Two weeks after Foursquare announced that they are rebranding from the ground up, they have finally unveiled version 8.0, and simply checking-in is definitely a thing of the past as far as the new app is concerned. The new Foursquare is all about giving users personalised and localized recommendations, based on what kind of things you like, where you’ve been in the past and what you should be checking out in your hood.
Based on the idea that our smartphones should act us our personal concierge, the updated Foursquare wants to help you explore and expand your horizons by recommending the things and places it has learned you will like. When you launch the new app, it will create a profile for you based on the things that you will check among the options given you (milk tea, art, falafel, breakfast food, comfort food, exercise are just among some of the options. Then based on your taste, your past check-ins and your friends’ recommendations, you will be given recommendations, divided into horizontal tabs (breakfast, lunch, coffee, shopping, fun). Each tab will have photo-driven card recommendations, divided into places nearby, your tastes nearby and recommended by people you follow.
Now when you first look at all these recommendations, it might be a little overwhelming, even though it’s highly visual. But that’s why there are those magic things called filters, so you can narrow down the choices either by price, cuisine or you can even get more specific, like places that are pet-friendly or coffee shops that use local beans, etc. Foursquare says that the more you use the app, the more it will tailor-fit the recommendations for you.
Of course, if you still feel the need to check-in, you can still use their other service, Swarm, which will supposedly work seamlessly with Foursquare, although you have the option whether or not to use it of course. Update your Foursquare app today to explore the changes or if you haven’t downloaded it yet, go to the Google Play Store.
SOURCE: Foursquare
Until Foursquare/Swarm reintroduces mayorships and the leaderboard, I am leaving it uninstalled. The apps were fun when these features existed, but now I do not see the point of them.
Not going to update my version of Fsq and never going to install Swarm. Biggest rebrand fail ever!