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Tag: check-ins

  • Foursquare Brings Real Mayorships to Swarm

    When Foursquare decided to build an completely separate app for check-ins and strip the “gamification” element out of the flagship app, there was a lot of head scratching. Unbundling confusion.

    One of the biggest complaints about Swarm for the past year or so has been the fact that Foursquare changed the way it handles location mayorships. With Swarm, mayorships have a smaller scope – users compete against their friends for mayorships – not the public at large as it was with the old Foursquare.

    Well, until now. Real mayorships are back.

    “The rules are simple: you’ll be the Mayor of a place if you’ve checked in more than anyone else in the last 30 days. Only 1 check-in per day counts and ties go to the reigning mayor. We’ve been tallying all of your check-ins from the past month, so go see if you’ve already proven yourself worthy of the Mayor crown at your local spots,” says Foursquare.

    We knew this was coming. Last month, Foursquare caved and began to reintroduce some of the elements into Swarm that made the original Foursquare app fun in the first place – more stickers, leaderboards, and of course, true mayorships.

  • Tic-Tac-Go Scales Up Classic Game by Turning It into a Check in-Driven Scavenger Hunt

    It’s highly likely that you’ve spent countless school days, work meetings, and beach hangouts casually scribbling games of tic-tac-toe. It’s highly unlikely that you’ve ever played it like this.

    A new app called Tic-Tac-Go mixes tic-tac-toe with city hopping, check-ins, and photo sharing to provide a fun and unique take on the classic game. It’s a location-based scavenger hunt, where success requires branching out a finding new spots.

    Starting up a game of Tic-Tac-Go is easy. You can challenge friends, culled from Facebook buddies, contacts, and friends made through the game – or you can just pick a random opponent and go.

    The gameplay is also easy – but easy doesn’t necessarily mean simple. Sure, it’s tic-tac-toe – one of the most elementary games in the world. But Tic-Tac-Go’s gameplay takes this intrinsically single-faceted game and gives it depth. By adding a location-based element to the game, Tic-Tac-Go is able to turn tic-tac-toe into a scavenger hunt.

    The game board is populated with locations, either specific types of locations like ‘a salon’ or ‘a sushi restaurant’ or more general locations like ‘starts with the letter N’. In order to mark a space with your X or your O, you must check in to a location that satisfies the requirement.

    Thinking about lying? Don’t. Tic-Tac-Go wants proof. If you want your check-in at your favorite sushi joint to count, you’ll need to snap a photo of your glass of sake, or catch your buddy going to town on some spicy tuna rolls. By adding this photo element to the experience, Tic-Tac-Go is able to tap into a fast-growing trend in the most desired apps – real-time photo moments. It’s like a gamified take on Facebook’s Singshot or Snapchat Stories.

    “While other platforms have attempted to capture where users have gone, Tic-Tac-Go places location-based social media in an entirely new context:peer-to-peer competition. Instead of just giving users a way of capturing and communicating where they were already going to go, TTG inspires users to go to new places by gameifying the world of check-ins. Suddenly, every day is a scavenger hunt and players are stepping out of their comfort zones while discovering new experiences that are often literally right around the corner,” says its creators.

    The “right around the corner” thing is important. Let’s be honest – nobody is going to go miles and miles out of their way on an everyday basis. Location-based goals have to be challenging enough to be fun, but they also have to be attainable.

    In my experience, I could think of nearby places that satisfied nearly every block in my game boards. Tic-Tac-Go does this by making sure the game boards are fair to both players. You and your opponent will only see locations with some commonality to your respective areas.

    That way, a suburb-dweller from Iowa, playing someone who lives in Manhattan, won’t be forced to check in at modern art museum.

    Apart from just winning their games of tic-tac-toe, players can unlock badges (which has a fun old-school Foursquare feel) and get “likes” on their photos to see how high they can climb on the photo leaderboard. Checking in and nabbing squares also nets you points, which can in turn be used to snag “boosters” – which act like little in-game helpers. You can replace squares for a few hundred points, or cause chaos by throwing down a “hurricane” and switching up all the squares on the board.

    Tic-Tac-Go is probably the most ambitious reimagining of tic-tac-toe that you’re likely to come across. Though the actual game is the mechanism for all that follows, Tic-Tac-Go manages to tackle check-in gamification, auxiliary achievements (in the form of badges and photo likes), and a social element with its emphasis on photos.

    Tic-Tac-Go is free and available to download right now in the App Store.

