Apps can't run in the background on an iPhone. Apple made its policy clear on this earlier this year, citing battery life as one of its prime concerns.

Thus, Spotify's just-launched iPhone app doesn't run in the background, but its Android version can. However, social network Loopt appears to have found a way around the problem on iPhone.

The company is launching something called "Always-On Location Service", which involves a user's location being constantly sent to the Loopt servers but without requiring the Loopt app itself to be running.

Users will then be sent emails or text messages when people or places of interest are nearby, getting around the fact that they won't always have the Loopt app running on the handset.

Operator AT&T Wireless is thought to be involved, but it's not known whether Apple has endorsed Loopt's new feature. The company will soon kick off a trial with 5,000 subscribers, and plans to charge $3.99 a month for the new service.

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