Apple to Developers: Make Location Useful, not Just for Ads

February 12, 2010

Apple is telling iPhone application developers to make good use of location features by providing beneficial information, not just for targeted advertising.

"If you build your application with features based on a user's location, make sure these features provide beneficial information," states the guideline App Store Tip: Enhance Your App with Core Location. "If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user's location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store."

iPhone's Core Location services allow developers to access the iPhone's GPS, cell radio, and Wi-Fi systems to determine the location of the device. "The Core Location framework allows developers to build applications which know where your users are and can deliver information based on their location, such as local weather, nearby restaurants, ATMs, and other location-based information." Yet to be seen is the affect of the requirement on development of advertiser-supported programs that are offered free to users.

Developers are directed to read more about the requirement in the CLLocationManager Class Reference, as well as dowload the LocateMe sample code available in the iPhone OS Reference Library.