  • Checking in with Swarm Just Got Much Easier

    If you’re an iOS user who loves to check-in with Foursquare’s Swarm app, but feel it’s too much effort to open the app and tap a few buttons – then today is your lucky day.

    The new version of Swarm is out, and in it is a widget designed for super fast check-ins.

    Once you enable the widget, all you have to do is swipe down to access your “today” view (even from the lock screen) and check in with a single tap. Of course, Swarm is guessing where you are based on your location – so the suggested check-in may not always be accurate. But from my experience with Foursquare and now Swarm, the company does a pretty good job of guessing.

    The widget view will also show you a abbreviated list of friends who are nearby.

    For people who love to check in, the more seamless, the better. This most certainly qualifies.

    A few months ago, Foursquare announced that it would be ditching check-ins in its flaghsip app and instead building a dedicated check-in app (Swarm). The decision didn’t sit well with many fans of the app, who decried the unbundling of features as totally unnecessary. Foursquare, for its parts, wants to turn the Foursquare App into a true search and local discovery tool – and ditching check-ins was a way to laser its focus.

    Swarm suffered blowback early on, but based on app reviews and social media chatter, many users are finally accepting – if not liking – the new app.

    Image via Foursquare

  • Foursquare Check-ins Are Now Dead for Windows Phone Users Too As Swarm Launches

    Foursquare warned you a couple weeks ago, and today’s the day. Swarm, Foursquare’s check-in-devoted app, is now available on Windows Phone. That means that checking in on the main Foursquare app is on the way out (if your check-in functionality hasn’t already been disabled).

    “We’re so excited to announce Swarm is now available to download on Windows Phone. It’s the best way to keep up and meet up with your friends,” says Foursquare of the new Swarm app. Many may argue that the old Foursquare app was a good enough way to keep up with friends – but alas, the unbundling has already occurred.

    Just like Facebook with the big Facebook Messenger unbundle, Foursquare has received quite a bit of backlash over their decision to remove the check-in aspect of the main Foursquare app and relegate it to a new app, called Swarm. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it seems to be the general idiomatic outcry from many users.

    But according to Foursquare, it was broken, in a way. Foursquare wants to compete in the word of the Yelps as a true local search and recommendation tool, and the check-in was getting in the way.

    “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.” said Foursquare upon announcing Swarm.

    “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.”

    ‘Moving beyond the check-in’ has been a battle cry of CEO Dennis Crowley and the Foursquare clan for years, and they’ve finally done it. Foursquare’s brand new app debuted on iOS and Android last week.

    Image via Swarm

  • Foursquare’s New, Still Check In-Less App Is Here

    Foursquare went and pissed a bunch of people off when they decided to “unbundle” and separate the core functions of their main app into two apps. They relegated check-ins to a new app, called Swarm, and promised that Foursquare would relaunch in the summer as an app entirely devoted to local search and recommendations. Some with an if it ain’t broke don’t fix it mindset were skeptical.

    Despite the criticism – which they most certainly saw coming – Foursquare is moving ahead as planned. Foursquare’s new app – new logo and all – is now available for download. Foursquare had already cut check-ins out of the main app, but the new app showcases Foursquare’s vision – the reason why they chose to split everything up.

    Launching the new Foursquare app prompts a wizard of sorts wherein Foursquare asks you to give it some information on your tastes. If you’ve been using Foursquare for any amount of time, it already knows a little bit about you – but this sort of “taste” mapping is at the heart of the app’s new recommendation focus. Based on what you like (revealed by activity and what you tell it specifically), Foursquare will recommend places you might like nearby.

    “Every search is tailored to your tastes, your past ratings, and picks from friends and experts you trust,” says Foursquare.

    Tips are also at the heart of the new Foursquare. As promised, Foursquare has developed a new “expertise” ladder for tips. The more you tip about certain areas, types of locations, or varieties of cuisine – and the more people respond to your tips by saving them – the faster your “expertise” levels up. That expertise level will be displayed to all, so that people can feel a bit more comfortable in trusting your tips.

    “Friends” are now “followers” (friends are for Swarm, ya dinguses). People who follow each other will have their tips placed more prominently in the app.

    “There’s no reason why we should all get the same recommendations when looking for a place to eat, drink or shop. Getting a one-size-fits-all list of places may have been innovative in 2006, but it feels downright antiquated now,” says Foursquare. “The new Foursquare frees you from having to read long, random reviews, wondering if those people share your tastes. With Foursquare, find things based on your tastes, the places you like, and the friends and experts you trust most.”

