is there a way to offer location based alerts? I would love to have a push notification when a user comes within a set distance of the store (with the option to turn them off, of course!) thanks (iOS7)

iBeacons!

Aaah yes! Any clues as to how to set one up? Or can you point me in the direction of a tutorial?

check out Parse Channel Subscriber plugin offered by buzztouchmods https://buzztouchmods.com/market.php

One question from me is if the Parse Channel Subscriber works with iBeacons. If so, I'm buying this plugin in a heart beat. I am (myself) thinking of making an iBeacon plugin.

An iBeacon plugin would be GREAT!! As stated on an earlier post, the Stick 'n Find is a great I beacon solution! They even have their own SDK for iOS! The units themselves are $25 apiece, but you have to order at least 2 at a time. I am VERY interested in an iBeacon plugin!!!

Interesting article about iBeacons... http://www.devfright.com/ibeacons-tutorial-ios-7-clbeaconregion-clbeacon/

The stick n'find does seem good, but range might be an issue for such a small device. For instance, if you walked past a shop, you could show a message tempting people to walk inside, but if it might not be strong enough to project a signal into both the shop and to the pedestrians. This is one I looked at a few months ago. I've seen this one in action, but haven't ordered it. It costs $100 for 3, but these have such a good range. http://estimote.com/ But of course we do forget that you can just use an iPad or iPhone for beaconing. Let's say the shop owners has an iPad, they can then use this as a beacon. Pretty cool.

But for $25 each a Stick 'n Find can be placed at the entrance of the storefront (to get the consumers' attention) and then another inside to show the deals, info, etc.

Plus, they are only the size of a quarter, or something similar!

sticknfind looks perfect - their HQ model has a great range (up to 0.6 miles) for enticing nearby potential customers in (and it's only $89.99!), and then the smaller ones in-store to get them to check out current offers as they walk by.....

I am very interested in a iBeacon plugin!! Where do I sign up? Farcat

Ok. There seems to be a large amount of interest. I will set about some work to make one. Probably the best thing to do let the end user buy the device, and then I will sell the plugin, although there could be a clever 'Plugin and Product' matching sale.

do any of the sellers offer affiliate options? You could tie in to them and give us their URL via your affiliate link... (is it ready yet?)

Oh, it'll take some time. The idea just popped into my head, so expect it to be a few weeks yet. Also, it is going to be my first proper plugin, so I've got some learning to do too.

@Thomas Boyd- I am waiting with bated breath!!!

hahaha, of course

oh, the possibilities...

Ibeacons uses the core location framework so it's very similar to the geolocation plugin I created for farcat. It's only a few lines of code, there a good few tutorials I've done, github has code to turn your imac or MacBook into an ibeacon to test. If you are going to make a plugin make sure you lay down what you want it to do. Unfortunately if someone says the possibilities are endless, then one plugin won't do them all.

Go Thomas, go!

Cool, Thomas! You can do it! I'll help you with the index.php file if the new plugin market isn't up yet.

Right now I am researching for a bus locator app. If I reverse this concept then it sounds like it could be an ideal solution for me. Just need to pop one of those baby on a bus and get a warning when they come near. @Kittsy mentioned the geolocation plugin he made for me, it's basically a gating system. Once you reach a particular zone you can access more screens on the app automatically. Works great and is very accurate.

I have just received my Estimote beacons, merry Xmas to me! For now my kids use them to play a "Find me" game but I am looking at integrating into an app soon. @basement, to answer your OP, this is what you need: http://estimote.com/api/tutorials/notification.html The commercial potential of this thing is huge :) Farcat

I'm very close with an iBeacon plugin for the BT market. Like Kittsy points out - one plugin won't do it all because there is endless possibilities with what one can do with the beacons. I'm trying to keep this simple and usable for non-coders but there are some challenges. Ranging/multiple detections is an issue with iBeacons and I'm trying to build some workarounds into the code. It also seems like devs are hoping future iOS updates address some of these problems. Aside from the iBeacon itself - I just started looking into this service to pair with the device to add additional functionality, like a Push Notification when the beacon is detected: http://geohopper.com/ios

Very nice in how Travel Radar uses Local Notifications to provide range-based alerts on the Lock Screen. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/travel-radar-luggage-tracking/id806273368?mt=8 Read more about it on his blog. I left in the referencing link to give Dave Verwer the proper love. http://travelradar.awwapps.com/?utm_campaign=iOS_Dev_Weekly_Issue_136&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iOS%2BDev%2BWeekly The Blog is excellent, I love his iBeacons context-based detection scenarios for the Kitchen, TV Room, Coat room. http://blog.awwapps.com/