A location-based social network is not going to truly take off on the iPhone until it can run in the background. You know it, I know it, and even Loopt, which makes such an app, knows it. That’s why they’ve done something about it.
Beginning today, Loopt is rolling out a trial for background location on the iPhone. Yes, you read that right.
If you’ve been following the iPhone at all over the past couple of years, you’re undoubtedly asking yourself how this is possible, since the device does not allow third party apps to run in the background. Has Apple changed its mind about background apps? Not yet. Instead, Loopt is partnering with other companies in the mobile industry for what it’s calling “Always-On Location Service.”
Loopt co-founders Sam Altman and Alok Deshpande would not disclose the names of any of these partners, noting that the system set up to make this happen is very “complex” and involves a number of players. But at least one of them has to be AT&T, which is, of course, the network the iPhone runs on. Loopt, which seems to be particularly good at carrier relationships, has cut deals with AT&T in the past.
What this means is that these guys have gotten around the iPhone’s limitation by keeping a pipeline open on AT&T’s side that is constantly sending your location data to Loopt. This doesn’t require any app to be running on your iPhone — not even Loopt — and the location data will be sent even when you’re on a call or surfing the web on your iPhone. Most importantly, because there is no app required to do this, it doesn’t drain your battery life, Altman tells us.
So what does Apple think about all of this? Altman refused to comment on that, but given the cordial relationship Loopt has had with Apple (being featured both at WWDC last year and in an iPhone commercial), it seems likely that the two sides at least talked about this before Loopt pulled the trigger. That said, because no application is actually involved in this process, it looks like Loopt has essentially found a loophole around Apple on this one.
Privacy will undoubtedly be a major concern with such a feature. But Altman notes that you have to go to a website to actually sign up for this, and you can turn it off or on at anytime on that site or via an SMS message. And he believes some of privacy concerns will fade as people get used to such services. “The future of location-based services is always-on,” he says.
I agree, this seems like a huge win for Loopt (well, if users are okay with paying for the service, more on that below). I’ll be using it a lot more now because first of all, I don’t actually have to open the app to update — but more importantly, none of my contacts will either. So oddly, I probably will be opening the app itself more now too because of that. And eventually, you could see such background location functionality playing a roll in advertising on the iPhone.
They way this will work is that you will be able to receive alerts (emails or text messages) when people or places of interest are nearby to your current location. Loopt can also now build what it calls a “Life Graph” for you — basically, keep a log of where you’ve been. Again, this will be opt-in.
Altman would not comment on if its competitors like Whrrl or Brightkite could also strike similar deals, but Deshpande confirms that no one else is offering this (at least not yet). And Loopt is getting ready to come out with a version 2.0 of its iPhone app that should take on other competitors like Foursquare.
As it seems clear that AT&T is the key factor in making something like this happen, it’s nice to see them doing something innovative to actually help their iPhone customers get a feature that many of us have long wanted. Assuming it works well, it might even be enough to make us forget the whole months-late MMS thing.
But this good news has a price. $3.99 a month, to be specific, which users can sign up for on this site. Initially, Loopt is going to limit the trial to 5,000 testers.
Disclosure: Loopt offers a TechCrunch branded version of the service here.
[photo: flickr/Rev Dan Catt]
Very cunning. A brave move to risk antagonising the company that creates the hardware which their app runs on.
Good luck to them, Loopt is a great app.
powerful product using a domain that walks with a limp.
Loopt a mobile social mapping application rolling out a trial for background location on the iPhone.
But a big question rises to the iPhone users,how has Apple changed its mind about background apps?
Loopt is just partnering with other companies in the mobile industry for what it’s calling Always-On Location Service has cut relationship with AT&T. But it’s nice to see AT&T doing something innovative to actually help their iPhone customers get a feature that many of us have long wanted through Loopt.
Apple is taking their customers into a great deal!
Nice App. But there are many other iPhone apps which track the location. Will this third party app be a special one? Also it is good that AT&T is constantly improvising to gain the iPhone users trust and extend the agreement with Apple without any interruption.
I hope the updates are encrypted. Also, AT&T, as you state, is likely involved but I’m surprised they agreed to this since it is more data riding on their network which seems to be a concern at the moment.
Harry “Loopt should open this up as an API all can use” Wang
$3.99/month. Yikes.
Harry “need to read it all before posting” Wang
When the people ask for their own slavery, then we know we got ‘em
I love being tracked, no wait, what did the PR say? oh, I mean I love showing my friends and family where I am
“Q: How accurate are the location updates and how often will they occur?