    So, what’s Swarm’s place in the world of new Foursquare? Not hugely prominent, but definitely present. Your check-ins on Swarm will help power Foursquare’s recommendations – but as noted before, check-ins on Foursquare are dead. Not only can you not check in on it, your Swarm check-ins will never appear anywhere on the new Foursquare app.

    “The world is a beautiful place full of all sorts of amazing experiences, and our phones should help guide us to them. We’re releasing it today, and can’t wait for everyone to experience it,” says Foursquare.

    How’s the app look? Nice. It looks nice. Would it look or feel any more cluttered with check-ins and an activity feed. Probably not.

    Image via Foursquare app, iTunes

  • Foursquare Check-ins Are Dead, Users Now Prompted In-App to Download Swarm

    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.

    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.

  • Foursquare: Swarm Is Handling the Majority of Check-ins

    Back in May, local recommendation and check-in app Foursquare decided that to survive and flourish, they were going to have to split apart. The company announced the launch of a new app called Swarm, one that would be tailored to handle the checking in aspect of the service – while transitioning the main Foursquare app into one entirely focused on local search.

    Check-ins still work on Foursquare, and any check-in made on Swarm automatically shows up on the main Foursquare app and influences recommendations as well. But Foursquare made it clear that folks who love the check-in aspect of the app should migrate to Swarm. They locked down mayorships on the Foursquare app and said that the check-in would eventually become a background fixture on the main app.

    Well, according to Foursquare, people have made the jump – mostly. The company says that as of today, around 75 percent of people who check in do so on Swarm, not the main Foursquare app.

    An impressive number, considering Foursquare has yet to make the huge update to its main app that will shift its focus to local search.

    We can expect that to happen later this summer.

    “We believe local search is fundamentally broken. Too many people are using antiquated tools to find places to go and getting the same one-size-fits-all results regardless of their interests or places they’ve been before. We’re reimagining Foursquare to provide people with the a whole new local discovery experience. We can’t wait to get it in your hands later this summer!” said Foursquare of the new main app soon after the release of Swarm.

    As for Swarm, Foursquare says they are working on fixing some things – including the fact that it’s slow (it really is).

    Also, you can expect more updates in the near future, with new stickers, better access to tips after check-ins, and additional mayorship levels – for instance mayorships for category types (you go to the most bars, hooray!).

    As for the big update to the main Foursquare app, there’s still no word on a more specific timeline than “later this summer.”

    Image via App Store, Twitter

  • Foursquare Finally Moves Beyond the Check-In by Ditching It

    Foursquare has been incredibly quiet since late last year. In December, the company touted 45 million users and $35 million in new funding–but since then they’ve made little to no waves. No major updates, and no big changes.

    Well, now we know why. Today, Foursquare is announcing that they are splitting the core functions of the service into two separate apps–Foursquare for local discovery and a new app, Swarm, for check-ins and friend tracking. It’s a conscious uncoupling.

    Yep. After years of saying they were “moving beyond the check-in,” Foursquare has finally done it…for real. To move beyond the check-in, all Foursquare had to do was pawn it off on an entirely separate app.

    No entirely separate, in theory. Foursquare promised to use iOS and Android’s framework so that the two apps work seamlessly together–but this is still an unbundling of features. Soon (later this summer), a new Foursquare app will launch that puts no focus on checking in.

    “In the near future, the Foursquare app is also going to go through a metamorphosis. Local search today is like the digital version of browsing through the Yellow Pages (remember those?). We believe local search should be personalized to your tastes and informed by the people you trust. The opinions of actual experts should matter, not just strangers. An app should be able answer questions like ‘give me a great date dinner spot’ and not just ‘tell me the nearest gas station.’ We’re right now putting the final touches on this new, discovery-focused version of Foursquare. It’ll be polished and ready for you later this summer,” says the company in a blog post.

    Really, this is what Dennis Crowley and company have always wanted for Foursquare. Sure, it started as that check-in app, but Foursquare was over check-ins before most of us even knew how to check-in. Check-ins were simply a means to an end–to build a true local search, discovery, and recommendation app that could complete with the likes of Yelp. Last April, Foursquare made its biggest push to date into that territory with the launch of v6.0, which pushed search and discovery to the forefront of the app for the first time.

    For the next year, Foursquare would make incremental changes to turn itself into a local search leader.

