Loopt works around Apple, AT&T to add always-on location tracking for iPhone
When location-based social network Loopt debuted its early-to-market iPhone app last year, then-VentureBeat writer MG Siegler dubbed it “nifty, but crippled.” The handicap: Apple wouldn’t let Loopt’s app run in the background while you used other apps or pocketed your phone. Apple blocks apps from running in the background to keep them from running down the phone’s battery. So if you were on the move, Loopt didn’t keep up with your changing location.
Loopt’s engineers and partners have come up with a clever workaround they’re launching today in a limited beta trial: Loopt’s servers, rather than the app on your iPhone, periodically ping AT&T’s servers to get your phone’s latest location info. If your location changes to be near something Loopt knows you’re interested in, or if one of your Loopt friends appears nearby, Loopt sends a text message to your iPhone.
“It’s been the most-requested feature our users asked for, for a while now,” Loopt CEO Sam Altman told me over the phone. “We think it’s going to be a big hit.” It sounds simple, but Altman says it was tricky to implement, requiring several partners to work together. I got some of the tech details on background. It definitely wasn’t a one-day project.
Other apps will no doubt sprout this same background functionality, but not overnight. For now, Loopt is ahead of the pack.
Come see the most promising new technologies unveiled for the first very time at DEMOfall 09 this September 21-23 in San Diego. VentureBeat readers may register to attend the conference at a special 20% discount off our regular rate. Register now at: http://www.demo.com/f9vb2
Next Story: With Dolby Axon surround sound, listen to 50 players chat at once
Previous Story: Sonos lets you flood the Twitterverse with Tweets about what you’re listening to
About the Author, Paul Boutin
Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
-
quikness
-
KipHouston