Step-by-step Guide on Adding Geolocation to Your Mobile App

Incorporating Geolocation in your applications is one of the most boundless ways to improve your customers’ experience. It allows users to view a certain service point at a precise time. It moreover lets them locate their places of interest around the area they are at, can further share these locations with their friends, monitor running, trace routes of unknown locations, and even get complete motivations about distinguishing sales. The benefits of adding Geolocation in your mobile app are as pleasing as they can get. Users can even track the movements of their pets simply by using geolocation-based apps. 

A study conducted by ResearchandMarkets suggests that the market of location-based services is predicted to reach over $155.13 billion by the year 2026. Almost every industry is making use of Geolocation for enhancing its apps. From delivery apps such as Swiggy and UberEats to booking platforms such as Airbnb, Bumble, Tinder, and much more, these apps have leveraged Geolocation to a great extent for generating excellent sales.

That being said, most businesses are wondering how they can create a customer-centric and premium-quality app involving Geolocation as one of its features. The answer is hiring an experienced mobile app development company. Here’s a guide to understanding everything you need to know about creating a geolocation-based app.

Advantages of Incorporating Geolocation in Your App

Significantly boost Your Business Revenue 

The most significant and favorable benefit of Geolocation is that it works on a rather interesting phenomenon, which is- you can grab the attention of your users precisely in the time of their need. By subtly encouraging their impulse to invest in your company at a specific time, you open doors of possibilities for generating comparatively more significant revenue.

Geolocation apps are thus an exception way to impact your profitability. Nothing is more appealing to users than to see you offer services at their doorstep. Not only do you gain their trust, but you also build long-term relationships with them. This, in turn, allows you to get an edge over Geolocation in your business. 

Coordinate Your Offline and Online Business 

Businesses that include a brick-and-mortar establishment, along with an online presence, can benefit maximally from a geolocation-based application. This is, moreover, the most ideal and effortless way of building your business. Along with incorporating this feature, you are improving the satisfaction of your customers by allowing them to tag your brand in their social media posts. This further offers optimal exposure to your business is highly influential in terms of getting more people to notice you. 

Gather Customer Data 

Another one of the prime benefits of incorporating Geolocation into your applications is that it lets you collect and analyze customer data. Your customers are unquestionably a pivotal factor that determines the success of your business. Gathering their data only gets simpler when your application is integrated with a location-based service.

Collecting data refers to anything and everything from lifestyle and physical updates. Tracking the demographics of your customers will help you design a strong advertising plan. This will only benefit your brand in generating revenues and broadening its horizons over time. 

Technologies That Support Geolocation Applications 

Developing a location-based application requires you to integrate gel-detecting technology as well as maps. Here are two primary geo-detecting types that you should be familiar with. 

Outdoor Navigation 

Outdoor geolocation applications allow users to see their location, offer assistance in helping them reach the desired destination through the fastest route, and build maximally-reliable routes. Apps make use of Cell IF coordinates or GPS for identifying user location. 

1. Cell ID- Cellular information briefly discovers the location depending on different signals from neighboring cellular towers. 

2. GPS- GPS is a prominent and famous technology that uses the signals received through satellites for detecting the position of a user. 

3. Assisted GPS- Lastly, A-GPS uses Cell-ID to boost the quality of the GPS signal. 

Indoor Navigation 

Indoor navigation typically refers to the technology that identifies user position indoors and further steers them via distinguishing facilities. Let’s look at different elements the tech market of indoor navigation offers. 

1. Geofencing– Geofencing refers to a location-based service that utilizes Wi-Fi, GPS, or cellular data for driving action on users’ devices when entering a particular area. Thus, when a device detects these areas, the app can send targeted ads, push notifications, text messages, etc. 

2. IBeacon and Eddystone– As previously mentioned, beacons are the cornerstones of indoor navigation. Eddystone is a product of Google, and iBeacon was built by Apple. Both these technologies use BLE (Bluetooth low energy) to engage with distinguishing user devices. 

3. Wi-Fi- Wi-Fi hotspots are additionally used for navigating indoors as they are cost-effective and don’t require you to invest in additional navigation beacons. 

Also Read: A Complete Guide to API Development: Process, Tools and All You Need To Know

Industries that Can Leverage Geolocation For Attaining Business Success

Geolocation is no novel concept. However, it requires a lot of creativity, modern technologies, and premium-quality software; companies can not only ease the experiences of their users but can further offer some of the most exceptional solutions. Take a look below at some of the industries that should consider adding Geolocation to their applications. 

1. On-Demand Services 

Geolocation is one of the most pivotal features that the on-demand transportation industry has been using for transforming itself. Moreover, users can conveniently book Ubers and other taxi services by marketing a destination they wish to go to with taxi booking app development. This has made it easy for the customers and the drivers. Several similar examples under this industry prove just how hassle-free of task delivery or taxi services have become due to the means of Geolocation. 

2. Retail 

Location-based advertisements are more beneficial for retailers than they might think. Your prospective clients are more likely to buy products from your brand if you’re located under a range of 100 meters from their home or present location. Moreover, several retail giants can steer potential customers to their stores through their applications. 

