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icing

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2009
46
0
Hi guys,

I have searched all over the web for information regarding iBeacons in iOS 7. It is really hard to find any good information on what exactly is possible with this new API.

Do any of you guys know anything about it? Why isn't Apple pushing it harder? Why do we have to buy weird third party beacons from companies like Estimote? I really find it strange.

I'd like to know exactly how it would work in real world usage. Will it send a push notification to my screen like pass book, when I get within a certain proximity of the beacon? And are these notifications possible to disable in iOS 7?
Does Bluetooth have to be enabled for it to work?

For mobile payments and such, would it be necessary to open an app that awaits some input from a beacon? Or would the OS communicate with the beacon regardless of what apps are open?

I'm thinking about actual use cases for mobile payments, public travel cards and stuff like that.

I have read articles on all the popular blogs and sites, but they don't clarify the above questions.

I appreciate any help :)
 

JonHimself

macrumors 68000
Nov 3, 2004
1,553
5
Toronto, Ontario
The only things I've read relate to advertising (in-store promos for stores) and making payments. It will be interesting to see how they approach disabling them... if you have the option to opt-out I would imagine most people would do so either right away or perhaps after receiving their first pop-up ad. If you can opt-out and most people do, it would probably be hard to get retailers on-board with using them knowing that most won't see them.

I would think they would like - and probably integrate with - Passbook - both for payments and advertising - in that they show up on your lockscreen and give you somethign to swipe that shows a code.

I'd be more interested in seeing them used for personal use similar to NFC tags. I'd like to see them integrate with the WeMo or Hue lights (or any other home automation stuff) or even with my devices so that getting in my car turns on Bluetooth, changes the brightness, activates iOS in the Car (if/when that is a thang), etc etc.

Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see much in terms of demos/highlighting of features until iOS 8 or 9.
 

icing

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2009
46
0
The only things I've read relate to advertising (in-store promos for stores) and making payments. It will be interesting to see how they approach disabling them... if you have the option to opt-out I would imagine most people would do so either right away or perhaps after receiving their first pop-up ad. If you can opt-out and most people do, it would probably be hard to get retailers on-board with using them knowing that most won't see them.

I think you have to have an app installed to be able to receive push notifications, so that would be one way of opting out of advertising - just don't install the app.

I can see a great use case for museums and such, where location specific information is very important.

I think it works like Pass Book, where it displays a notification on the user's screen, when a certain proximity (defined in the app) is reached and/or the user reaches a triangulated position.

I'm just not sure if the app has to run in the background in iOS 7 for this to work correctly. I quite sure the point of iBeacons is that it doesn't have to be running all the time. But that's one of the things I'm trying to find out.
 

Curun

macrumors 6502
Sep 10, 2013
314
1
Hi guys,

I have searched all over the web for information regarding iBeacons in iOS 7. It is really hard to find any good information on what exactly is possible with this new API.

Do any of you guys know anything about it? Why isn't Apple pushing it harder? Why do we have to buy weird third party beacons from companies like Estimote? I really find it strange.

I'd like to know exactly how it would work in real world usage. Will it send a push notification to my screen like pass book, when I get within a certain proximity of the beacon? And are these notifications possible to disable in iOS 7?
Does Bluetooth have to be enabled for it to work?

For mobile payments and such, would it be necessary to open an app that awaits some input from a beacon? Or would the OS communicate with the beacon regardless of what apps are open?

I'm thinking about actual use cases for mobile payments, public travel cards and stuff like that.

I have read articles on all the popular blogs and sites, but they don't clarify the above questions.

I appreciate any help :)
http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/09/paypal-beacon-hands-free-payments/
Watch the videos.

You can disable Background App Updates, might kill functionality.
Turning off Bluetooth definitely will.

I have effectively an iBeacon installed in my car's OBDII port. http://www.automatic.com

I also found it strange Apple didn't push harder. The Paypal HandsFree annoucement came out a day or two before the big iPhone 5S keynote. I fully expected to see Apple talk it up and have other partners on tap.

*crickets* Was disappointed.

----------

I can see a great use case for museums and such, where location specific information is very important.

I'm waiting for this. The first museum to have it. Download their app.

Walk around. BT beacons have a range of 10s of feet.
Could know your location based on proximity to beacons (indoors) where GPS doesn't work.
And allow easy access to huge amount of text and interactive content to coincide with the exibits.
 
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