As many of you know there’s an unofficial no google apps allowed rule in the iTunes app store. Well, not really but we’re still waiting on the official Google Voice and Gmail native apps to be approved. In the mean time developer Alberto García Hierro has managed to have approved a Google Latitude app called “Latitudie” [iTunes link] .
Google Latitude lets you see your friends on a map on Google Maps for mobile and iGoogle. Use Latitude to plan an impromptu meetup, see that a loved one got home safely, or just stay in touch with friends.
So, how does Latitudie work? It does a few things; one it uses your iPhone 3G and up or iPad GPS to find your location, updates your Google Latitude location and it shows your location account. Latitudie also has a location history view where you can delete past locations. Sounds simple enough right? But wait there’s more, it also runs in the background. Sounds like automatic checking in to me.
Reading the reviews, some have said this app will drain your battery in 30 minutes or less because even if you’re not running iOS4 Latitudie will run in the background and update your location every minute causing massive battery drain. The developer has stated this is a bug in version 1.0 and will be fixed in version 1.1 as soo as Apple approves it or if Apple approves it. Here’s a note from the developer on the upcoming Latitudie 1.1 features:
Latitudie 1.1, adding the following features, has been sent to Apple for review and should be available soon:
– Added support for location updates in the background using high precision
– Added support for periodically updating your location when running on the background, even if you haven’t moved
– Added support for temporarily hiding your location
– Fixed a bug which updated your location too fast
But wait.. should have Apple have approved this app from the start, being that it’s Google Latitude and it doesn’t work like it should have?
Regardless if you’re looking for a Google Latitude app for the iPhone or iPad Latitudie is available. Something Android users have installed by default.
Do you use Google Latitude? If so how? Do you have Latitudie installed?
