In June, 2011, Apple announced that Location-Based Reminders would be a new feature of iOS5 on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. Grizzly Analytics sees the Apple announcements as a tipping point that is likely to propel location-based reminders into the mass-market.
But Location-Based Reminders as announced by Apple, and as implemented by mobile apps currently on the market, have shortcomings that limit their usefulness. They can remind users when they pass their neighborhood supermarket, but not when they pass any supermarket. They can remind users when they’re near the store they need, but not when they’re driving along a route that will take them near the store soon. They remind users regardless of the hours that a store is open and regardless of whether the items the user needs are in stock. And they don’t take traffic conditions into account in generating reminders.