iOS Location Tracking Implementation
Article Summary
Bohdan Orlov from Bumble reveals why iOS location tracking is way harder than most PMs think. Spoiler: you can't just set a timer and call it a day.
The Bumble engineering team needed to report user location every X minutes, but hit a wall with iOS's background limitations. This deep dive shares their battle-tested solution combining GPS, region monitoring, and silent push notifications to achieve reliable location tracking without destroying battery life.
Key Takeaways
- iOS apps cannot be woken by timers (a fact that confuses most PMs)
- Region monitoring is most precise battery-efficient API at 100m radius
- Silent push notifications wake apps when users stay stationary
- Solution delivered 3x more location data with only 2-4% battery usage
- Use two CLLocationManager instances to avoid stale location data
Critical Insight
By combining GPS bursts, region monitoring, and silent pushes with configurable settings, Bumble tripled location reporting while keeping battery drain under 4%.
