Immediacy helps you become more aware when you are near people who are important to you. The application constantly scans for other devices that are nearby. If it finds a device that belongs to one of your friends and you have both granted permission to share location information you will be notified of their proximity. You can also use the application to pinpoint their location in a crowded location.

Immediacy is unique from other applications in that it can share this location information without relying on cellular networks, WiFi signals, or central servers. Devices are discovered using peer-to-peer networking. When more people use the application the range and accuracy of the other device location reports is increased. It is ideal for locations with poor or no signal, overcrowded networks, or in emergency situations.

Technology

Bluetooth

Immediacy uses Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE radio technology to discover other peers. As such, you must enable Bluetooth in your device's settings to use this application. Bluetooth technologies have a range of 150-300 feet. But beacuse Immediacy is always scanning for other devices it will happily log locations even when you don't know you are looking for a friend. If you are wandering around a concert and cross paths but don't see your friend, you'll can use the mapping feature to see where they were recently. If other people are using the application, they will forward their observations to your device. It's like having your own wilderness search party at your disposal.

GPS

The application also uses your device's GPS to exchange your location with your friend's devices. Immediacy is unlike other mapping applications in that it does not drain your battery as quickly. GPS is turned on momentarily for a quick location fix when another device is found. The rest of the time that the application is in the background the GPS is disabled. When Immediacy is running in the foreground, GPS is enabled and updates are more frequent. This helps you use the mapping feature to pinpoint the person you are looking for.

Note that continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Usage

The application should be left running for the duration that you are likely to encounter your friends. If you're spending a day at the beach and cellular signal is poor they will still be able to find you as long as Immediacy is running.

If you want privacy, you can disable all location updates that you send to others. By leaving Immediacy running, you'll still be able to get the location updates from other people that you are monitoring. When someone comes very close, within 300 feet, you will get an audible alert and an on-screen notification.

Facebook Friends

Immediacy works best when you connect it to your Facebook account. When you do, you'll be able to get location reports from any of your Facebook friends when they get close. By linking the application to Facebook, you are also granting all of your Facebook friends the ability to see your location. Disabling location sharing or stopping the application will turn off this sharing.

Manual Friends

Immediacy can also work by manually adding friends. This is helpful if you meet someone that you are not connected to on Facebook but still want to keep track of each other. When you both go to the Add Friends screen and click on each other's name you'll be prompted for permission to share your location. You can clear the list of manually added friends at any time.

Supported Devices

The application will work on any iOS device running iOS 6.0 or greater. Devices that have real GPS are necessary for high-precision location sharing but all devices can participate in receiving information and relaying other's locations. More recent iOS devices that support Bluetooth LE (iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod Touch, and iPad 4, and iPad Mini) will use this technology for lower power consumption and greater detection range.