    And now, the biggest shakeup to date sees Foursquare eliminating check-ins from its flagship app. Sure, check-ins aren’t dead–they’re over on Swarm and will “work seamlessly” with Foursquare. But the Foursquare name, the one attached to the main app, that’s the one Foursquare wants to become synonymous with places and recommendations. If you want to know the features that Foursquare really cares about, just look to the ones they kept on the app actually called “Foursquare.”

    “Our company has always been about helping you keep up and meet up with their friends, and discover great places. Our two new, unbundled apps are designed to do that for everyone. Swarm is for people who want the fastest and easiest way to connect with their friends. Foursquare is for explorers who want to know about the best spots, and to share what they’ve found with others,” says Foursquare.

    Swarm won’t just be about check-ins. According to an early look available on The Verge, Swarm appears to be friend-centric, allowing users to spot locations of buddies and even share plans with each other.

    Swarm will launch in the coming weeks, and if you want to keep checking-in you can sign up here to be notified of its availability. The new, check-in stripped Foursquare will launch later this summer.

    Images via Chris Crum, Swarm App

  • Foursquare Touts 45M Users, $35M in New Funding

    It’s been a big, transformative year for location-focused app Foursquare. For the past year, Foursquare has been making both incremental and monumental shifts in the core functionality of the app, taking it from just another check-in game to a real local search and discovery platform – one that can truly compete with the likes of Yelp, Google Places, and more in the crowded field.

    And in a recent blog post from CEO Dennis Crowley, we learn two interesting numbers to close out Foursquare’s year. First, Crowley says that the service has climbed to 45 million users (up from 40 million a few months ago). Second, Foursquare has just secured $35 million in Series D funding.

    “To help us keep building our vision, we’re also happy today to announce that two new firms are investing $35 million in a Series D fundraise in Foursquare – DFJ Growth and Capital Group (via their SMALLCAP World Fund). In addition, Barry Schuler, Managing Director of DFJ Growth and former CEO of AOL, will join our board. This investment means that we can build our vision even faster. And that you guys are going to see a lot more from our team,” says Crowley.

    The company’s last round of funding came back in April when Silver Lake Waterman, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures pumped $41 million into it.

    Other numbers? Foursquare has seen 40 million tips and over 5 billion check-ins. Back at the beginning of the year, Foursquare could only tout 3 billion check-ins.

    Like I said before, there were a bunch of incremental changes that Foursquare made over the course of the year that rounded out their recommendation engine – but one of the major changes came in April when Foursquare released version 6.0, which provided the first true local search a recommendation experience that the service had ever offered.

    Another came more recently when Foursquare began pushing real-time, passive recommendations to all users with version 7.0. Crowley says he’s most proud of this.

    And it’s clear that he’s optimistic about the new year.

  • Foursquare Begins Showing Ads After Check-Ins

    Brace yourselves, Foursquare users – you’re about to see more ads.

    Foursquare has just begun to roll out a new type of ad unit – ads that appear right after users check-in to certain locations. Ad Age reports on the first partnership, one with Captain Morgan brand rum owners Diageo. The way those ads work is pretty simple – a Foursquare user that checks into a certain bar or nightclub may be hit with an ad, post check-in, that suggests they try a “Captain and coke” or another type of drink using Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. Diageo also plans to advertise Smirnoff vodka in the same manner,

    These post check-in ads were first spotted in leaked internal documents back in April, so we knew they were most likely on the way. Plus, Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley hinted at more targeted ad options coming to the app as far back as last year.

    Foursquare has been looking for ways to monetize for a little while now, first launching “Promoted Updates” back in July of 2012. Those promoted updates, which appeared in the “Explore” section and allowed businesses to promoted themselves when users browsed certain location categories, amounted to the first-ever ads on the network.

    They’ve since expanded those promoted listing opportunities to smaller businesses.

    But these new post check-in ads are a different animal. Not only will they allow companies to suggest a product (like the Captain Morgan ad), but they will also allow companies to offer deals when customers check-in in the area.

    For instance, one such ad currently running involves Toys R Us, who is advertising a 20% coupon after users check in at family-friendly locales like public parks, pools, and playgrounds.

    According to Ad Age, Foursquare will not allow businesses to directly advertise after check-ins to competing businesses. For instance, Domino’s wouldn’t be able to try to lure me away with a $5 off coupon right after I checked into Pizza Hut.