3. Automotive 

The advancement of cars has also given rise to GPS. Modern cars all include cutting-edge software and exceptional electronic appliances. GPS has become a crucial element of almost every automobile’s multimedia system. However, Geolocation is far more advantageous than just its ability to enhance multimedia systems. It is now used for tracking a vehicle’s location when in the field, optimizing fleet routes, minimizing maintenance costs, monitoring vehicle conditions, and much more.

4. Hotels and Restaurants 

Each and every hotel and hospitality application primarily revolves around Geolocation. Every app that you might come across under this industry offers a map including the closest accommodation options. Moreover, restaurants can even share their respective locations with customers. Not only this, but geolocation-based applications have made it quite effortless for customers to reserve a table at the closest restaurant. 

5. Logistics and Supply Chain 

Logistics and supply chain is one of the biggest industries that use Geolocation for adding value to businesses. Businesses can heavily monitor each cargo item transported by the sky, ground, or sea with the help of GPS modules. Furthermore, it is also helping customers gain sufficient information on their orders. 

6. Social Networks and Messengers 

It goes without saying that social networks leverage Geolocation in not one but a myriad of ways. A few of the most common features of Geolocation that you might have noticed is the ability is to share your current location with your friends, add the location in your posts, or even utilize it for targeted ads. 

7. Fitness and Healthcare 

Fitness apps make use of Geolocation to help users track their daily fitness activities. Healthcare apps, on the other hand, are able to help their users find solutions when they are in need of a doctor.  

8. Internet of Things 

In the context of consumer IoT, Geolocation works wondrously to optimize routine tasks. Industrial IoT-related companies must ensure watching out for expensive equipment. In situations of accidents, companies can essentially situate drones through GPS and further manually bring them back. 

9. Indoor Navigation 

Indoor geolocation apps play a major role in helping users carefully navigate inside huge facilities. The technology, namely beacons (small transmitters), makes this possible. These transmitters engage with your respective users through Bluetooth and simultaneously identify their position parallel to the neighboring beacons. 

10. Games 

Several games gained peak popularity due to their ability to Geolocation. Pokemon GO, for example, came into the limelight due to its very combination of augmented reality and Geolocation. The game’s primary objective was to locate Pokemons in real-world streets and simultaneously combat other players’ Pokemons for territories. Many games have very successfully implemented the concept of Pokemon and have taken maximal advantage of Geolocation. 

How to Develop a Geolocation Application

Now that you’re familiar with everything that you need to know about Geolocation, here are the steps that go behind developing a geolocation application.

Step 1: Conduct a Thorough Market Research 

The first and most crucial step when building a navigation app is to do meticulous market research to find out if developing a location-based app is really worth it. Start by analyzing the type of app that you wish to create and further do an in-depth analysis of the market and your competing companies. Doing sufficient research is the only way to understand what solution you need to create for your customers.

Next, make sure to go through the existing solutions. Go through popular geo-based apps, what are their strengths, and ultimately- what are their weaknesses. Note down these elements so that you can use them as a means to enhance the features and functionality of your app. 

Step 2- Collaborate with a Reputed Tech Partner 

The next factor that you just consider is to find a reputed and top-quality tech partner. Do enough research on the experience and expertise of the vendor and further outsource the geolocation app development either to other countries or create an in-house team depending on your budget, availability, and other factors. 

Step 3: Identify and Understandable the Primary Features 

It’s now efficient to identify and understand the features that you must incorporate into your geolocation app so that it offers only the most seamless experience to your users. Minimum viable product development is a great way to start determining your focal features. It can help you monitor the efficiency of your idea without you having to invest any money to create a fully-functional app.

A few features that might enhance your geo-location app include- 

• GPS Coordinates 
• Map Integration  
• Location Tracking 
• Notifications 
• Suggestions 
• Voice Guide 

Step 4: Create Appealing UI/ UX Design 

No customer is attracted to poorly-designed apps. Designing an aesthetically-pleasing, intuitive, and operational navigation system plays a quintessential role in geolocation app development. Make sure that you are unique and create elements such as buttons, tabs, flash components, and so on to grab the attention of your users. Make sure that you choose only the most ideal and appealing fonts, colors, and icons, to design your app. 

Step 5: Choose Appropriate Technologies 

The next important step is to determine the fundamental features your geolocation app must have and which technologies and tools you must use for integrating these features. Some of the famous tools that experts across the globe utilize include- Google Places API, Apple MapKit, Core Location API, and Google Maps API for iOS, and MapView Class, Mapbox, Google Location Services API, and Googles Maps API for android. 

Step 6: It’s Time to Design Your App

Now that you have sufficient information and have determined the key features your app must include, it’s time to develop your geolocation app. It’s essential that you classify your mobile application development process into small parts known as sprints. This can make your journey of creating your app much more organized and less challenging.

Step 7: Release Your App 

Lastly, once your app is functional, you can release it to deliver some of the most high-quality customers to further gather feedback on your customers. Utilize this piece of information to enhance the features of your app. 

Bottom Line

Location-based applications carry great significance and require you to determine your core objectives and include in-depth planning, along with a systematically designed strategy. Thus, it is vital that you follow each and every step of creating your geo-location app carefully. With enough effort and time, your geo-location app will open up doors of opportunities for your brand.