Foursquare

Back at Mobile World Congress, we gave you a demonstration of the new, redesigned foursquare app for Windows Phone 8. Co-developed with the fine folks at Nokia, the app looks amazingly fast and fluid and needless to say, our mouth’s were watering.

The app was given a fuzzy release window of March, but that was assuming it was ready for the Store (a few other apps have yet to come out too that were shown off). Obviously that time has come and gone, which can only mean it’s still not ready yet.

Here’s a little secret that’s not many have caught on, but Nokia and Foursquare have tag teamed to re-do the official Foursquare app and no joke, it’s quite awesome. It’s the Foursquare app that Windows Phone deserves (we still love 4th & Mayor, but official apps should set the bar themselves).

Nokia released a self branded Foursquare app last year, which differed very little, but now it's clear the two were already collaborating for something bigger.

Nokia has one again picked up an app from the Windows Phone Store and put a copy in their Collection. Such is the case with Foursquare, which is now listed as version 2.1.

While it would have been nice to see something expanded upon by the Finns alas this version is a hair older than the official 2.11 version on the Store for all Windows Phone users. So there is no augmented-reality or any performance improvements to be found, as far as we can tell.

The official Foursquare app still focuses on Check-ins

A few interesting tidbits about the official Foursquare app for Windows Phone that you may be interested in on this lazy Sunday. Even though we swear by 4th & Mayor, some of you like the unique design of the Foursquare app even if it's a tad slow by comparison.

Today the app has an update to version 2.11 which is certainly fairly minor but still important. The first one is that it now runs on devices with 256MB of RAM aka "Tango phones" like the Lumia 610. While less than 2% of the apps of the Marketplace are non-Tango optimized they tend to be some big titles (mostly Xbox LIVE games), so it's nice to get that nod. 

The second update is the more vague "bug fixes" which will hopefully address some issues some of you may have had recently.

Perhaps the bigger news (and non-surprising) is the official Foursquare app has not been update to the new "5.0" system like Android and iOS. Those apps were completely rebuilt and re-coded from the ground up with Check-ins losing their primary status for the service. That's right, most users evidently weren't even using Foursquare for check-ins but rather recommendations of nearby locations.

Check-ins in the new Foursquare have been sidelined as the service expands to be more Yelp-ish with new features like Explore and Lists. Photos are also more prominent now as users are more likely now to document their experiences. Of course the much superior 4th & Mayor app already has all of these features built in but with the more original focus on check-ins.

No word on if Foursquare will bother scrapping and re-doing the current Windows Phone app to reflect these new changes. Our bet is they'll wait till Windows Phone 8 comes out to release the overhaul.

Pick up the official Foursquare app here in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Users can also grab the free 3rd party version, 4th & Mayor here instead. Thanks, Brian, for the heads up

We like app updates, especially when they come so quickly after previous app updates. Jeff Wilcox is on a rampage with his Foursquare app 4th & Mayor which is just going live in the Marketplace with v3.2.  We just had an update to this a few days ago and now v3.2 adds even more features. One of those is "Menu support" for local restaurants in your area, a new addition introduced by Foursquare on January 18th. It's so new, Windows Phone is the first second mobile OS to support it (Android users beat us, ever so slightly).

• Powered by Foursquare and Single Platform, many places now have a menu available - you’ll find it right under the mayor information when looking at a place
• Available in major US cities, over 13 million menu items at 250,00 restaurants - with more on the way!

In addition, you can now scan in at some venues by using a QR code. Evidently, some establishments are using QR codes at the front which you can scan to do the checkin, giving users yet another method for racking up those points:

• The Check-in page now has a new “QR code” check-in option
• Simple scan the Foursquare Check-in QR Code - some businesses place these near their entrances
• An optional “automatic check-in” will immediately check you in if you opt in to that!
• Pin the “QR Check-in” experience right to Start

In addition there are the usual fixes to GPS locations, invalid venues, etc. making the app even better. Great to see Windows Phone users on the cutting edge of Foursquare support with this app, which of course can be picked up here in the Marketplace for free. Users should start to see v3.2 in the next few hours, if not already. (Oh and if you feel like tipping Jeff for his work, go ahead right here).

If you saw our earlier coverage of '4th & Mayor' this week, the alternative Foursquare app,  you'll have noticed that version 3.0 for Mango was slated for release. That day is now upon us and you can go ahead and grab the latest and greatest version of that app in the Marketplace.

The popular Windows Phone social app "...I'm a WP7!" has been updated to version 3.5, which brings with it the functionality to "check in" on multiple social networks at once, including Foursquare. It has only been just over a week since 3.4 came out, the speed of development and implementation of improvements is impressive. 

What's new in this latest version?

• "Über Check in" - check into all your social networks, including Foursquare and "...I’m a WP7!", at the same time
• Threaded Messaging, use it as a true SMS alternative
• A new mini-game "Yarbles"
• In-app How To/Tips & Tricks Videos
• The fix for the "French Saving" bug that was a major issue with some regions

You can download "...I'm a WP7!" from the Marketplace.

Facebook has finally killed Places, the seemingly dead check in service that's remained fairly inactive for sometime. It's available in the Facebook for Windows Phone app so what happens to users? Well, we have Foursquare of course, but if you don't use the service or another competitor there might be another option.

We recently covered Microsoft's We're In service which resembles Foursquare and this could well become an integrated answer for a large portion of WP7 owners. Unfortunately, for the time being it's only available to the U.S. and Israel.

On a personal note: my girlfriend uses Facebook Places quite a bit (only checking in), especially when she's in the UK. I've still not fully understood the concept behind letting everyone knowing where I am. If I look up nearby places I get the typical teenage act cool entries including "my bed (:", "cinema wiv sexy bf" and "sofa!!!!!". Surely we should be able to moderate entries in some way, I mean who's going to check into someone else's bed, sofa or cinema with the sexy boyfriend?

Via: Gizmodo and thanks to Ghost for the tip!

Foursquare seems to be on a roll, first re-releasing a much improved 2.0 last week, followed by a 2.1 bug-fix just 24 hours later and now version 2.2.

Like we predicted, Foursquare would be working on the improving the speed and handling of the official Foursquare app. Version 2.2 just went live in the Marketplace and has brought some much needed enhancements to menu transitions and loading times.

We've been running it for the last half hour and have to admit that it certainly feels much better with saner load times, finally making this app a serious contender. Kudos to Foursquare for the quick updates and improvements. (And for you '4th & Mayor' users, a bug fix should be released today for that app)

Grab version 2.2 in the Marketplace now. (Thanks, Shipwreck)