    But the new ad unit is definitely the most aggressive that we’ve ever seen from Foursquare. And you can be sure that you’ll see more and more of these post check-in ads pop up over the next few months.

  • Foursquare Expands Its Reach with New Nokia App

    Foursquare has just expanded its reach in a big way, possibly bringing its app to millions upon millions of people around the world who have never had access to it before.

    Starting today, there’s now a Foursquare app for Nokia S40 series phones.

    “Today, we’re releasing an all-new Foursquare app for the full range of Nokia’s S40 phones, including all the new Asha devices. Hundreds of millions of people around the world use Nokia S40 phones, and now they’ll all have access to Foursquare. Now, all those people can use Foursquare to make the most of where they are and where they’re going,” says Foursquare.

    Foursquare could be selling the Nokia S40 series short. Last year, Nokia announced that they had sold over 1.5 billion S40 devices.

    Although you probably haven’t seen many Nokia S40 devices in countries like the U.S. lately, where the smartphone has begun to dominate the landscape, these phone models are ubiquitous in emerging markets – in fact, the S40 software is one of the most-used mobile platforms in the world.

    Most S40 phones are feature phones, but a couple in the “Asha” line have been referred to as “smartphones” (although they are pretty light in that department).

    Anyway, Foursquare says that it will come preloaded on a “bunch of new Asha” devices when they launch in the coming months. You can grab the app here, if you have a phone that is compatible.

    Viva la check-in.

  • Foursquare Now Lets You Check-In Your Friends

    I guess Foursquare just made a lot of users happy. That is if what they say is correct, and this really was the most-requested feature. Anyway, Foursquare has just announced that users will not only be able to mention their friends when they check-in, but actually check them in as well. The new feature comes with today’s app updates for both iOS and Android.

    Yep, when you’re checking-in, the “I’m with +” button used to simply tag your Foursquare friends. Now, it’ll actually check them in.

    Foursquare’s going with a one-time approval setup for the new feature. The first time one of your friends tries to check you in, you’ll receive a notification asking for your permission. And once you give it, they can check you in at any time in the future.

    Of course, Foursquare has added a bit of a safeguard in the form of an easy delete button to get you out of check-ins you don’t want to be in.

    Also, your own personal check-in takes precedence:

    “Did your friend beat you to the punch? If you check in at the same place, before or after the friend check-in, yours will be the only one we show. So you can always get your photo in, or tell everyone what you’re doing,” says Foursquare.

    I agree with Foursquare that this will save some time, and I’m sure that plenty of users did really want this ability. But the pessimist in me is already thinking about all the times this could go wrong. You know that dumb friend of yours who doesn’t think it’s a problem to check into that certain, uh, club you guys often frequent? Well, he’s checking in. And he’s checking you in with him. It’s loud in there, and you don’t see the notification. That means you can’t delete it. People see this – unhappy people. Skip to six months later and you’re living in the streets looking like a walking Nick Nolte mugshot.

    Dramatic? Sure. But stuff happens, man.

  • Foursquare’s Time Machine Is an Awesome New Visualization that Tracks All Your Past Check-ins

    Foursquare has a history of thinking up some pretty stunning visualizations. With all of that check-in data (over 4 billion), it’s no wonder. In the past they’ve tracked the effect of Hurricane Sandy on New York City check-ins, shown what 500 million check-ins look like, and made an interactive visualization composed of all your check-ins as a celebration for 4sq Day.

    But this is probably the coolest one they’ve ever done.

    Meet the Foursquare Time Machine, an interactive visualization of every check-in you’ve ever made – starting from the very beginning.

    Once you start, the Time Machine flies through all of your check-ins – they do it fast but it’s mesmerizing to watch yourself hop across town. You can pause it at any time and see a map of your check-ins in relation to the past. It’ll tell you the number of miles since your last check-in, and where you went next.

    For someone who drinks too much beer (probably, it’s debatable), this is awesome. It’s like Foursquare wants to help me remember what I did every weekend for the last three years. Terrific.

    You’ll also find some cool stats – most popular days of the week for check-ins, top places and categories, etc.

    Seriously. This is fun. Check it out here.

  • Foursquare Day Celebrated with Cool Visualization of Your Year of Check-ins

    Well guys, it’s 4/16, April 16th, which means its officially Foursquare Day (four, squared). It’s the fourth annual celebration of Foursquare, an event that was first begun as a grassroots effort and has morphed into a much larger-scale app-holiday that finds businesses everywhere offering deals and specials in celebration.

