Future iPhones might be able to better tell you where people are and how to find them.
Apple has filed two new patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that could make geofencing and location sharing features significantly more useful — and borderline creepy, AppleInsider found.
The first patent, which was filed for “custom location notification,” can trigger alerts depending on where your friends and family are located in real time.
The feature would be an extension of Apple’s Find My Friends app, which lets one person track another’s whereabouts — say, a mom tracking her daughter.
If the updated technology was implemented, the mother could receive a notification when her daughter enters and leaves school.
Another application would be notifying family members when one person is near a supermarket, making it easy to send a reminder about picking up groceries.
The patent states that a person will be notified and must approve the request to be tracked by someone else. When approved, the tracker will receive updates about who they are tracking via an automated text message, email or telephone call, depending on notification preference.
The second patent application, which calls for “indoor remote triggered scanning,” is closely related to the first. While you have been able to send friends your location for years via the iPhone, the feature doesn’t work indoors.
With new geofencing features that use nearby “wireless nodes” (likely iBeacons) to track users across indoor spaces,
it’s easier to leave a digital trail behind when inside a building. Considering retail stores use iBeacons to emit wireless signals to shoppers, this will make it easier for people to track where others are located and where they are going in real time when indoors.
On some level, geofencing features can already be put to use on current phones.
For example, you could have your iPhone remind you to bring an umbrella when you leave your house via the Reminders app (for example, you can set up a reminder to go off when you hit a certain amount of feet of your current location).
While it’s unclear when and if the new tracking features will ever make its way onto Apple products, it could add both a layer of conveniency and awkwardness to many situations.
Source: Mashable