, and consumers can improve their signal through Wi-Fi or a mobile network.

Developers developing an app with a geolocation feature must use location-based APIs (separate for iOS and Android) and maps to inform users about places close to them, provide relevant suggestions, information, or directions.

Do we need location-based apps?

In the quest for trends, there is the rapid proliferation of users dependent on geolocation mobile apps. Some of them need to track their users, while others simply want to enjoy the convenience that comes along with it. From navigators and guides to social networks, fitness route tracking, and geotagged photos- all employ location-based services.

Even so, geolocation has now become an active addition to business app development.

Information sharing between customers and brands at a specific location

Social sharing of location with other users

Communication sharing when leaving feedback or reading reviews

Marketing sharing to incentivize campaigns and offer customers personalized solutions

But is it worth the extra energy of developers?

Geolocation app development encompasses :

That said, geolocation apps benefit both consumers and businesses into searching and offering services at a relevant location. For consumers, GPS app development helps them live a dynamic lifestyle, know a company before investing in their services, and interact with other customers to create viral content. For businesses, geolocation app development helps achieve a competitive edge by including location as an aspect in their marketing strategy, layout advertisements on mobiles using GPS coordinates, learn more about their customers and their interests, and enhance a customer's experience via virtual elements superimposed on real-world objects.

The different types of geolocation app development

The various subcategories of location-based app development include:

Geosocial Apps

You must have seen people tagging the names of restaurants, nightclubs, gyms, resorts, or businesses to their photos. Well, those are geosocial apps. Many dating sites and social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow people to add their location instead of writing an entire address. In addition, users can click on the location and view it on a map in real-time.

Maps and Navigation

These employed GPS-based services for the first time laying their foundation in the 21st century. These apps are designed to help users find directions for places, determine traffic jams, explore the best route, and easily graze unfamiliar territory.

On-Demand Services

When you order food to be delivered to your location, the app always asks you if they can locate you using their GPS services. These are on-demand apps. Flower delivery, food delivery, taxi calling, or any other services that you request can track your GPS geolocation if allowed. These very convenient apps increase customer loyalty for businesses.

Fitness or Health Trackers

These apps track your route to determine the kilometers you've walked and determine all the other statistics like the number of calories burnt, elevate, speed, etc. During the pandemic, these apps were at their height of fame. They help users learn more details about their fitness activities and maybe share their achievements on social networks.

Augmented Reality Gaming Apps

Everyone knows Pokémon Go and how it mesmerized gamers in 2016 via its location feature. Based on GPS and Google Maps, this app allowed you to catch Pokémon throughout your city, making an exciting (and dangerous) mobile app. This first idea invited gaming companies to create similar applications using AR and VR features and attract the gaming crowd.

Travel apps

When you're looking for accommodation in a foreign city you'll be visiting soon, or you're trying to book travel tickets, you employ the GPS feature in-built in the app. Such apps have become an indispensable tool for travel fanatics and business travelers. So, if you're in the travel business, opt for location-based app development.

Finding Services

GPS apps like Yelp or Foursquare allow users to compile a business rating before visiting them for their services. These apps track your current location and recommend places based on user reviews, ratings, price, etc.

eCommerce App

The geolocation feature in apps like Amazon, Alibaba, or eBay has significantly improved logistics and user experience quality. Today, every digital commerce brand employs this feature to serve their customers better and faster.

Our Arcade of Geolocation Apps Developed

Where2Go | Mobile App

We built a web portal and mobile application for Where2Go- a fleet management company with FedEx. With features like geofencing that sends notifications when a driver enters and leaves a specific location, live tracking of all vehicles in the field, route planning and assigning trucks to drivers, and calculation of intensive and idle driving hours to stay compliant with the US laws. We deployed several high-level features to ensure timely deliveries, prevents drivers from overworking and underworking, track fleets at all times, manage total hours, and save time and money in the process.

Ultimate - E-Commerce | Mobile App

Deployed an eCommerce rental app for Ultimate’s exhaustive rental business model. The app connects with several allied services via vendors associated with the custom ERP company. In addition, we incorporated features like delivery management, inventory management, route planning, tracking, and sales management. The mobile app is based on React Native’s one codebase for all platforms, and we’ve deployed the app and web portal on the cloud to allow for scalable, flexible, and easily accessible capabilities.

TollGuru - Location Based Solutions | Mobile App

Empowered heavy vehicle users the cheapest route navigation, better than any other mapping application like Google Maps, Apple Maps, HERE maps, etc. The app optimizes routes for time and costs while other mapping software only does it for time. Integrated the app with high-end features like turn by turn navigation, calculating the cost of travel based on the distance, fuel consumption, toll route, their charges, etc. in addition, we’ve integrated it with third-party web APIs to improve app productivity and add high-level purpose-specific features.

Rajdhara - Field Survey application, ESRI ArcGIS Map | Mobile App

Assisted the Government of Rajasthan’s unified spatial decision control system, Rajdhara, with an integrated GIS infrastructure that unlocks good governance, sustainable development, and citizen empowerment while maintaining statewide standardized GIS Assets. The developed web portal and mobile application educate citizens about the various state government schemes and measure their effectiveness via data accumulation from different locations in form of images, predefined and open-ended fields. The backend is composed of Java and IBM MFP, it allows administrators to review the locations covered by surveyors, the route followed by them, and the hierarchical resource distribution. The app syncs data in the background even if the area lacks internet connectivity.

Turbodata - A Parking Solution | Mobile App

Turbodata - A Parking Solution | Web Portal

Designed an efficient, unique, scalable, and flexible parking program Turbodata- known for its cost-effective and quality parking citation processing services to municipalities, universities, and public educational institutions. We coded their mobile and web parking solution that included services for traffic, permit, payment, and e-Appeal with necessary customizations for 24/7 customer support. Employing programming languages like Native and Angular for its front-end, the web portal and mobile application can easily scale during peak traffic times. With an on-premises server environment, Turbodata is now well-equipped to handle administrative tasks and all the back-office functions related to parking.

If you are looking to implement any of the above Solutions or Industry Specific Solutions, we are happy to help you!