“Check in” might have been a loaded phrase in the past, but in recent years it has become synonymous with Foursquare‘s system of letting your friends, and sometimes the whole world, know where you’re at. Now the company is introducing a new feature that harnesses the data they’ve collected over the years to give you suggestions without having to ask for it.
The way Foursquare has so far worked involves a more active participation of the user. People tagged their location, checked if friends have been there, and searched for recommendations left by other users or tips on sales and discounts. But that has always been only half of the master plan, according to the company’s blog. The other half involves more serendipitous moments, when Foursquare would make interesting recommendations without the need to search explicitly for them.
Foursquare’s work on that feature for the past years involved addressing battery drain and location accuracy and it now thinks it has finally got it. Foursquare will now be able to give users recommendations where they’re at and at the right time. Users will receive notifications on the must see places or can’t miss food when they walk into a new location or a restaurant. Users still need to check in if they want to share their location with their friends, but they don’t have to just to receive the notifications.
If you’re the type that goes for this kind of intelligent, personalized, unsolicited recommendations, you might have to wait a bit unless you’re one of the lucky few who will get the update immediately. Foursquare will be doing a staggered release on Android starting today but might take a few months to finally reach all users.
SOURCE: Foursquare
