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Matt Galligan

Foursquare 8.0 - Learns what you like and leads you to places you love

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Phil Toronto
Perhaps this should be renamed to Foursquare 8.0?
Matt Galligan
Hunter
@philtoronto Looks like someone did that. But while it's certainly the version number, I felt like "8.0" meant a whole lot less than "The New" since that's how they've been branding it. Similar to when Apple launched "The New iPad" instead of calling it the iPad 3. @rrhoover Thoughts?
Phil Toronto
@mg I understand that - I was going off of what @dens has been tweeting and most of the press has been posting. They've been using 8.0 a lot, but it's that "new new"!
Jimmy Douglas
My circle of close friends and I are Foursquare power users. We literally use it as a way to stay in touch regarding everyone's whereabouts on any given night in Portland. The separate apps has tripped people up a little bit, but I think it makes sense from a business standpoint. The total market size for the discovery use case is far greater than those of us in the check-in-crazy category. With checking-in being at the center of the original Foursquare app, I can see how the users they are competing with Yelp for would have been turned off. Now those of us who check-in everywhere can continue to have that experience, and Foursquare can focus on creating a better discovery solution, which happens to be integrated with my check-ins. I like the idea. I hope this new app makes me stop missing Oink. I really miss Oink.
Micah Baldwin
As one of the first foursquare users, I've always enjoyed the app. I like that I have an enormous amount of checkin data, and it has been helpful to find local things. But, this feels a bit wide in focus. While I totally get it, the conflux of functionality and ad revenue is going to be interesting to see.
Nikita Korotaev
I'm a Foursquare superuser. I'm having hard time liking the split. The original pitch made more sense to me. To get personalised recommendations, the app needs to know where are you going and where are you friends are going. The Old Foursquare had a constant flow of that data. The New Foursquare has the same promise of personalised recommendations, but has moved checkins to another app. So where would the "Personalised" part come from? (Looks like the checkin button is not that hidden in the new Foursquare. And I've just checked in via Swarm reasonably quickly)
Seth Berman
@nikitakorotaev Personalizations come from your checkin history and the tastes you select in the new Foursquare app. For me, so few of my friends every used Foursquare to make that part of it useful. Everything in Foursquare 8.0 is public, which means your friends don't have to use it to make it useful.
justinparfitt
@nikitakorotaev Hey Nikita, HeyLets (iOS) solves the problem you raise about personalization. We're on Product Hunt today. I'd love for you to check it out and get your feedback: http://www.producthunt.com/posts...
Paul Smith
I've been a Foursquare fanboy for years and the experience, especially in new places, just kept getting better. I wasn't a fan of Swarm, it felt redundant in isolation so it got deleted, but I've re-downloaded it again tonight after updating Foursquare - it seems to make sense now, although the jury's still out on whether I'll pursue checkins as hard - I tended to use it more to see which friends were nearby. The new Forusquare app is blazing fast and looks gorgeous - genuinely can't wait to get travelling again (Estonia later this month) to see how it treats me.
Dennis Crowley
Maker
@paul_a_smith Thx! Remember, this is the beginning of both apps -- Swarm is still on 1.0.8! Just wait how great it'll be once we hit 2.0 :)
Mike Mignano
@dens is there any notion of ratings for a restaurant being weighted and personalized for me by my "similarity" to the people who left tips/likes at that restaurant? in other words, if someone has completely different tastes than i do, do their tips/likes mean as much to me as someone whose are identical to mine?
Dennis Crowley
Maker
@mignano Great question. Not *yet* -- right now, everyone sees the same rating for a place. But there is certainly the opportunity for us to create custom ratings for every place for every person. (and this is something we think about / experiment with often)
justinparfitt
@mignano Hey Mike, HeyLets (iOS) solves the very problem you raise regarding personalization. We're on Product Hunt today, I'd love for you to check it out and let me know your feedback: http://www.producthunt.com/posts...
Dan Goldin
I've been using foursquare for a while and while I do feel nostalgic about the old, simple app I look forward to seeing the new version. I just opened it up and it does feel a bit overwhelming but I'm sure that's just the novelty.
Dennis Crowley
Maker
@dangoldin Give it some time and report back. Always always always want to hear feedback. I'm @dens on Twitter. (and cc @4sqSupport in case I miss it)
Dan Goldin
@dens Will do. I understand why foursquare is evolving and glad you're sticking with your convictions. I think I just found the earlier versions simpler and more playful - now it does seem there's a lot more going on. Won't stop me from using it though.
Luis Abreu
@dens I’ve been using it for quite a few years — superuser and contributed a lot to the database. The main issue for me* is that checkin and browsing aren’t mutually exclusive or performed at different times. * and a reasonable amount of people from what I hear Perhaps separating both apps and even brand isn’t the only way to solve this without pissing off perhaps 20M users (50% 2013 reported users). I’m obviously not aware of all feedback and data so I cannot tell for sure, but it feels like the old app had a lot of UI issues that lead to incorrect brand perception — checkin is mandatory and a barrier, no other perceived value. I think that could be solved by iterating the app, just a quick thought form a long-time user, someone who thought about applying to 4sq in the past and designed a similar, broader service in 2005. (also: Should existing users be pushed onto a new brand (Swarm), and new to a refreshed (Foursquare)? Or the other way around?)
Sal Matteis
big kudos @dens and team -> new foursquare is simply much better. To me, there is zero question that the UX is significantly more intuitive and has been built on Foursquare's core (recommendations). UI is also way friendlier. As an early FS adopter I dropped the 'check-in' / mayorship game 3 years ago. I'd check in only as a reminder to self but certainly not to play the game. In comparison Yelp feels bloated and stuck in the 90s.
Dennis Crowley
Maker
>> Yelp feels bloated and stuck in the 90s. @sal_matteis Foursquare 8.0 highlights this very well IMHO :) Thx for the feedback!
Solene Maître
I used it at the very beginning then stop using it, and eventually became a TRUE fan when I moved in New York. Foursquare unlocks the best of what New York has to offer. Splitting the app in two makes perfect sense to me. I use Swarm to check-in as an old habit and also for the social aspect (where are your friends?). They did a great job with he last update of Swarm. I use Foursquare when I'm looking for recommendations, and fill my ToDo list :) I don't mind having 2 apps as the triggers to open the apps are different. Links between apps are well designed and we should get used to it - it's a common pattern as a mobile-first service growths. Congrats to the Foursquare team!
Darren J Smith
I'm been an avid user of Foursquare from day 1. There's too much fuss over the app being split into 2! They observed they have (at least) 2 very distinct types of user, and have the balls to split it out. It will give both apps the freedom to correctly serve their users. I've just now had a play with the new Foursquare. Seems neat. I wonder if the default selected 'venue type' changes depending on the time of the day you open up the app....?
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