iOS 7.1 to fix issue with geolocation in force-closed apps

According to developers, the beta versions of iOS 7.1 fix an issue with location-based apps that lose their ability to track location when force-closed by a user. In the latest iOS 7.1 beta, this issue has been resolved and applications remain location aware even when closed by a user, says a report in MacRumors.This allegedly has been issue for developers since the release of iOS 7 last fall. More than an inconvenience, the issue has allegedly hurt apps ratings and review scores as users leave negative reviews when the app suddenly stops tracking location without any apparent reason. MacRumors spoke to Life360, an app that lets users track family members using geolocation, about this issue and obtained a letter that the Life360 team and other developers sent to Apple. “Dear Apple iOS Development Team, We are a group of Apple developers who rely on iOS geolocation services for core parts of our businesses. iOS 7 was hugely exciting to us, as new features such as Location Beacons, Background Networking, and Multi-Peer Connectivity give us the ability to do things we never thought were possible. In previous versions of iOS, if a user killed an application in the app switcher, developers were still able to get geolocation in the background. With iOS 7, once a user kills an application, all processes are terminated until the user manually restarts the app. We appreciate the intent behind this change, which we realize was done to give users more control over what is running on their phones, but it has caused major unintended consequences. … Many developers who rely on background geolocation have seen their app ratings fall by over 3 stars.” According to Life360, the developers noticed a change in iOS 7.1 beta 5 that changed the way iOS handles geolocation is force-closed apps. In this latest beta, the location services component of the app continues to run in the background even though the app has been closed down. Some users may not like this changes as those who take the time to use the force-close method of shutting down apps, do it deliberately because they don’t want the app running in the background. These power users may be perturbed that a part of the app is always sitting in the background and can’t be turned off without shutting down location services in the settings. Additional details will be made available once iOS 7.1 lands in the coming weeks. The public release is rumored to land on iPhone and iPads in March. Continue reading →

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