Receive Location-Based Alarms And Messages

jeTap has introduce GPSNotifier 1.0 for iPhone 4, their app that sounds an alarm and displays a text message when the user arrives at a chosen location. Relying on Apple's new Region Monitoring, an always-on cell tower positioning system, the app and alarm are automatically activated when the device enters any specified alarm zone. Its features include: 64 user-definable alarm locations; proximity sensitivity control; and location entry using the address book, map, or current location. Because it does not make use of standard, satellite-based GPS data, the app does not make any additional power demands on the battery.

GPSNotifier 1.0 is an alarm based not on time, but place. Now, a user can take a to-do like "Call Bob the next time I'm in Tucson," or "Check on lease terms the next time I take the car into the dealer for service," and set an alarm and message on their iPhone 4 that will patiently wait, without running an app or consuming any power, until the user reaches the alarm location. This type of location-based notification has been impractical until recently, because, as Apple advises, "Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life."

With iPhone 4 Apple introduced a new, supplementary positioning system based on a complex algorithm performing continuous positional triangulations between cell phone towers. In metropolitan areas with many such towers, measurements can be highly accurate. And because the iPhone is constantly in "Receive" mode, searching for cell towers, these location coordinates are purchased with practically no cost to the battery. This continuous, background, global positioning system is called Region Monitoring by Apple, and it is the technology that makes GPSNotifer possible.


The app's convenient GUI allows the user to set an audible alarm and text message by entering an exact location, such as a street address, from the address book. Alternatively, the user may go to a map and tap to create a pushpin location, or set the current location. Upon being set, a blue tinted circle indicates the range or proximity of the alarm. In areas with many cell towers a sensitivity setting of "1 mile" or less is appropriate, but in more sparsely populated areas users are encouraged to experiment with settings of "2 miles" or more.

Feature Highlights:
* Enable/disable alarm from the main screen
* Enter location from the address book, current location, or by dropping a pin on the map
* Application is activated using multi-tasking when entering an alarm zone
* Multiple alarm sounds
* Choose alarm proximity sensitivity
* Set, store, edit, enable/disable up to 64 different, location-based alarms

A single tap activates or deactivates the alarm, which can be accessed from the main screen. A deactivated alarm may be stored and re-enabled. The list of alarms may be easily scrolled and edited, and each includes a text label, thumbnail map, and on/off switch. Each location may have its own proximity setting and one of several different alarm sounds.

"GPSNotifier is one of the first apps to employ Apple's new Region Monitoring technology," stated Founder Stephen Lu. "For the first time ever, a smartphone can reliably provide a location-based alert that may not be activated until months later."


Language Support:
* US English and French

Pricing and Availability:
GPSNotifier 1.0 is regularly priced at $1.99, but is currently available at the introductory price of $0.99 (USD) until Dec. 1, through the App Store in the Navigation category. GPSNotifier Lite, limited to setting only one alarm, is available free. Review copies are available upon request.

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