Mar
5
Location and Privacy on ShopSavvy
Since the launch of ShopSavvy last year, our users have struggled with our inability to determine their location. Each week hundreds of users would email us to complain that ShopSavvy couldn’t provide them with local results. The first answer in our FAQ was a post about how to get local results. It helped a little, but we knew we needed a solution.
Our first step was to integrate Skyhook’s hybrid positioning system that combines GPS, Cell tower triangulation and Wi-Fi Positioning. Next we incorporated a service that location dependent applications can use to ‘pre-fetch’ location data so that it is ALWAYS available regardless of whether or not you can get an immediate GPS fix. It also fixes another problem – the time it takes the GPS to obtain a fix (30-60 seconds). Whenever you use ShopSavvy to scan an item we need to figure out where you are to give you a local price. Even if you can get a GPS fix when you scan a barcode, we might not be able to get the GPS coordinates before we provide the pricing results – as a result you won’t get local results. By pre-fetching your location regularly, we can use the last known result which is likely very close to your current location. Finally, our testing has confirmed that neither Skyhook or pre-fetch negatively impacted battery life.
Now that our location data will be far more available and accurate we decided we needed to create a ‘privacy mode’ enabling users to turn off Skyhook and ‘pre-fetch’. In addition to empowering users to disable ShopSavvy’s use of location data, we also updated our privacy policy to mirror Google’s policy. Hopefully our new location features will reduce the number of complaints. Hopefully our new privacy feature and privacy policy will head off privacy concerns. Of course feel free to email us if you are concerned or confused: sales@biggu.com.
I really wish Android had Skyhook built into the OS like iPhone. My 2yr old TomTom kills my G1 when getting a gps fix.
Comment by androidandme — March 8, 2009 @ 12:57 am
Does the privacy feature stop Skyhook from fiddling with the WLAN settings? (Quite an irriation when using a Wifi tether, and the laptop drops the connection when Shopsavvy decides it needs to prefetch location information).
Andreas
Comment by Andreas K — March 31, 2009 @ 4:35 am
Yes, it currently disables that. We have a ‘fix’ that will prevent ShopSavvy from calling Skyhook if the user has turned wifi off. We are going to respect your wifi setting.
Comment by Big in Japan — March 31, 2009 @ 8:17 am
I am confused about the pre-fetching. Does this mean that when you install Shopsavvy it will ‘regularly’ check my location? So, even though I might use Shopsavvy once every week, it will check my location every 10 minutes? (seems like a battery drainer, even with skyhook)
Comment by Roy — April 6, 2009 @ 3:03 am
We continue to do battery tests, but we can’t find any measurable battery drain.
Comment by Big in Japan — April 6, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
Your tests might not reveal any measurable battery drain, but in real life use, I definitely noticed it.
When you first implemented it, I noticed my phone was draining much quicker than it normally would…even when I had my phone at my desk and hardly touched it.
I’m glad you have the privacy mode, but that completely disables local searches.
Is it not possible to keep local searches but have an option to shut off skyhook? That one feature would get me using your application again.
Comment by Adam — May 29, 2009 @ 11:23 am
Try again. We reduced the frequency and haven’t had any complaints.
Comment by admin — June 3, 2009 @ 2:09 pm