[Timeriffic] Location Based Settings

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Enhancement:

Add a mode that would use the GPS info from the cell towers to activate 
profiles based on location as well. This would work well with priority options 
(1-10 maybe) for all types of notifications to have location be able to 
override some, if chosen time based settings. Just a thought.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by cmgr...@gmail.com on 14 Jun 2010 at 8:05

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However, the positioning data from cell tower triangulation is only 
approximate, and it's not always possible to receive a GPS fix.

I would use this feature if it were reliable, but given the above issues and 
the complexity of intelligently working around them, I'm wondering if this 
wouldn't have the potential to degrade Timeriffic's reliability. This offers 
very interesting possibilities, but I'm not sure how well it would work.

Original comment by jonr...@gmail.com on 16 Jun 2010 at 3:22

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Thanks for the response. I realize the GPS data from the cell towers is 
approximate and not necessarily reliable. I was just thinking it would be cool 
to say "turn On WIFI" when i got near home rather then pick a time where i may 
or may not be at home yet. Just a thought that's all

Original comment by cmgr...@gmail.com on 16 Jun 2010 at 3:27

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That's a feature I'd like to see in Timeriffic eventually.

However the issue imho is not as much reliability as much as battery drain. 
Even in coarse-position mode (aka cell/wifi based) you need to have the app 
periodically poll the location.

Reliability: agreed that it's an issue too, but imho lesser than battery. Take 
Lattitude in Maps and look at friends in city-level privacy mode. Positions can 
be quite approximate, to the point of being useless.

Another approach is to use the current Wifi SSID network name, see issue #33.

Original comment by rdrr.l...@gmail.com on 16 Jun 2010 at 6:23

• Changed title: [Timeriffic] Location Based Settings
• Changed state: Accepted
• Added labels: Priority-Low, Type-Enhancement
• Removed labels: Priority-Medium, Type-Defect

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Don't get me wrong; this would be a wonderful feature if it could be made to 
work well with all the quirks of GPS, cell towers, and WiFi -- but more 
importantly, without affecting the mostly rock-solid reliability of today's 
Timeriffic.

Problem is that there are enough diverse use cases that could make this a 
complicated enough proposition that it wouldn't be dependable.

I don't know how Latitude's city-level privacy is implemented, but I suspect it 
uses an algorithm to "blur" the location rather than falling back from a 
precise, fine-grain GPS fix to a course-grain cell tower fix. I may be wrong.

My experience (Motorola Droid) is that the GPS takes some time to detect 
sufficient GPS satellites to get a location fix. Problem is, the more accurate 
you want to be, the more frequent polling you have to do, and the more battery 
used in the process.

If you're using GPS coordinate data (whether from the cell tower or from the 
GPS receiver) in Timeriffic, it would be interesting if you could leverage the 
"Starred places" that a user can define in Google's Maps interface that comes 
with the device, rather than implementing your own application-specific list of 
places. (I'm all about reusing data and/or logic!)

The connected WiFi network name might in some cases be a reasonable criterion 
to trigger settings changes, but in some cases it would not. I work on a large 
university campus that is highly networked, but which comprises some 7.7 square 
miles. Alas, the network name is not going to be suitable to allow a person to 
distinguish between sitting in his/her dorm room, in a lecture hall, in his 
advisor's office, or at the bowling alley in the student union. And most of 
these buildings are fairly impervious to GPS reception.

Aside from the challenge of dealing the availability of accurate position data, 
the biggest challenge I see is in making a user interface that's not 
inordinately complex. For example, if I have time of day settings, settings 
based on a GPS or cellular position (or the mere availability thereof), and 
settings based on WiFi network name, which take precedence?

This sounds like a slippery slope, though it would be wonderful if you could 
pull it off in a way that is easy to use and robust. Good luck!

Original comment by jonr...@gmail.com on 16 Jun 2010 at 4:10

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Issue 66 has been merged into this issue.

Original comment by ralfoide on 2 Oct 2010 at 6:16