10 geolocation based app ideas
Leveraging the location of your app users allows you to create amazing experiences with your mobile app. Below are 10 app ideas that use geolocation.
- Mobile games
Gamifying apps can be a great way to engage app users. When you add geolocation to a mobile game, you can start to create world-wide movements as seen in games like Pokemon Go. There’s something about a game that recreates the world your living in that gets users excited. Not to mention all of the business opportunities that come from this type of game.
2. Event app
Mobile apps for networking events, conventions, and concerts have gained a lot of popularity in recent years. These apps are meant to make networking in physical settings more efficient by connecting you with other people at the event. By leveraging location with these mobile apps, you can do simple things to improve the event experience like automatically checking in attendees when they walk into the building. Hosts of the event can even use the location of mobile devices to see how people are moving through the event space and let booths know how long people are visiting for. Think of it as Google analytics for the real world. (The same concept can be used for gyms, offices, etc.)
3. Dating app
Let’s face it, dating apps can be a little weird. Two people behind a screen communicate in order to possibly meet one day. But what if you could build real-world experiences into a dating app by leveraging a user’s location? Apps like Happn use location to tell you when you happen to pass by another user on the app, allowing you to connect with someone in a real-world setting (Yes it seems awkward. But dating is awkward).
4. Tourism
Tourism is a HUGE market opportunity for location-based applications. When visiting a new city, it is always nice to have a friend who knows the best places to go. What if your phone could be that friend? Apps like NativX aim to show you the best spots in a city suggested by the people who live there. You can then use location-based notifications to show hidden gems that might otherwise be passed by.
5. Concierge service
Imagine having a concierge to your hotel or apartment at all times. By using geolocation, you can send alerts to someone walking by the packaging center that they have a package, or suggest a restaurant reservation when your users are leaving the hotel on a Friday night.
6. Reccommendation app
Recommendation apps like Yelp (aside from navigation) are some of the most popular location-based apps. By using your user’s location, you can start to see what types of places they like to go to and provide them with recommendations when they pass by stores, restaurants, events etc.
7. Smart terminal / IoT
With millions of Internet-connected devices scattered throughout the world, we can start creating some really fun experiences by leveraging the location of app users. Let’s say you want to display personalized information on a screen terminal when an app user walks up to it. All you need to know is when your user is within proximity of the device and use its API to display information on the screen.
8. Health and fitness
Getting fit in the great outdoors. Our ancestors did it for millions of years. Why not incorporate that into your fitness application? Want to present your users with a fitness challenge when he or she is at the base of a mountain? Or there is a great place to do a quick set of pull-ups around the corner? Using location is great for these types of experiences!
9. E-commerce
Where people go throughout their day tells a lot about what they need. By knowing where your users are going, you can understand and make better recommendations of what to sell to them. For example, if you notice that your user is going to the water park 5 days a week, try selling them on a new swimsuit (or some sunscreen…).
10. Navigation
Navigation is the “OG” of location-based applications. Being able to find where something is — whether it be a restaurant or even a person — has become engrained in our day to day lives through apps like Google Maps and Waze. More recently, companies have been trying to tackle the problem of indoor positioning and navigation, which requires a high level of accuracy. Something current GPS systems alone can’t achieve.
And lastly….
11. Your creation
At SpotSense, we want to make location-based applications like these easier to create. There are endless possibilities that can be achieved by leveraging your app user’s location in exciting ways. Have an idea for an app you want to create? Sign up for the SpotSense beta and start making more interactive experiences for your users!
