Now, developers can easily create location-aware apps for iPhone and Android without compromising battery life with the help of Esri’s Geotrigger Service. The cloud-hosted geofencing platform sends push notifications to a remote server when a device enters or exits an area. Developers working on location-based apps can now receive real-time location tracking, geofencing, and messaging tools. At present only beta version of the service is available. The beta Geotrigger Service is available at no cost and feedback from developers will be used to shape the official release in 2014.
The Geotrigger Service allows apps built on the Esri location platform to quickly gather business intelligence such as where people are and when the app is used. Developers can also design apps that send messages to users when they arrive at or leave areas defined by a geofence.
How it works: An invisible area drawn on a map is set to have an action or message associated with it. When your mobile device crosses into the ‘trigger zone’ the Geotrigger Service sends a location-based message to that device, or even notifies your server for custom events.
The Geotrigger Service runs in the cloud. That means one has to just add the Geotrigger SDK to their application, set up push notifications, and associate their client ID with the service. Finally, define their geofences, push notifications into the service, and begin testing their location-aware apps.
The Geotrigger Service provides a new level of functionality to apps. The apps can now easily send messages to users when they arrive at or leave areas you define with a geofence. And, quickly gather business intelligence such as where people are and what time it is when the app is used.
The service can send messages to devices or notify the server so that one can implement custom actions when triggers are fired. One can use the Geotrigger API to programmatically create a collection of triggers based on existing data sets, or allow users to create their own triggers.
Who can use Geotrigger?
- Retail & Loyalty: Engage customers with personalised content and deals the moment they enter a store.
- Real Estate: Send messages to prospective home buyers when their search criterion matches a home nearby.
- Energy Management: Use your location to automatically manage power consumption.
- Tourism: Bring public attractions to life by informing tourists of interesting locations as they explore your city.
- Public Alerts: Notify citizens about events such as road closures or civic emergencies based on past locations.