    For instance this year, Foursquare gave small businesses an incentive to offer specials today. They offered to feature any and all businesses who participated in the search results on foursquare.com.

    “From checking in, to uploading tips, photos, and addresses, to telling friends about the app, the 33 million people on Foursquare have brought us to where we are today. Four years and over 3.5 billion check-ins since we launched, our community-created map of the world is more complete than ever,” says Foursquare.

    In celebration of the 4th Foursquare Day, Foursquare has created a new interactive visualization that lets you look at your past year of check-ins in a few interesting ways.

    First, you can organize them linearly by time, and then you can randomize them.

    But the coolest ways to look at the past year of data is by category (food, nightlife, professional, shops, travel, etc):

    And by connections, which will show you an awesome map of how you traveled between your check-ins:

    You can check out your own visualization here.

    It’s been a big year for Foursquare, complete with a bunch of core changes to the service that put more emphasis on search and recommendations than the app has ever done before. No bigger, though, than the recent update to version 6.0. Foursquare also announced $41 million in funding.

    Also, remember to check-in today to receive your special 4sqDay 2013 badge. Foursuare may not be putting as much of an emphasis on the gamification aspect of the service, but that doesn’t mean that users still don’t love their badges.

  • Foursquare 6.0 Launches As a True Local Search and Recommendation App

    Foursquare has been improving their service in the hopes of “moving beyond the check-in” for some time now. Today, they’ve released the all new Foursquare version 6.0 for both iOS and Android. With this update, search and recommendations (what Foursquare calls “Explore”) is now a bigger part of the experience than ever.

    Here’s how Foursquare describes all the changes they’ve made to the app:

    With the new Foursquare 6.0, we’re crunching all our data to show the best of what’s nearby, anywhere in the world, the second you open up the app. To help you discover all this, we totally redesigned the Foursquare app into four main sections. Here’s what you’ll see:

    Search is now front-and-center at the top, so you can quickly find what you’re craving, or see things like trending places (in real-time) and top picks. Below that, you’ll see a map with nearby friends and interesting places highlighted. Tap on the map to expand it so you can see great places around you. After that, we show you the best things at that moment – our top personalized recommendations, along with your friends’ check-ins around the world. And, at the bottom, we have the new check-in button, for when you want to share and remember the places you go to.

    Gone are the three tabs at the bottom of the screen that graced the previous versions (friends, explore, and me). Explore and your friend feed is all contained in the main feed, with search front and center. This is your “Home” screen. To access your profile and history, to-do lists, and more – just swipe right.

    “Our goal with the new Foursquare is to reveal more of the world around you the moment you open up the app, and help you find exactly what you’re craving,” says Foursquare.

    And to that end, Foursquare has completely redesigned both their iOS and Android apps to help achieve what the company has been working toward the last couple of years – moving beyond the check-in.

    You may have heard that phrase a lot in reference to Foursquare in the past year or so, and with good reason. Foursquare launched back in 2009 with a focus on check-ins – and that’s about it. You checked in, earned some points, and maybe unlocked a badge. Yes, the app had a small social networking element to it – in that you could track your friends’ check-ins and see how you stacked up on a points leaderboard. And yes, you could browse nearby places. But in 2009, nobody would have called Foursquare a “local search” app. And they certainly wouldn’t have called it a premier place for “local discovery.”

    Like I said before, Foursquare hasn’t just launched version 6.0, with its heavy focus on local search and recommendations, out of the blue. There has been a long march to this new vision of Foursquare. Let’s look at that march, starting about a year ago when Foursquare unveiled the “all new Foursquare.”

    That update brought a completely redesigned friend feed to the mix – with larger photos, more information on tips, comments, and the ability to “like” individual check-ins. But the real work was done on the Explore tab. Foursquare integrated even more of their millions of data points to give users a better idea about what was going on around them, and why they should frequent nearby locations. The Explore tab began to notify users of nearby specials, “top picks” that ranked venues on the popularity in the Foursquare community. They added new categories to search like “food,” “nightlife,” and “trending,” all of which relied heavily on you and your friends’ past check-in data.

    “This isn’t just a fresh coat of paint, it’s a whole new app. And, as such, it’s just the beginning. We’ve got lots more coming…” said Foursquare at the time.

