Pathshare SDK for iOS

Pathshare is a realtime location sharing platform. For more information please visit the Pathshare Developer Page.

• Requirements
• Installation
• Basic Usage
  • Configuration
  • Initialization
  • Save Username
  • Create Session
  • Join Session
  • Invite Customer
  • Leave Session
  • Find Session

Requirements

PathshareSDK for iOS supports iOS 12.x, 13.x, 14.x, 15.x and 16.x.

Installation

Cocoapods

Add the following line to your Podfile:

pod 'PathshareSDK', '~> 2.3'

Then install PathshareSDK into your project by executing the following code:

pod install

Manual Installation

The installation of the Pathshare SDK is simple. Please follow the following steps:

1. Drag and drop the PathshareSDK.xcframework you received upon registration into your project.
2. Add the PathshareSDK.xcframework to the Embedded Binaries in the general tab of your target.

Basic Usage

Configuration

In order to allow access to the location services and to use the location services in the background, please add the following configuration in your project:

1. Add the NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription, the NSMotionUsageDescription, NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription and the NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription keys with the corresponding descriptions to your Info.plist file.
2. If you are building against iOS 11.+, go to your Project Target > Capabilities > Background Modes and enable Location updates.

Initialization

In order to initialize the Pathshare SDK, create a file named pathshare.plist inside your project and add your account token:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>account_token</key>
    <string>your PathshareSDK account token</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Next, add the following to the application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: method of your AppDelegate class:

Objective-C

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    [self initPathshare];
    return YES;
}

...

- (void)initPathshare
{
    NSString *pathshare = [NSBundle.mainBundle pathForResource:@"pathshare" ofType:@"plist"];
    NSDictionary *config = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:pathshare];

    [Pathshare setAccountToken:config[@"account_token"]];
    [Pathshare setTrackingMode:PSTrackingModeSmart];
}

Swift

func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [NSObject: AnyObject]?) -> Bool {
    initPathshare()
    return true
}

...

private func initPathshare() {
    let pathshare = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("Pathshare", ofType:"plist") as String!
    let config = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: pathshare) as NSDictionary!
    Pathshare.setAccountToken(config!.valueForKey("account_token") as! String)
    Pathshare.setTrackingMode(.smart)
}

Optionally, you can specify a tracking mode to configure the behavior of the location tracker. The following tracking modes are available:

Tracking Mode	Description
PSTrackingModeSmart	Adapts intelligently to the environment and usage of the device. Includes awareness of battery level, travel speed and motion activity.
PSTrackingModeEco	Static mode providing constant tracking data with very low accuracy (several kilometers) and great distance between single locations and ensuring maximum battery life.
PSTrackingModeApproximate	Static mode providing constant tracking data with low accuracy (several hundred meters) and middle distance between single locations. Useful when a low battery drain is a important criteria.
PSTrackingModeAccurate	Static mode providing constant tracking with the highest accuracy possible (few meters) and small distances between locations. Useful for scenarios where a high accuracy is an essential requirement.

Save User

Before creating a session, you need to set a username:

Objective-C

[Pathshare saveUser:@"SDK User ios"
               type:UserTypeTechnician
              email:@"me@email.com"
              phone:@"+12345678901"
              image:[UIImage imageNamed:@"image"]
  completionHandler:^(NSError *error) {
          if (error) {
              // ...
          } else {
              // ...
          }
      }
 ];

Swift

Pathshare.saveUser("SDK User",
                    type: .technician,
                    email: "me@email.com",
                    phone: "+12345678901",
                    image: UIImage.init(named: "image")) { (error: NSError!) -> Void in
    if error != nil {
        // ...
    } else {
        // ...
    }
}

The email address can be nil.

Use the same method Pathshare.saveUser() to create or update the user.

There are different types of users for specific industries:

User Types	Description
TECHNICIAN, MOTORIST	For roadside assitance industry or similar
DRIVER, RECIPIENT	For delivery services or similar
INVESTIGATOR, CLIENT	For legal services industry or similar

Create Session

Use the session initializer to create a session:

Objective-C

Session *session = [[Session alloc] init];
session.expirationDate = expirationDate;
session.name = @"Shopping";

Swift

var session = Session()
session.expirationDate = expirationDate
session.name = "Shopping"

A session must have an expiration date and a name. You can create multiple sessions at the same time, the SDK will manage them for you.

