[HN Gopher] Nuances around location-based programming
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       Nuances around location-based programming
        
       Author : thunderbong
       Score  : 3 points
       Date   : 2024-08-08 05:51 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (austingil.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (austingil.com)
        
       | creesch wrote:
       | The article is entirely correct that none of the methods to
       | provide location data are reliable. I do find some other issues
       | with the article though.
       | 
       | > You want to set the language or currency of your app based on
       | the region.
       | 
       | DO NOT DO THIS. I prefer my software and articles in English or
       | at the very least based on the locale I set myself. However, my
       | location would not allow for this, which is highly annoying.
       | There is nothing more annoying than applications and websites
       | that try to figure out the language out for themselves, ignoring
       | my preferences. Then of all the methods using the location is the
       | worst one to choose from. Further down, the article briefly
       | acknowledges this, but I can't understate how much of an
       | annoyance it is when websites try to be clever here. If you want
       | to do anything, make it a nice little menu that pops up on the
       | right of my screen *asking* me if I want to switch.
       | 
       | > You want to geofence your app for legal reasons (eg. cookie
       | banners).
       | 
       | I guess it is a valid reason, but whenever I encounter websites
       | that do this I also know to avoid them as they clearly do not
       | respect the privacy of their visitors and do not care to hide it
       | either.
       | 
       | The article also mentions that IP location might not be reliable
       | because of VPNs, which is true. But it also isn't reliable in
       | general, as it depends on a lot more factors. At most it gives
       | you a rough potential location but it can easily be hundreds of
       | kilometers off without the user using anything like a VPN.
        
         | joekrill wrote:
         | > You want to set the language or currency of your app based on
         | the region.
         | 
         | I agree, but the article isn't suggesting that you SHOULD do
         | this, though. It's simply giving it as a possibly use-case that
         | would require location-based logic.
        
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       (page generated 2024-08-11 23:00 UTC)