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The best way to handle this is to handle it gracefully. Communicate that the app couldn't find their location, but do it in a way that tells them how to fix the problem. "Unable to obtain location" tells me what the problem is, but it says nothing about how to fix the problem.
Users see messages like this and think that the app is being rude and telling ...
4
Be upfront, clear, honest, give choice to opt out
If your user's choose not to provide a location on their profile then they will expect to miss out on location specific features. All you can do is provide prompts to add a location at relevant places.
Also, if you ask for a location, they choose not to supply one, then they start receiving location based ...
3
If location is required/highly recommended for your website's functionality. e.g. perform a location specific search. Consider asking for the permission at the step where the geolocation info is actually required. It makes it clear why you're asking for this info and the user can decide whether they want to provide this or not.
So for a store/branch ...
3
Suggestion:
I'm not sure what fields of the address you are collecting. I would see if you can limit the entry to Zip Code or City.
That's a low point of friction that pinpoints the location of the user, while providing them the immediate value.
For example:
Enter your city / zip code to find technicians in your area.
[City] or [Zip Code Field]
Simple, ...
2
The best solution from a user perspective is probably having a single search field, as we can see on Booking.com.
At the same time, it's also the most complicated to develop.
When designing this type of search field, the main issues you usually need to face are:
duplicates (e.g. there are up to 28 "London" in the world, approximately 18 of them in the US)...
2
I think that the key point is to make it clear, in a nutshell, for what purpose(s) you'll need the GPS to be on. According to the 13th law of the book called 48 Laws of Power, when asking for help, you should appeal to people's self-interest, so it's very recommended that you say to the user how they will benefit by turning on the GPS.
TL;DR
Put why you ...
1
Do you know for sure that users do not turn GPS on based on trust topic? Maybe they fear for the battery duration. You should first conduct a randomized questionnaire or interview about this.
User motivation is a very hard job. In case the topic is about trust, only thing to do is to offer users a clear benefit for them from the GPS usage. Just be sure about ...
1
If search is overwhelmingly disappointing, than it might be good to consider simply showing a map of all the locations so the user can clearly see where the service is in relation to themselves. Then as nessahead stated, give them hope with an email capture that lets them know the service is coming to their area.
(And don't forget to follow through with ...
1
It depends how you sort your listings.
Radius based listing
If you are interested in let's say restaurants in # mile radius, you probably want to find the best ones within walking/driving distance. So you're basically saying: "Find me the best deal in this range. I'll not bother to go any further just to eat." And then you'll choose your preferred ones ...
1
Typically the request to turn on push notifications and location services come at different stages. Common practice has been to ask the user if they want to turn on push notifications when they open the app for the first time.
Additionally, you should only prompt the user to turn on location services when they open the screen that has the map. This way ...
1
You shouldn't ever force your users to do something. As soon as you start doing that, you will begin to quickly lose users. Users need to be given an incentive to turn it on and keep it on. If your users don't feel like they are getting a good enough deal from what your application has to offer, they will not keep it on.
The best approach would be to softly ...
1
As @nightning mentioned, Users should always be aware about why the additional data is needed (Location in your case)
The Real Adaptive Design here
But if your app or service is highly dependent on the location of the user, then I would suggest that you use Location detection by IP address services to grab the rough location of the user.
Then as google &...
1
Your instinct about the chance for crashes / strange behavior is very much on the money. Software gets into strange states when you continue without a core service, and you either get bugs from this, or bugs from over complicating your code to handle all the strange states.
Keep it simple. If something doesn't work without a service, why pretend otherwise? ...
1
I would discourage you from showing a global loader. A potential use case for your app is "I have an emergency, and I need a doctor now." Showing the loader initially could induce panic in users.
There are a few for increasing both real and perceived speed.
Real Speed:
Cache the data (geolocate every X unit of time/X units of distance that the device ...
1
I use automatic location services with some of the systems. However, be aware that some people find this intrusive and you need to ensure that your site clearly indicates what the geocaptured information will be used for.
Also remember that when the information is NOT from a smart phone, the answers that the system returns to you can vary significantly.
I ...
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