Announcing NearBee for iOS: Bringing the Physical Web and Nearby notifications to iPhone users

UPDATE: We have also launched NearBee on Android that delivers rich, non-generic, non-silent, and non-duplicate notifications to Android users on their lock screen. Read our latest blog to know more.

In October 2017, Chrome dropped support for the Physical Web, removing it from both Android and iOS, citing the much improved Nearby Notifications platform on Android as the preferred mechanism for beacon-based notifications. Because Nearby notifications are built into the Android OS through Google Play Services, this change had little impact on Android users. However, the Chrome announcement left iOS users without a way to access the Physical Web and experience beacon notifications. (UPDATE: Nearby Notifications will no longer be supported on Android smartphones after December 6 2018. Please read this blog post to understand how you can continue running proximity marketing campaigns through beacons).

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of our new iOS app, NearBee, that brings the power of Nearby Notifications to iOS, while also supporting the Physical Web. With NearBee, iOS users can now seamlessly discover nearby content and services being broadcast by beacons around them.

Features

1. Lock screen notifications

Unlike Chrome, which required you to add a Today widget and swipe down every time, NearBee discovers nearby bluetooth beacons without requiring any user action and can pop notifications on your lock screen.

2. Works with any Eddystone beacon

NearBee is not tied to specific beacon hardware – it supports all Eddystone beacons that can broadcast an Eddystone URL frame.

3. Lightweight and free

NearBee is one of the lightest iOS apps out there, at less than 5 MB! It is also completely free and always will be.

Use cases

As businesses and locations of different kinds increasingly turn to beacons to engage visitors, NearBee can be used in places such as parks, events, local communities, etc., and pretty much anywhere that visitors are willing to download the app for an enhanced experience.

Eddystone scanner SDK for iOS

One of the components of NearBee is the Eddystone Scanner SDK for iOS. If you’re developing an iOS app with Eddystone beacons for proximity marketing, you may find it useful. Check it out on GitHub – we’ve released it under the MIT license.

Watch our webinar on ‘Proximity marketing through beacons in 2019’

If you are looking to get started on a short pilot, head to our Beaconstac store page and invest in a set of beacons and our Premium subscription plan. You can have the campaigns up and running in less than 15 mins!

• Author Details

Author Details

Monika Adarsh

Monika Adarsh is the Director of Inbound Marketing at Beaconstac where her primary job is to help users find answers to anything related to QR Codes. She works closely with customers to understand QR Code usage trends and build a framework for successful QR Code campaigns. She enjoys documenting her learnings about the QR Code market as posts and playbooks. She also anchors a podcast to uncover ways of using QR Codes in DTC/CPG brands. In her free time, she loves gardening and decorating spaces.

https://www.beaconstac.com/qr-code-generator

[email protected]