Apple recently filed a new patent application that describes serving proximity based or location based apps temporarily on a users iPhone or other mobile device. The content would be managed by a central server that would pair a users device location as relayed by the Wi-fi connection or other geo aware features and deliver appropriate applications that the users might like to use in that particular location.
Apple sighted two examples for this. In one they mention, when an iPhone user nears a restaurant, he might be able to get some temporary apps on his screen that tells him the wait time and also there can be an app that would allow him to go through the menu while still waiting to be seated.
Similarly this Apple patent can be used by people in public libraries to get a temporary iPhone app that would allow them to search the library database right on their iPhone without having to log in to the networked computers of the library.
These temporary apps would disappear as soon as the user exits the location.
This would definitely open up a very interesting aspect for iPhone developers as this service is sure to initiate a surge in iPhone application development for local businesses. Also because Apple would be using the users location data to serve this temporary apps, that might just stir up the privacy question once again. Besides, iPhone developers have always wanted to use the user’s location data to make their apps more interesting but now that Apple is opening the door for itself, it is sure to increase the developer’s demand for using such information in their other types of iPhone applications.
