Apple may have solved the issue of tracking users when indoors with a new app called Indoor Survey.
GPS tracking has become an important part of everyday life, enabling us to navigate from one location to the next using our smartphones.
However, one persistent issue remains – continuing to track a person’s location whilst they’re indoors. It’s a problem Apple may have just cracked.
App developer Steve Troughton-Smith has spotted a new Apple app on the App Store called Indoor Survey. The app enables indoor positioning within a venue without the need of special equipment like Apple’s own iBeacons.
“By dropping ‘points’ on a map within the Survey App, you indicate your position within the venue as you walk through,” reads the app blurb. “As you do so, the indoor Survey App measures the radio frequency (RF) signal data and combines it with an iPhone’s sensor data. The end result is indoor positioning without the need to install special hardware.”
In other words, the app enables your iPhone to situate you by reading local radio signals from Wi-Fi and and phone networks, in conjunction with the iPhone’s own sensors.
Related: Best sat nav 2015
As Apple Insider points out, this use of technology appears likely to have stemmed from WifiSLAM, a Wi-Fi based interior location start-up Apple acquired in 2013.
Indoor Survey is only available via a direct App Store link, which means you won’t find it if you search for it.
Check out our iOS 9 features video:
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
