Android may start recommending apps and sites based on location

Google has announced Nearby on Android. With this functionality, Android will be able to send users notifications about apps and sites, based on where he or she is. The service works on the basis of beacons.

Nearby on Android is based on the Nearby APIs that Google released last year and allows developers to build in proximity features. Those APIs already allowed apps to “cast” items like playlists from one Android or iOS smartphone to another. This is also possible with Android Wear wearables and with Nearby on Android this is now also possible via Eddystone Beacons. The provider of the app must therefore use those beacons and, moreover, users must have Bluetooth turned on and GPS activated. By clicking on the notification they can install the app or go to the site.

A number of developers have already made apps suitable for Nearby in combination with beacons. Google names the Broad Museum that offers in-app audio tours based on the museum site, United Airlines, which offers its app for in-flight entertainment at boarding and CVS for ordering and printing photos once customers enter the store. .

If users already have an app, they can be directly referred to certain functionality based on the user’s location. If they don’t have the app, it can be recommended. Alternatively, users can be directed to mobile sites via notifications.

Google is bringing Nearby to Android users in an upcoming Google Play Services release. The functionality works in conjunction with Android 4.4 and later versions. The company previously announced the ability to push URLs to Chrome on Android.