WifiMapper – The All New Hotspot Mapper App from OpenSignal
With OpenSignal performing phenomenally in crowdsourcing information on mobile network coverage for a long time now, for both iOS and android apps, it has now diversified into various other fields such as weather reporting and now Wi-Fi hotspots. It has become the largest Wi-Fi database, helping you find Wi-Fi across the world based on more than 500 million hotspots, with two million recommended options.
Following the launch of the iOS app in the month of May, OpenSignal has now added the much awaited Android version of its crowdsourced WifiMapper. Since the iOS app gathered around 1,55,000 downloads in just a matter of two months, OpenSignal expects a similar success on the Android.
What makes the WifiMapper stand out from others is that it blends the OpenSignal’s data with the information from Foursquare which means that it not only shows whether a particular network is free for access, but the kind of location it is in and whether it is possible to dig the surroundings. For instance, it is able to even specify whether the hotspot is in a café or a mall. Moreover, it measures the speed, latency and provides other performance indicators regarding the Wi-Fi quality.
WifiMapper Features:
- Map of nearby free Wi-Fi hotspots.
- Foursquare and WifiMapper comments enable more information about the hotspot venue.
- Helps improve the database if one tells the community more about the Wi-Fi.
- Get performance information on the Wi-Fi hotspot before you use it!
OpenSignal provides some of the most reliable options about Wi-Fi networks because it uses the information about networks users have already connected to before. What’s more is that the WifiMapper also detects whether you will be redirected to a login page which is an indication that you might just have to pay for access to t network.
What’s New in the New Version:
- New buttons including ‘center to location’, ‘reload’ and for hotspot attributes.
- Map location search improved.
- Better Hotspot filtering and identification.
- Sundry improvements such as a top bar that now turns green when scrolling.
- User contributions added to hotspots.
- Custom alert views added.
- Spinner appears faster as loaded in-view.
Even though the app is free, there is a rumor going around that paid options may be introduced such as offline coverage to help travelers track down connections when they don’t want to pay for expensive cellular data that is on roaming.
So far so good, but the only thing that seems to be disliked by users is the process of being allowed to sign in only via Facebook. So the team is now planning to launch an email sign in option in a couple of weeks and this could definitely help boost curation rates further.
One of the main things that the team is excited about is that there are about 10 percent of users who have created accounts and have actually taken the effort to manually classify hotspots as free, paid or private. So while users don’t have to register to use the app, only time will tell whether this fantastic response is only temporary due to its newness, or it will grow into a genuine community aiding mindset. All in all, the WifiMapper seems like a fair trade off for an app that is easy to get head around and does a phenomenal job in identifying hotspots efficiently.
The prime markets for downloading the iOS version of the app are the US with around 21%, France with 17%, Japan 13%, the UK with 12% and Brazil still with a 9% download. With the Android version now launched, a massive change in the downloading percentage is expected and countries like Indonesia, Brazil and India are expected to be the top markets for downloading OpenSignal’s WifiMapper.
Nisarg is the Business Development Manager at Nimblechapps, a top mobile game development company and has been with the organisation since its inception in 2014. He likes to update his knowledge on changing trends in technology and marketing and pens his thoughts regarding the same on various blogs and LinkedIn.