Making an app usable without location data
Location services provided by the GPS, cellular tower, and WiFi triangulation methods available in iOS are wonderful inclusions in any project, allowing us to create an app where users aren't required to enter such redundant information when looking for a hotel or restaurant.
But there will be times when we can't rely on location data in our application. If our user is on an iPod touch, or on an iPhone that cannot find a tower with which to gather a GPS signal, we'll be left without a way to gather location information.
In this recipe, we'll plan out ways to optimize our location-based application when we're unable to determine where our user exactly is.
Getting ready
For this recipe, an iPod touch or Wi-Fi only iPad device would be useful to have on hand. To simulate a lack of location service data on these devices, we can simply turn WiFi connectivity off and use the application. Without this, the device will be unable to grab any data.