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google / eddystone

Specification for Eddystone, an open beacon format from Google
Apache License 2.0
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Question regarding nearby notification without a screen on event #208

Open Armstrong30 opened 7 years ago

Armstrong30 commented 7 years ago

Are there any plans for nearby notifications for users who already have the screen on for several minutes? The current implementation requires a screen on event. What about conditions where the user does not know that beacons are around him and the screen has been on for a while?

scottjenson commented 7 years ago

At this point we have to be very careful about battery life, scanning every few minutes for all users all of the time can be non-trivial in terms of battery use. As the Physical Web is real world event, we're starting with the out-of-pocket scenario which seems to cover the main use case.

We agree that having scanning happen more often is of course better for the user when there are new beacons around. There are two ways that this can be improved that we're working on:

  1. Add the Nearby icon to the desktop, this will allow users to scan whenever they want. This is clearly a longer term solution and requires a more active user. However, it is possible and as this grows, it is an option for some users.
  2. Scan more as the OS improves. The Android team is looking at many ways to scan more often, not only for BLE but all sensors. As that work proceeds, we'll be able to leverage their work and scan for BLE items more often. There isn't anything to announce at this point, just saying that we're looking at it and appreciate that scanning more often would be a GoodThing™
Armstrong30 commented 7 years ago

@scottjenson Thank you sir! Either would work fine. We like to avoid the "download an app or physical web app" scenario. Would the Nearby icon be native part of the OS (part of settings) or require a D/L. Our use case has users enter a beacon zone with the screen already on. It is complicated to explain cycling the "screen on state" by turning the screen off and back on to receive notifications. The refresh screen pull down could be an acceptable way to consider as well.

scottjenson commented 7 years ago

The Nearby icon/app is available right now. When you turn on Nearby it offers to do so at the end of the flow and when you are in the nearby listview, the menu offers the same option. Is this obvious enough? Not really, but like I said, it is a first step.