Indoor Location Positioning Using iBeacons

Unlocking the Potential of Indoor Navigation with iBeacons and SwiftUI

Jeffrey Berthiaume
7 min readMay 25, 2024
One iPhone broadcasting as a beacon, the other receiving.

Maps have become a crucial business area for both Google and Apple. Although Apple’s initial foray into mapping had some missteps, they have rapidly addressed these issues, resulting in a mapping service nearly equivalent to Google’s.

GPS-based location positioning works effectively on a large scale but provides only a rough estimate of a device’s location (within 50 to 100 meters, or 164 to 328 feet, depending on the requested accuracy). This limitation is visible in mapping apps that show a blue circle around your position, indicating the potential error range.

Apple has been expanding its mapping capabilities with various technologies, aiming to master indoor positioning. Beginning with the launch of iBeacons in 2013, Apple has enhanced this with CoreLocation’s indoor features, which use a combination of iBeacons, WiFi signals, and motion sensors. Their goal is to offer highly accurate indoor mapping and navigation.

When developing the Pizza Hut app in 2011, we explored using location detection to automate the selection of a user’s local store. Each physical address is tied to a specific store, essential for accurate delivery. This worked moderately well for house locations…

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Jeffrey Berthiaume

Jeffrey Berthiaume is a technology veteran and senior executive, who has spent decades creating and innovating technology.