Mobile SDK Updates

The Colocator mobile library is in continuous development and improvement for both iOS and Android. From feature improvements to battery optimisation and smart ways to collect data, we are always keeping an eye on new mobile OS versions and technologies that would enable us to provide more insight.

Battery consumption

Battery consumption is a key concern for our library and significant improvements have been made in version 2.5 (for both iOS and Android), decreasing the CPU usage by up to 50%. These changes do not affect the quality or quantity of data collected, they are efficiency improvements throughout the library. There are standard battery tests being run periodically for effective monitoring of any changes and observing where and how the library can be improved even more.

Background Location

Since iOS 13 introduced a different way of getting background location permission, we had to create an innovative way of asking for the permission upgrade at the right time and the right place. Therefore new features like Geofencing, Silent Push Notification, and Background Refresh were introduced for running the library and the data collection only when the user is present at an event. These new features require just a few lines of code to be written in your app, and all the magic happens behind the curtain.

Indoor Positioning and Navigation

A game-changing feature introduced in the last few months is Indoor Positioning and Navigation which combines Beacons with the Motion and Fitness data in a custom algorithm, providing accurate and real-time results. The entire user journey around an indoor environment is available on device and on our servers, allowing for real-time navigation, a real-time aggregated view, and post-event analysis.

New Documentation

We know how important it is for a developer to have clear and simple documentation when integrating a new library. That’s why we rebuilt, from scratch, the Developer Documentation in a better manner. More self-explanatory, intuitive, simple and containing app samples for each integration. Also, an FAQ section was introduced to reduce back-and-forth communication. You can find the new developer documentation here https://developers.colocator.net/mobile/

New Plugins and Modules

A React Native module and a Cordova Plugin containing the Colocator library were recently created and our plans for the near future are to continue building modules/plugins for other frameworks like Xamarin, extending the possibilities for Colocator integration and making developers lives easier.