The GeoFence Feature provides the ability to set up location based notifications for your app! In this article we’ll go over how to set up the GeoFence Feature and give you some tips on how to best utilize it!

Some use cases of this feature include:

The GeoFence Feature provides the ability to set up location based notifications for your app. In order for GeoFence notifications to work, the app needs to be either currently open on a user’s phone or running in the background.

Step 1: Create an instance of the GeoFence Feature by going to the Feature Marketplace

In order to set up GeoFence notifications within your app, you will need to go to the Feature Marketplace and create an instance of the GeoFence Feature.

Note: Because the Feature runs in the background of your app, you don’t need to add it to the app (such as the side menu). Once you have created an instance of it from the Feature Marketplace you can continue with creating notifications for your app.

Step 2: Go To Notifications -> GeoFence to begin adding GeoFence notifications to your app

Step 3: Give your notification a title and a epicenter

The Title is what your users will first see in the notification.

The Epicenter is the middle of where you want your notification to trigger. Enter in the address or latitude and longitude coordinates  of where you want your notification to trigger.

You can adjust the radius of the epicenter by adjusting the miles and feet. You can have a radius that is between a minimum of 10 feet and a maximum of 1000 miles, though we don’t recommend you make it that large.

Note: We recommend that “Enable High Accuracy” is checked so that you have the most accurate measurements for your notification possible.

Step 4: Give your notification a message (optional)

You can give your notification an additional message in the “Message” section, though this is optional and isn’t required for the notification to be created. 

Step 5: Click “Add New Geo Action”

Once you have finished creating your notification, click the green “Add New Geo Action” button to save your notification. 

Note: If you are adding the GeoFence Feature to your app before it has been submitted to the app stores, you will need to add an example notification to the app so that when our publishing team submits the app, Apple and Google can use it for testing purposes.

If you are adding the GeoFence Feature to your app after it has been published, you will need to reach out to us at support@buldfire.com to have your app resubmitted with the additional app permissions added that are required for the Feature to work.

Having worked with apps for years, we’ve learned a thing or two. So, to both help your app stand out and accomplish your primary goals, here are some tips you should consider.

Pro Tip 1: The GeoFence Feature’s Notifications Have A 24 Hour Cooldown Period

The GeoFence notifications have a cool-down of 24 hours, so if your users have already received the notification and they leave its radius, if they come back into that radius they won’t receive the notification for another 24 hours. This helps prevent your users from being spammed with the same notification multiple times.

Pro Tip 2: You Can Add Action Items to your Notifications

Just like Push Notifications, you can add an action such as linking to a website, sending and email, and linking to a feature in your app to your GeoFence notification. To do this, click on the blue “Select Action” button:

Then select the action type that you want to add to the notification and fill out the required fields. Then click “Save”:

If you would like to learn more about Action Items you can do so here.

In addition to this article, we recommend checking out the following related articles so that you have a better insight into how to use the system to its fullest advantage:

Still have questions? No problem! Reach out to us and we’d be happy to help :)