3 Major Changes to foursquare that Change Everything
Beta testing is part of life in technology companies so I’ve been using successive iterations of the newly released foursquare for a few months. Here are the three major shifts that were particularly hard to keep secret.
1. Explore Is Now A Genius
Imagine going to Google and having your search results waiting before you type a single character. That’s the new Explore.
Using data from your history, 20 million users, and 2 billion check-ins, they know you’re looking for coffee and a croissant at 9:47am and a bourbon and brisket at 8:31pm. They know if that sleepy little coffee house is weirdly crowded for a Thursday night. They know if a hidden burrito joint is just around the corner and is on a lot of locals’ to-do lists.
Of course, you can still search, but the beauty is that Explore now does the work for you.
2. It’s More Interesting Than Facebook
The Friends panel is no longer a graveyard of all your friends’ last check-ins. Instead, it’s a lively feed of everywhere your friends have been, everything they want to do, every brand they’re following, every Tip they’ve left, every check-in they’ve liked, every List they’ve created, and so forth.
In short, it’s who your friends are when they’re in the real world. That is a compelling feed.
3. It’s Beautiful
The design team lept from “utility” to “experience.” This isn’t a tool for checking in to places. It’s a way of experiencing your friends’ lives and peering into the possibilities around you.
Banishing the fortune cookies pictures in favor of Instagram-like moments makes a massive difference, but the real changes are really in the details. The font choice and subtle line shading that indicates Tips, the shout overlays on top of check in photos, swiping between multiple photos, and the simplified bottom navigation are effective, compelling, and intuitive.
The overall polish signals just how far the underlying technology and platform have come.
Bonus: You Can Now Heart Check-Ins!
Finally! 
Now, run to your nearest App Store and download it.
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