iBeacon Works Without Apps Running
When Apple launched iOS7.1 on 10th March it came packed with a number of new enhancements. The most exciting one for us is the game-changing improvement to iBeacon.
Now, an app will search for nearby beacons even if the app isn’t running.
Why is this important?
When iOS7 was launched, it provided phones and tablets with the ability to interact with Bluetooth Beacons and act as beacons themselves. This features kickstarted the excitement and application of proximity marketing and proximity based experiences. Businesses are able to deliver interactions to customers through their devices, such as a coupon or additional product information.
At that time, iOS devices were only capable of locating beacon signals if apps were running in the background at minimum. In order for businesses to leverage beacons to deliver messages or content to customers, customers had to have their app open or running in the background.
Currently, with iOS7.1, all apps that are iBeacon enabled will listen for beacons even if the app is not open on a user’s device. If customers are browsing through a mall, iBeacon-enabled apps can waken their device with a push notification.
Users are still able to opt out of this by turning Bluetooth off, turning location services off, or deleting the app.
Delivering Value Through Context
Just because this iOS7.1 update makes it easy for businesses to deliver content to customers doesn’t mean that they should abuse this privilege. The idea behind iBeacon is to provide customers with a renewed and enjoyable experience – be it shopping or browsing.
If businesses continuously spam customers with message after message, they could instantly delete the app. Once an app is deleted, there’s a very slim chance it will ever be reinstalled again. Right away, businesses lose this channel of engaging customers with proximity based experiences.
The important thing for every business or developer to consider is in content delivery. Do the different interactions you want to provide via iBeacon technology enhance the customer experience? Are the interactions timely, relevant, and valuable?
We talked about best practices in our iBeacon Webinar and shared insight on to leverage iBeacon in business. which you can watch the segment here.
Test iBeacon Today
With the new update, there’s even a greater incentive for businesses to get on board with delivering proximity based experiences to customers. We’re officially selling Bluetooth Beacons called GemTots, which are licensed iBeacon Technology that come in the form of a USB device. Visit https://passkit.com/buy-ibeacon/ to get your beacons today!
Your Questions, Answered
Let us know what you think of this new development on our mobile wallet and iBeacon forum. If you have any questions, be sure to check out our iBeacon 101 Guide or drop us a line on our forum.