Make sure to save the session after initializing:

Objective-C

[session save:^(NSError *error) { ... }];

session.identifier // => 3fd919fe824d8e7b78e2c11c1570a6f168d2c...
[session isExpired] // => false
[session URL] // => https://pathsha.re/6d39d5

Swift

session.save { (error: NSError!) -> Void in ... }

session.identifier // => 3fd919fe824d8e7b78e2c11c1570a6f168d2c...
session.isExpired() // => false
session.URL() // => https://pathsha.re/6d39d5

Expiration

In order to react to the expiration of the session, implement the SessionExpirationDelegate protocol in your class:

Objective-C

@interface ViewController : UIViewController <SessionExpirationDelegate>
    // ...
@end

Swift

class ViewController: UIViewController, SessionExpirationDelegate { ... }

Then set the delegate on your session instance:

Objective-C

Session *session = [[Session alloc] init];
session.delegate = self;

Swift

var session = Session()
session.delegate = self

Finally, implement the sessionDidExpire method in your class to react to the expiration event:

Objective-C

- (void)sessionDidExpire { ... }

Swift

func sessionDidExpire() { ... }

Destination

Optionally, you can add a destination to the session. Sessions with destination will show the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for each user. The destination identifier is used to group sessions by destination.

Objective-C

Destination *destination = [[Destination alloc] init];
destination.identifier = @"W2342";
destination.latitude = 47.378178;
destination.longitude = 8.539256;

Session *session = [[Session alloc] init];
//...
session.destination = destination;

Swift

var destination = Destination()
destination.identifier = "W2342"
destination.latitude = 47.378178
destination.longitude = 8.539256

var session = Session()
//...
session.destination = destination

Join Session

To join the session you created, call the join: method on the session object:

Objective-C

[session join:^(NSError *error) { ... }];

[session isUserJoined] // => true

Swift

session.join { (error: NSError!) -> Void in ... }

session.isUserJoined() // => true

This call will add your Pathshare user to the session and you will be able to see his location in realtime on a map in the Pathshare Professional web interface.

Invite customer

To invite a customer to the session, call the inviteUser: method on the session object:

Objective-C

[self.session inviteUserWithName:@"Customer"
                            type:UserTypeClient
                           email:@"customer@me.com"
                           phone:@"+12345678901"
               canSetDestination:YES
               completionHandler:^(NSURL *url, NSError *error) {
    if (error) {
        // ...
    } else {
        // ...
        NSLog(@"Invitation URL: %@", url.absoluteString);
    }
}];

Swift

session.inviteUser(withName: "Customer",
                    type: .client,
                    email: "customer@me.com",
                    phone: "+12345678901",
                    canSetDestination: true) { (url, error) in
    if error != nil {
        // ...
    } else {
        // ...
        NSLog("Invitation URL: \(String(describing: url?.absoluteString))")
    }
}

This call will create a customer user and return an invitation URL that can be sent to the customer using your preffered channel. The customer will then see the driver's location in realtime as well as the ETA in a white-labeled view with your corporate identity.

The customer will be able to enjoy the full realtime experience in the web browser of their smartphone:

Leave Session

In order to stop sending user locations and remove the user from the session, call the leave: method:

Objective-C

[session leaveUser:^(NSError *error) { ... }];

Swift

session.leaveUser { (error: NSError!) -> Void in ... }

Find Session

To find an existing session, use the findSessionWithIdentifier:completionHandler: method with the corresponding session identifier:

Objective-C

[Pathshare findSessionWithIdentifier:@"e2e422"
                   completionHandler:^(Session *session, NSError *error) {
                       if (session) {
                           session.delegate = self;
                           self.session = session;
                       }
                   }];

Swift

Pathshare.findSessionWithIdentifier("e2e422") { (session: Session!, error: NSError!) -> Void in
    if session != nil {
        session.delegate = self
        self.session = session
    }
}