Incredible Geo-Location App Ideas And How To Create One

8 min readApr 23, 2020

The future is drawing near than you think.

Did You Know!

In the USA, the number of location-based service users arises to approximately double to 242 million from 2013 to 2018.

Taking into consideration the smartphone penetration rate in the USA, it has immensely opened door for numerous startups, entrepreneurs, and flourished firms across the globe. Besides, to develop an app that uses geolocation could expose your business to a potential behemoth audience.

Love it or hate it, but Geo-location is ubiquitous for 90% of the mobile apps installed on smartphones. In fact, 3G, GPS, touchscreen sensors and camera sensors are four elephants of the market on which the mobile app world is resting. So, if you are looking for an innovative and hot-idea for the location-based app, I have clutched an exclusive array of the geolocation app across distinctive verticals of industries.

Undeniably, mobile app development companies in Dubai is taking the world by storm, with their emerging technologies trending across the market. Geo-location is one such promising trend that is forecasted for revenue of $40 million by 2024 according to your MarketsandMarkets report

Debut Of Geo-Location Apps In Industry Verticals

Geo-location apps have accelerated at the speed of innovation, exceeding the scope of conventional Google/Apple maps and navigators.

If you wonder about it, it’s like finding the needle in the haystack that doesn’t use geolocation. As from default apps like Find my iPhone to Instagram, weather, Uber or Yelp. Mostly, messenger apps also proffer the potential to share your location rightly integrated within the chat.

Also, the photos in our camera roll are neatly organized by the location and date they were captured in.

So, if you are looking for more examples, then here’s how distinctive verticals have been benefiting from location-based apps.

On-Demand Apps

In the same manner to delivery services, on-demand apps often make exclusive use of GPS potential.

One of the most popular on-demand transportation apps developed by iPhone app developer like Uber relies on the user’s location to pair passengers with nearby drivers. It allows user to see whether the taxi is on the way, their approximately arriving time, environmental monitoring (when present inside the car) and the duration of the travel time.

So, if you want to start your own app from scratch integrating the location-based services, nothing fits more precisely and accurately, then partnering with Android and iOS app development service provider.

Retail

The big elephants of the market, consisting of Walmart, Target, IKEA, use geolocation tracking apps to augment their in-store experience. By using GPS data, they help their customers find the store nearest to them. Moreover, they can choose a convenient pickup or delivery location as per their comfort.

Some even consist of an indoor navigation feature that relies on Beacons instead of a conventional GPS technology.

Precisely talking, delivery services represent another famous geolocation app use case related to retail. To understand better, let’s take an example of a food delivery app like GrubHub, allowing you to track your orders being delivered in real-time.

To stand out in the crowd, you can offer this type of functionality in your any kind of app by aligning with right Android app developer or iOS geek.

Travel

No hotel booking app doesn’t have a map view, as it’s pretty easy to explain. Being able to find a good and affordable hotel nearest to your current location or the ones close to a specific point or sight is very convenient.

That is why apps like booking, Airbnb, or chain hotels like Marriot provides geolocation abilities. This feature proves to be even more critical for last-minute hotel booking apps, such as ByHours or Recharge.

Automative

GPS data from vehicles can be used in fleet management (e.g. Geotab, on fleet) or public transportation systems, to provide passengers about the latest arrival and departure timing and delays.

However, you can use geo-location for use in your personal cars.

For instance, Cobra Cars is an automative IoT product that jells with various sensors to augment the basic functionality of a car. In the amid of other capabilities, it allows you to track the vehicle’s location right within the app, helping to avoid breaches or to keep an eye on your family members who use the same car.

Social Media and Dating

As discussed above, social applications like Instagram and Snapchat also have a map view and allow you to use geotags on your post so you can view the people nearby and connect with them based on your location.

So, if you are in the urge to develop an app from this arena, it’s essential to uncover the dark clouds related to iOS and Android app development. An example, of such an approach, is happn, a local dating app.

Fitness

If you are in the habit of hitting the gym hard every Monday or a fitness freak for running/cycling, then you probably know about real-time geo-location tracking apps like Nike+, Runtastic, and Strava. They access your phone’s GPS data to map your routes, track speed, or even connect you with fellow runners in your area.

Moreover, on aligning with the right app developers in Dubai they will help you in using the geo-location feature in an app to find the nearest fitness boutique studio or a proficient trainer.

