iOS 14 Changes

With every year iOS raises the bar for brands, developers, & end-users. This year’s upcoming release of iOS 14 proves to be no different. There are a few key takeaways that you should be aware of when developing an app for iOS 14. Here at Gimbal, we have compiled What to be aware of, What to do, and What we’ve been asked in order to prepare you for this upcoming release.

What to be aware of: 

• Precise Location will be a new feature that’s released as part of iOS 14. This will allow users to decide if they want developers & apps to have access to their location within a few meters, or if they want an Approximate Location that only gives developers & apps a range of where the user is currently located. This feature will impact how Gimbal’s SDK handles Places Events. Please see below for more information in the What We’ve Been Asked section
• Once iOS 14 is released, anyone requesting IDFA access will be required to display an OS prompt to the end-user. This permission prompt will be displayed whether customers are using IDFAs or not by default with the Gimbal SDK. If you are not using IDFAs in your app and do not wish to request this from your end users, follow these steps that are listed below in the What To Do section
• Developers should state that they use location under both the ‘data used to track you’ and ‘data linked to you’ sections of App Store Connect. For GDPR impacted users, Location Services are not needed in the ‘data linked to you’ section of the App Store Connect. If you are using IDFAs, you must state that you collect identifiers under the ‘data linked to you’ section.
• As a reminder from iOS 13, the OS will automatically show a Bluetooth permission prompt to end-users the first time any bluetooth functionality is accessed, including simply checking to see if Bluetooth is on. This iOS permission prompt will be displayed whether customers are using beacon technology or not. If you are not using Bluetooth, please follow these steps to prevent the prompt from being displayed. 

What To Do: 

• If you are not using IDFAs 
  • To avoid an unnecessary prompt, Manage Device IDs for Advertising should be turned off in Gimbal Manager (Gimbal Manager > Applications > Select iOS app > Advanced Configuration > Manager Device IDs for Advertising = off)
    • Update your app with the new version of the Gimbal SDK (v2.8x)

• If you are using IDFAs: 
  • Your app should either delay calling Gimbal’s PlaceManager until it’s appropriate or provide a more user friendly explanation / opt-in choice before starting monitoring 
  • Update your app with the new version of the Gimbal SDK (v2.8X)

What We’ve Been Asked: 

• Will there be a new prompt just for Precise Location
  • No, this will be an On/Off toggle that’s in the left corner of the initial OS Location Request. By default Precise Location is turned on. We recommended keeping this turned on when using Gimbal’s SDK for Places below ~4000 meters in radius

• What if a user turns Precise Location off but I need it for certain use cases
  • Apple has provided developers the ability to request one-time access for Precise Location during the current app’s session. We will be providing a code example of this in an upcoming Knowledge Base article

• Will Places with Beacons work when Precise Location is turned Off
  • No, whenever Precise Location is turned Off beacons will not be able to range. This is a limitation from Apple & unfortunately cannot be prevented at this time