A: Location accuracy can vary from a few hundred yards to a few miles depending upon the distance to the nearest cell tower. Updates usually occur once every 1 to 2 hour”
So they don’t use the built in GPS for location data? No thanks.
Guess using built in GPS means having an app running in background..probably someone from Loopt can provide more info. Also If they are doing it without having an app running, it means AT&T is sharing the location data with Loopt for the folks who are registered Loopt users and have signed up for this service.
I don’t understand the “technical part”..
(keeping a pipeline open that is constantly sending out your location data)
someone here knows how it works?
Your cell phone always knows where you are because it connects from tower to tower so you always have a connection and it automatically switches from one cell antenna to another. It isn’t as accurate as GPS as far as I know, but by triangulating multiple towers they can get a fairly accurate idea of where you are.
On short, this has _nothing_ do to with “keeping a pipeline open” to your phone, it is all about Loopt cutting a deal with AT&T whereby subscribers who sign up are consenting to have AT&T share its tower location info for that subscriber with Loopt. There is nothing iPhone specific about this other than the fact that Loopt probably only has a deal with AT&T right now and if you are an iPhone user then AT&T is your carrier.
More astonishing features you get the more you are vulnerable to. Apple MAX OS X 10.6 also came with a Antivirus so to say, and now iPhone is in row. Security is becoming a major concern and solid steps are needed to eradicate it, otherwise Apple will loose its Customers a great deal.
You had me until $3.99 per month.
or – scrape mobile me.
http://clickont...bileme-scraper/
It’s AT&T LBS of course:
http://www.wire...ed-services.jsp
Yes, just cell tower information. Turing on the GPS does cause power drain. But it is a smart move.
Will Loopt’s “solution” work outside the USA?
nope, at least not right now.
The ekit Travel Journal offers location tracking in over 140 countries using any old GSM phone and doesn’t require an application.
Our focus is on international travelers so we wanted a solution that won’t flatten your phone’s battery while you’re out wandering around for a day.
We use similar technology and others to source cell tower information to identify peoples’ location.
Rupert
I guess the technical details would have to wait – but the explanation in the blog post defies all laws of physics.
If the device has an always on connection/pipeline, and it is actively tracking GPS or WiFi based location and constantly transmitting data – it *will* use/drain battery.
One way would be location data served by AT&T on the server side using a Location Server and made available to 3rd party apps to do lookups against. The carrier already has intrinsic information about a devices location. Client apps would then be written to include a device identifier in , say, the header information send via HTTP, which based on permissions, could be used to enable this lookup.
There are also variants of the Y! FireEagle location broker that could be leveraged where multiple applications could agree to pool their updates so each application does not always have to track/transmit location.
pipeline is open on at&t/other partners side – on the iphone only in the sense that the mobile signal is always on (or should be). doesn’t use GPS or WiFi, using at&t/partner location data, which makes it slightly less effective.
I don’t see how this would antagonize Apple. Apple’s reason for not allowing background apps has to do with the conservation of battery life, not some general predisposition against background functionality.
It sounds like some kind of system that doesn’t truly track your phone, but triangulates/guesses your location based on your current/last cell tower connections. Like e911 services.
It’s pretty simple – as already pointed out they’re using AT&T’s location data from the network. It has nothing to do with the phone at all – and could be done on any phone really, and could be done by any company as well (who partners up with AT&T (and pays) for the access).
https://familym...ily/welcome.htm
Locle already provides background location tracking on iPhone and any other phone that does not support background apps, such as Nokia S40 feature phones, using Location Based Services of operators (wireless carriers) like AT&T in the US, O2 in UK, Orange in France etc.
There is a cost, but it’s passed on to the end user, as with Loopt.
sounds like AT&T is pinging Loopt’s servers directly…
Let’s “jargonize” this; take your pick:
– AWOL (Always aWare Of Location)
– ALA (Always Location-Aware)
And don’t forget to monetize it; self-serve interface available at: http://www.adlocal.biz
Just because there isn’t an app doesn’t mean it won’t drain battery. If any of it is occuring phone side, such as the phone’s GPS or the phone uploading to a server where you are “even if you’re making a call” it will drain battery.
This isn’t reported correctly. It’s obvious MG doesn’t understand what he’s writing about here.
the only thing occurring on the phone side is when at&t/whatever service pings your phone with messages, the rest is just based on your always-on connection that your phone (as a phone) already offers. not really that hard to understand.
iLocalis already does all of this for free.
http://www.ilocalis.com/
Wow, and all I have to do is jailbreak my phone? What a deal!
This is really exciting news. This means you no longer need to do things like “check in” at a location, people will just know. Thumbs up!