Even, you can view local feeds in video streaming fitness apps.

IoT (Internet Of Things)

In addition to the above example, there is one more cross-industry use case for apps that have geolocation abilities, and that lies within the IoT space.

Wearable devices like smartwatches and jewellery, and fitness trackers or custom tags, can be used to keep track of the user’s location. Some of the most common examples of this use case by experienced app development company are apps for running/cycling accompanied by fitness wearables (smartwatches), family safety, and even the pet care apps that use unique tags (paw Scout).

Even, you can keep an eye on your luggage with GPS-enabled devices like LugLoc.

Gaming Space

One of the most popular games of all times — Pokemon Go, makes excessive use of geo-location. Moreover, there are other examples of apps that work on location (i.e., Scavenger hunt-type games like Scavify).

How to Create a Location-Based App — A Step-By-Step Guide

Do the Market Research For Unfurl Opportunites

The first and foremost step to create a location-based app comes to the research work. The above-listed geolocation app use cases come up with an entirely new one. Talk to some potential users, and get to know the current market leaders (as well as their failed projects).

The vital key here is to find the unique benefit that will be an apple of the eye to your users and set you to stand out in the crowd from your competitors.

Put The Finger On The Right Location Technology Stack

Most of the location-based services apps rely on the default Google Maps SDK. On iOS app development, you can also make use of the native Mapkit, provided by Apple. There are also some less popular frameworks you can consider instead, e.g. HERE or Open Street Map.

In case you don’t want to rely on traditional GPS technology, you can consider using Wi-Fi, cellular networks or Beacons to identify a user’s location.

One more thing to pay attention while developing a geo-location app is to make it dynamic and trusted. Take into account that GPS-based apps can drain a user’s battery relatively quickly. Additionally, some inaccuracies are always possible with GPS technologies.

Functionalities

Some of the essential elements of apps created by leading app development company with geolocation include the following:

A map view
Route mapping
User location detection
Places near me finder

Other features will solely depend on the purpose of your app and its category. Yet, it’s essential to keep the number of features to a minimum level, at least for the first version of the app. Building an MVP is a low-risk strategy to verify your concept.

The 3'D

Data Safety

As regulations in the field of data safety become more and more strict, you can’t afford to wear a cold shoulder your app’s security, especially when it comes to such data-heavy products as location-based apps.

Make it assure, to comply with the local’s protocols in every country you want to target with your app.

Design

Designing a visual prototype of your app is another choice to validate your concept. Having an established detailed wireframe, you can pitch your idea to investors or tests its functionality/UX with your potential users.

Development

Engineering is the most time-consuming and crucial aspect of developing an app that works on geolocation. To make the process more manageable and predictive, it’s highly recommended to use Agile software development methodologies with app developers in Dubai.

The Crucial One “Testing”

Testing is commonly considered to be the last and unskippable step in the software development process (after Development to Deployment). However, the experts at xicom have found the TestDriven Deployment written approach to be quite well efficient.

Also, in this case, you write the tests even before creating the code, which results in a system that includes fewer bugs, and as such, maximizes transparency and product quality.

Getting Started With Your Trusted App Development Company

Regardless of multiple pitfalls and demurs, getting started with geolocation app development can be easy. Just contact the experts of Xicom Technologies right away at +971.529144795 or with your Free project Estimation to find the perfect application of the location-based app in your business sphere.

How to get started with your project?

The product discovery phase is the best step you can take to lay a solid foundation for the development of your project app development.

It consists of a functional specification, UX/UI design and a visual prototype that will give you a clear vision of the final product. On average, this phase requires 4–6 weeks. The product discovery phase can help you:

Outline a full scope of work and build a roadmap for the complete project
Set an affordable budget for your MVP and plan your resources accordingly
Test the waters with your audience using a visual prototype
Craft a convincing investment path
Get to know your team well

Hire a proficient Android app developer and iOS techno-wizard with hands-on experience building location-based apps from xicom and set your business abreast from the competition with a unique and scalable product.

A Healthy Reminder: As there are numerous possibilities that can be achieved by leveraging your user’s app location in exciting ways is made possible with the right talent.

So, you have an app idea you want to create?

Yes!

Start with Xicom to make your user experience and start making your user experience an unforgettable one.

Originally published at https://www.xicom.ae on April 23, 2020.