Foursquare Allows Users To Check-In Their Friends

Foursquare has just updated its app for mobile devices, adding a friend check-in option, something Foursquare says users have wanted for a while.

Foursquare has been monitoring user activity, noticing that a lot of people, 90% in fact, are using the mention feature to say who they’re with. Foursquare announced the update in a blog post yesterday:

“So, starting today, we’re making it easy for you to save your and your friends’ time – you can now check in your friends when you’re out together. Instead of you and four friends each pulling out your phone to check in at dinner, now one of you can do it for everyone. Less time spent on your phone, more time enjoying the moment.” To check friends in, users just tap the “I’m with…” button then search for and select their friends. If a friend checks you in, you will be sent a notification asking for your permission. You only need to get a friend’s approval once: from them on, every time you check them in somewhere, they’ll have to tap the delete button to get rid of it. If you don’t get a friend’s permission to check them in, they’ll just be mentioned as before.

If you friend checks you in somewhere at the same time as you check yourself in, yours is the only check-in that gets shown, “so you can always get your photo in, or tell everyone what you’re doing”. So, presumably, if two people check each other in at the same place and time, their check-ins will actually only show themselves.

Foursquare introduced the update “so people could spend less time on their phones, and more time having fun” – exactly the opposite of what big social media companies Facebook and Twitter are trying to do.

What do you think of Foursquare’s new friend check-in feature?

Hands On With the New Foursquare

Foursquare launched a major update to its iOS app Wednesday, now with more focus on what’s around you rather than who.

While the app is certainly all about checking in — and has a new larger check-in button front and center on the app’s home screen — it’s also about helping you find things to do around you. Whether you’re looking for a place to grab a cup of coffee, or trying to find out what club in town is the most popular, there’s a little something for everyone.

Using Foursquare religiously since its launch in 2009, I took version 6.0 out for a spin this afternoon to see just what the hype’s about.

Ready to Explore

When you launch Foursquare, you’re taken directly to an Explore page, where you can see at a glance which of your friends are located around you, what’s happening in the area, and what new businesses might have popped up since you've last been around.

All of that information is contained in a small widget at the top of the screen — you can scroll down to see friends worldwide — with a map behind it. Want to see what’s going on in map view? Tapping on the small map at the top of the page will bring up a full-screen version.

Friends are represented on the map with their profile pictures. Other places on the map, such as restaurants and bars, and noted by familiar location-specific icons — for instance, a bar has a picture of a martini glass. Tap on an icon and you can see that particular location’s rating, as well as its business type. Tap again and you're on that location's Foursquare page with photos, check-in info, tips and more at your fingertips.

Getting Specific

At the top of the Explore page is a search box where you find something like a slice of pizza near you. Those results are then shown on a page similar to that initial launch page, with a list view of establishments meeting your search criteria below a map view of the same information. Once again, tapping on the small map will bring up a larger full-screen view.

In the case of search, however, that map information is more detailed, offering you not only the name and rating of a location, but also highlighting particular establishments where your friends have visited or left tips.
My search for pizza places immediately highlighted a nearby location where my friend Taylor had left a tip, and tapping around, I was able to find several more locations nearby that were frequented by my friends.
The whole experience is pretty snappy, and makes it easy to find a location near you that you know you'll enjoy, primarily because your friends are essentially recommending it to you on the fly.