Location data has slowly but surely become a huge part of everyday life. We see and experience its effects all the time, sometimes without even noticing. If you log on to social media and see that your friend just “checked in” at a museum with their family, for example, or if you use a jogging app to chart the distance and route of your runs, it’s all thanks to location technology.
There are many different uses and benefits of this kind of technology, and we’re seeing it integrate more and more industries and an increasing number of aspects of day-to-day life as well. This guide will go over some of the many examples of location technology in action today, showing just how prevalent this tech has become, while also demonstrating that it still has a long way to go.
Map Apps
Arguably the biggest and best example of geolocation technology in action is in map apps. These apps have largely replaced traditional paper maps of the past, making it really quick, easy, and convenient for people to find their way around, and statistics show that the leading map apps are routinely used by tens of millions of users in the US and countless more across the globe.
Financial Protection
The finance industry has been a big adopter of location-based technology tools and services, with many big banks and financial institutions now making use of location data to prevent fraud by checking where users are accessing their servers from and restricting access to suspicious visitors from locations that don’t seem to match with the user records.
Safety and Security Apps
Geolocation data is also being used to save lives and help people stay safe in dangerous situations, thanks to the development of safety and security location-tracking apps. There are apps, for example, that can track a user’s movement and the location at night, letting friends and family check up on them and ensure that they get home safely when traveling alone, as well as apps for parents to keep track of their kids.
Fitness Apps
We’re also seeing geolocation data play an increasingly large part in the fitness industry. There are now fitness apps you can download to your phone or other devices to track your runs, jogs, or walks. These apps can use location data, combined with map databases, to create visual representations of a walk around the park, showing the route taken, calculating the distance, working out the number of calories burned, and inspiring people to train even harder.
Ordering Online
A lot of shopping is happening online in the modern era, with many people preferring to place orders from the comfort of their own homes or while on the go, rather than actually visiting brick and mortar stores in the traditional sense. It’s also common for buyers to request to pick up their orders from local stores or other locations. Geolocation data plays a massive part in this, as it can automatically detect a user’s location and find the nearest, most convenient pick-up points for them to choose from.
Delivery Services
If you don’t want to shop in person or pick up your orders in-store, you can also get them delivered directly to your door, and once again, location data is changing the game here. In the past, it might have been tricky or inconvenient to get a delivery, as you never know when exactly it will arrive. These days, with the help of geolocation, it’s possible for customers to track delivery vans and see exactly how far away they are, making it far more convenient to get items delivered to your house whenever you want.
Reviews
These days, when people visit a location, be it a museum, a theme park, a local coffee shop, or something totally different, they can easily share their opinions on their visit in the form of a user review. This concept has been around for years but has seen a huge surge in popularity, thanks to the help of geolocation data. With location services built right into smartphones, it’s never been easy for people to “check-in” at the places they visit and be prompted to write little reviews that can help businesses grow and provide recommendations for others.
Final Word
These are just some of the many ways in which geolocation data is being used today, and the concept of location technology is still young, with a lot of progress ahead of it and countless more exciting applications still to be developed.