Earlier, Google has added its support for IEEE 802.11mc that allowed apps to evaluate the distance to nearby WiFi access points and also determine the exact indoor location. Now Google released its new WifiRttScan App for developers through the Play Store based on WiFi-RTT API.
WifiRttScan is an App from Google that’s currently available for Android 9+ device devices. The app as claimed by the company is mainly useful for developers, vendors, and universities that would like to research, demonstrate, and test range measurements, navigation, and context-aware applications based on the WiFi-RTT API.
Most of the time the GPS derived location is not accurate for the indoor setting. Using RTT, apps can evaluate how long it will take for the signal to travel between you and the AP. With three or more nearby APs, an app can triangulate your location with an accuracy of 1-2 meters.
The requesting device doesn’t need to connect to the access points to measure distance with Wi-Fi RTT. To maintain privacy, only the requesting device can determine the distance to the access point; the access points do not have this information. Wi-Fi RTT operations are unlimited for foreground apps but are throttled for background apps.
Google has exclusively published this app to validate range measurements enabling the development of positioning, navigation and context-aware applications based on the WiFi-RTT API. This is especially useful for indoors where GPS is not available.
The app is available via Google Play Store and supports only on Android 9+ devices.