    Shortly after that, Foursquare updated their app to improve the map and give it even more search categories. Then, they introduced a new kind of rating for venues – a number between 1 and 10 that is based on user likes. Later, they added a “recently opened” category to the Explore tab. A few weeks after that, location pages were improved with larger, highlighted location photos. In the past couple of months, Foursquare crammed even more recommendations onto the Explore tab and bolstered the info on venue pages.

    See what I’m saying? Foursquare has made tons of small tweaks leading up to this new Foursquare, one that truly looks and feels like a culmination of Foursquare’s true goal of becoming a top local search and recommendation engine to compete with the likes of Yelp, Urbanspoon, and yes, Facebook.

    Of course, Foursquare isn’t abandoning the check-in. The check-in is one of the metrics that powers the service. Without it, the whole recommendation engine falls apart. That’s why you’ll see an ever-present check-in icon front and center at the bottom of your feed at all times.

    To survive, Foursquare cannot simply be about the check-in. It has to be more. This update shows that it is more – a lot more. But whether or not users recognize this is left to be seen. You can grab the update today in the App Store and Google Play.

  • Foursquare Enables Faster Tap-and-Hold Check-ins

    If you want to check-in on Foursquare more often, but think the process takes too long, today’s iOS update is for you.

    Foursquare is now letting users check-in faster by employing a “tap and hold” feature in the app. Now, you can simply hold the place at which you’re checking-in (once accessed from the check-in icon at the top right) and Foursquare will check you in without taking you to the official check-in screen.

    You can also tap and hold the blue check-in suggestion bar that pops up at the top of your feed when the app sense you’re nearby a certain location.

    You’ll know it’s working by the green progress bar and the “Checking you in” status.

    Although Foursquare has moved on to emphasizing other uses for their service (like as a true local search and discovery destination) and “moved beyond the check-in” as we all like to say, they still remind us that checking-in is vital to the service:

    “Remember: each time you check in, you’re teaching us about the restaurants, bars, and shops you like, so we can give you even smarter recommendations in Explore. And now that it takes just a split-second, it’s even easier to check in everywhere you go,” they say.

  • Foursquare Partners with Visa, MasterCard for Amex-Like Offers

    In early 2011, Foursquare and American Express launched a partnership that allowed card-owners to score discounts and cashback by using Foursquare to check-in and spend at certain participating businesses around the country. The program made a big splash on Small Business Saturday (the shopping day after Black Friday) and featured offers like “spend $25 get $25 off.”

    Later, Foursquare and AMEX extended those deals, even launching them across the pond.

    Now, Foursquare is making a move to expand these offers to more types of plastic.

    The company has announced that they will be extending these types of specials with both Visa and MasterCard, and most debit cards to provide similar check-in offers alongside participating businesses.

    Foursquare is working with payment solutions company First Data and CardSpring to expand the seamless specials.

    The AMEX/Foursquare deal has morphed over time to start producing more revenue for Foursquare, and the company says that the new deals with Visa and MasterCard will earn them a fee for every offer redeemed. It’s unclear whether that will be a flat fee per offer claimed or some sort of percentage deal.

    “This is going to be a pretty core part of our revenue model going forward,” said Foursquare Product Manager Noah Weiss.

    According to AdAge, the first offer that should be available today involves $1 off for $10 spent at 8,000 participating Burger King locations.

    Since this is going to be a “core part of the revenue model,” it shouldn’t surprise you that Foursquare is also making these credit card deals more prominent within the app.

    All you’ll have to do is sync your Visa, MasterCard, or AMEX with your Foursquare account to start earning cashback on purchases made through the app.

  • Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL) Hits a Million Check-ins on Foursquare (That’s a First)

    Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is known as the world’s busiest airport, serving over 250,000 passengers daily and over 900,000 flights in the course of a year. Now, it has another distinction:

    The most popular place on Foursquare.

    Today, Hartsfield-Jackson became the first location (of any type) to ever log 1 million check-ins. As of the writing of this article, Hartsfield-Jackson has 1,001,776 total check-ins from 280,746 different people. Foursquare users have also left nearly 2,500 tips for the airport and uploaded over 7,200 photos.

    In honor of the milestone, Foursquare is sharing some interesting stats about the airport based on its 1 million+ check-ins.

    For instance – Terminal B sees the most traffic, and Mondays is the busiest day to fly. One Flew South is the most popular restaurant inside the airport, and people love to look at a particular collection of Zimbabwean sculptures while they wait.

    Foursquare has also provided a heatmap of check-ins at the airport, no doubt coming from their 500M check-in map project, just launched last month.

