As promised, it’s happened. Foursquare has eliminated the check-in functionality on their main app, ahead of a big redesign and refoucusing effort.
If you try to check in using Foursquare, you’ll be prompted to download Swarm.
As you might expect, Foursquare is fielding some concerns from users who are a bit perturbed that they now have to use two apps to do what one app used to do.
@munale Hi! You can check-in and meet up with friends in Swarm. Discover places nearby with 4sq! More here: http://t.co/lHkEdkuC7y
— Foursquare Support (@4sqSupport) July 24, 2014
@4sqSupport exactly the problem. i used to be able to do them in the same app. thats something that users value
— ed lanum (@munale) July 24, 2014
Yep. From the beginning, Foursquare’s explanation has been that users usually only do one thing when they open up the app – either check in or use the discover feature to locally explore. Not both. Just one. So why not unbundle?
We spend a lot of time talking to people about Foursquare, and we constantly hear they use Foursquare for two things – to keep up and meet up with their friends, and to discover great places. Every month, tens of millions of people open up the app to do each.
But, as it turns out, each time you open the app, you almost always do just one of those things. At home, you may be searching for a place for dinner. After dinner, you are probably looking to see what friends nearby are up to. That’s why today, we’re announcing that we’re unbundling these two experiences into two separate apps – Foursquare, and a new app called Swarm.
Buy that or not, the shift has occurred. And unless Foursquare pulls a Netflix and Qwiksters Swarm, this is how you’re going to have to check in from here on out – with Swarm.