• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, November 2, 2015

Apple watchers are pretty excited about what looks to be a dedicated indoor positioning app.

First noticed on the App Store by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, this weekend, the Indoor Survey App should help businesses map out their physical footprints. From there, they can show shoppers around, direct them to particular products, and encourage them to stick around for a bit longer.     

In practice, the app sounds pretty straightforward. “By dropping 'points' on a map … you indicate your position within the venue as you walk through," the app description explains. “As you do so, the indoor Survey App measures the radio frequency (RF) signal data and combines it with an iPhone’s sensor data.”

The end result, Apple promises, is indoor positioning without the need to install special hardware -- as is the case with its location-aware iBeacons technology.

Rather than replace iBeacons, however, the new app is clearly part of a broader strategy to corner the mapping market -- or at least do a better job competing against Google.     

To that end, Apple grabbed indoor positioning startup WiFiSLAM a couple years ago for around $20 million. Apple Insider even suggests that the new app relies on WiFiSLAM’s technology.

Late last year, meanwhile, Apple rolled out Apple Maps Connect, which invited business owners to submit indoor mapping information.

Apple doesn’t have the best track record with mapping technology. In 2012, its launch of iOS6 -- which came preloaded with Apple Maps -- was a disaster.

For Apple and Google, however, establishing their map offerings as go-to consumer services is a long-term play, and one that seems certain to pay dividends for years to come. Indoors and out, their maps increasingly represent the gateway between physical and virtual commerce.

Well aware of that fact, the only direction for Apple to take its mapping business is forward.