Apple to Restore Background Geolocation Services for Killed Apps With iOS 7.1

Apple will reportedly restore background geolocation services for apps that have been killed with the release of iOS 7.1.

Before the release of iOS 7 if a user manually killed an app it was still able to access location services if allowed. With iOS 7, killing an app disconnects all geolocation access.

VentureBeat spoke with Life360 chief executive and co-founder Chris Hulls who recently sent Apple CEO Tim Cook a “Hail Mary” letter on the problem. The letter was signed by numerous developers and read:


We are a group of Apple developers who rely on iOS geolocation services for core parts of our businesses. iOS 7 was hugely exciting to us, as new features such as Location Beacons, Background Networking, and Multi-Peer Connectivity give us the ability to do things we never thought were possible.

In previous versions of iOS, if a user killed an application in the app switcher, developers were still able to get geolocation in the background. With iOS 7, once a user kills an application, all processes are terminated until the user manually restarts the app. We appreciate the intent behind this change, which we realize was done to give users more control over what is running on their phones, but it has caused major unintended consequences. … Many developers who rely on background geolocation have seen their app ratings fall by over 3 stars.

After receiving the letter, Apple reached out to Life360 and told them the functionality was being restored in OS 7.1. "We're very appreciative to Apple," Hull says. "They listen to their developers."

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