Programming the iPhone User Experience

Location Awareness

The iPhone gives developers several methods of detecting the physical location of a device. This is by far one of its most innovative features and has helped create many new business models and usage patterns. Developers have released location-aware applications ranging from social network clients to restaurant review tools to mapping applications to games.

The framework used for adding location awareness to an application is called Core Location, and it is a powerful and impressive toolset. It also comes with a price and some limitations. For example, finding the location of a device takes a lot of power, potentially leading to battery drainage. The more accurate the request, the more power is used. Battery life is a constant concern for developers of mobile applications, and Core Location forces developers to balance their needs with the desire to minimize power use. This is one reason that a turn-by-turn navigation system is a challenge for the iPhone.

Another trade-off when you add Core Location support to an application is the increased risk of feature fatigue. Feature fatigue is the feeling that a product or tool—such as an iPhone application—has too many options and is too complex. One of the differentiators of the Mac and iPhone user experience over other platforms is the clarity and sense of purpose in high-quality applications. Apple users tend to prefer smaller, more polished feature sets to larger, less elegant software.

A final downside to adding Core ...