Sounds pretty cool, especially so I can keep tabs on my 9 year old with his iPhone.
can you adopt me as your 27 year old son? I’d like an iPhone
This is pretty simple todo and even in Pakistan we have location based services which utilizes cell tower information provided by operator to application and hence requires nothing on the phone to run.
However this information is an approximation of user location based on the nearest cell tower which user is currently handshaking with.
There is nothing too complex as loopt founders are saying , well they would in order to make it look an uphill task for others
We do tons of value added services for telecom operatos in pacific asia region and pretty clear on what’s needed to accomplish this.
From Loopt:
Q: How accurate are the location updates and how often will they occur?
A: Location accuracy can vary from a few hundred yards to a few miles depending upon the distance to the nearest cell tower. Updates usually occur once every 1 to 2 hours.
Sounds more like a Loopthole to me…
Show of hands of who uses loopt?
A few years ago:
“What?! You have put your CV ONLINE ?!?!!”
Today:
“Our HR department couldn’t find anything on you on Facebook. What are you HIDING, Sir?”
Today:
“What?! You let people TRACK you all the time ?!?!!”
In a few years:
“Our company has lost your signal from 3-4 pm, yesterday. Where were you and did you disable your signal ON PURPOSE?!?!!”
Good article as always MG. Here’s my take. As far as a good way to create a revenue stream for themselves and AT&T, this is a smart move. However, as many commenters have already pointed out, cell tower triangulation really doesn’t make this all that special. Best case scenario is that I have some idea where my friends are in a city/area but I will have not have any idea what they are up to unless they check in somewhere (this is somewhat true even for GPS as street address doesn’t necessarily tell me what my friends are up to, but obviously it’s much more precise). When an app/phone can push and allow me to verify (or best case, do the verifying itself) where I am and what I’m up to, then we’ll see a breakthrough in this space.
What loophole?. This has nothing to do with the phone app doing anything special. Operators can track any phone’s location on their network with not-so-good accuracy. These information can be obtained from the Operator for commercial/legal purpose anywhere in the world. Most Operators (including Airtel, India) supports.
They could have licensed this data from someone like Loc-Aid: http://www.loc-aid.net/
good move by at&t – this could cut them a new revenue stream moving forward if they can get enough buy in – a device agnostic utility service – implications for movement toward geolocation based advertising is good.
I signed up but did not get the SMS from AT&T activating me. Anyone?
I would actually think about doing this, but I’m not paying $4 a month so that everybody can track me.
If it were $4 a month to track all of my friends, I would consider that.
This is pretty cool. To bad you have to pay!
And historically services like this from AT&T have been a nightmare to deal with
I think now everyone understands there is no loophole or magic or iPhone backgrounding at all here. There is nothing happening client side – thus no battery drain. It’s all reported by the network towers based on things like time and angle of arrival of your basic gsm network signal.
Also AT&T is several years behind here – this has been available from other operators around the world for a long time (in a backend, b2b relationship).
No slam on MG, I know he’s got stories to write, just pointing out this has been done for years in other parts of the world and there’s no magic to it.
The real news here is that AT&T is obviously open to these types of new revenue streams by opening up this type of behind-the-wall service to third parties. Knowing AT&T, they probably didn’t want Loopt to make this overtly known out of fear of consumer backlash.
Unless and until you can explain this ‘pipeline to AT&T’, I don’t believe it for a second.
More likely, they’re going to do a deal with all the top mobile app makers to share location data. So when you fire up any participating app, all the ‘partners’ have access to that geo data. But you still need to open an app… just not necessarily the Loopt app.
“Harry “Loopt should open this up as an API all can use” Wang”
Actually, this is already open in a RESTful API. See the GSMA One API – network-based location services and geofencing. Aepona, here in sunny Belfast, is riding the charge on this to standardise all GSM carriers so these services can roam.
Loopt’s solution won’t roam.
@domr – it’s easy. You install the Loopt app on your phone. You sign up to the service. That’s it
In the background, AT&T always knows where your phone is because it’s perpetually pinging their cell towers. What they are doing is selling this information to Loopt so that even without the app open, the Loopt service knows where you are in real-time (with an acceptable lack of accuracy due to cell tower distances).
Loopt can, if they choose, push certain updates to you when you enter certain locales (geofencing) which can be advertising from partners or actually useful services.
Nice product. AT & T rocks…
Navizon does this already, with GPS updates at 10 minute intervals. Free, or a $10 version for extra features. Runs in the background just fine.
Seriously, why does anybody use a non-jailbroken phone? The thing is almost useless without a jailbreak! It’s nothing more than a pretty phone then, with no real utility.