    Cool stuff.

    [Photo via]

  • Foursquare’s Voice Media Group Data Integration Goes Live

    Last month, Foursquare announced a partnership with Voice Media Group, publishers of regional magazines like Miami New Times, L.A. Weekly, and Village Voice. The partnership brings Voice Media Groups’s products like “Voice Places” and “Best of” to Foursquare’s location services.

    Today, that partnership goes live as VMG content should now be integrated into Foursquare.

    “A couple weeks ago, we announced our partnering with Voice Media Group to bring you a ton of great tips, lists, and tens of thousands of events related to arts, culture, and food in cities across the U.S. Today, you can see those events when you open up the app. To find great goings-on near you, just open up Explore and tap through to your favorite places. You’ll see things like gallery openings and author appearances, along with the movies, concerts, and sporting events we already show you,” says Foursquare in a blog post.

    The new data from “Voices Places” and “Best Of” will be seen in over 50 different venue categories spread across 11 different markets. Those markets include New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Miami, Minneapolis, Palm Beach, and Orange County.

    So, when you’re browsing Foursquare and come across a venue in these major cities, you may just see some additional info like reviews, upcoming events, and other cool tips.

  • Foursquare Uses 3B Check-ins, 10M Tips to Construct ‘Best of’ Lists for 30 U.S. Cities

    Foursquare has just launched a new “Best of” page that makes use of nearly 3 billion check-ins from over 30 million users worldwide. The Best of Foursquare page breaks down the top food, nightlife, and entertainment across 30 major American cities.

    Foursquare used a ton of data to compile these lists – tips, likes, dislikes, popularity, local expertise, etc. What they’ve come up with is an incredibly useful set of top-10 lists spanning tons of different venue categories.

    You can start browsing the Best of Foursquare today.

    Let’s say that I’m traveling to Houston, TX, for instance. Once I click on Houston, I’m presented with top-10 lists for food, nightlife, “things to do,” and steakhouses (each city has a different overarching set of lists). Each entry displays a photo, number rating (out of 10), and additional info like how many people are currently there or whether or not you or a friend has checked-in there.

    I can see that the top bar in the city, based on all the Foursquare data points, is the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium. I can either click on the venue to go to its details page or I can quick-save the place to my to-do list.

    If I choose, I can also narrow the list to “Best of” nightlife: beer or “Best of” nightlife: music venues. Same goes for food, which I can narrow down to view the top 10 Asian restaurants or Mexican restaurants in each city.

    “One of the things our data shows is how each city is unique: Bostonians love seafood, Portland is a veggie paradise, and Philly may be the city of brotherly love, but what they really love is a good sandwich. Since no two cities are the same, each page is customized to help you get a feel for the local flavor,” says Foursquare.

    If your business made it onto one of Foursquare’s various “Best of” lists, congrats! You can download a badge to show of your status as a Foursquare elite here.

  • Foursquare Integrates School Stats from ProPublica

    Foursquare has been getting better over the past year or so by adding more information to check-ins. Their list of connected apps has grown to include some pretty useful apps like GeoPollster, which will tell you if the business you just checked-in at supports Democrats, Independent, or Republican candidates with their campaign contributions. Or After Credits, an app that I particularly like which tells you whether or not you need to stay for any bonus scenes after the movie you just checked-into.

    Today, Foursquare is announcing a new connected app – ProPublica’s Opportunity Gap.

    When you check into a school, the app will give you a fact about the school: facts like “did you know 7% of students at PS 234 Independence School receive free or reduced lunch?”

    You can then click through to access a more-detailed set of statistics like the number of students, teachers, AP courses offered, “inexperienced teachers,” and more.

    “With their new Foursquare integration, you can connect your Foursquare account to instantly see statistics for schools you’ve checked in to before. And when you’re out, you can instantly get stats about a school on your phone whenever you check in to one. It’s a great example of how news organizations can use Foursquare to reach their readers with relevant information when they’re out in the real world,” says Foursquare.

    “A year ago when we launched the first version of our “Opportunity Gap” news application, we tightly integrated Facebook in order to make it easy for readers to compare schools and share their school comparisons. Today’s relaunch adds Foursquare, along with adding a slew of new data to the app as well as algorithmically generate narratives by Narrative Science,” says ProPublica.

    Data should be available for around 50,000 schools, they say.

    You can connect your Foursquare account to the app and start receiving school info by going here.