Foursquare revamps mobile app around Yelp-like features and focus on location discovery

Foursquare 8.0 for iOS (iPhone screenshot 005)Foursquare 8.0 for iOS (iPhone screenshot 004)

Foursquare, the popular location-based social networking service, recently announced plans to remove social features and check-ins from its original mobile client.

Thus, Swarm was born.

By striping the mobile client off unnecessary features, the logic went, Foursquare aimed to provide its users with a lightweight app that would have a strong focus on location discovery.

After announcing the redesigned new app and showing off a new logo two weeks ago, the new Forusquare 8.0 for iPhone is now available in the App Store. It “learns what you like and leads you to places you love,” as per the blurb, and is a lot like Yelp now.

Jump past the break for the full info…

The refreshed app’s all about searching and discovering great places, based on your tastes, the places you like and the friends and experts you trust most.

So again, use the Foursquare app and its local search tools to write reviews and discover interesting locations around you based on your tastes, previous usage patterns and your network.

Treat the Swarm app as your social heat map of sorts and use it for check-ins, finding friends nearby, location sharing, mayorships and other gamified features.

Foursquare explains:

Our phones should learn about us – our tastes, our social connections, and our preferences. And, using what they know, they should help us better explore the world around us. If you love vintage clothing, it should tell you that there is a hidden gem nearby.

If you’re in a new city, it should tell you that your friend Katy highly recommends this hole-in-the-wall restaurant downtown. If you crave spicy food, it should advise which dishes you should order when you sit down for dinner.

We built the all-new Foursquare to realize this vision. The world is a beautiful place full of all sorts of amazing experiences, and our phones should help guide us to them. We’re releasing it today, and can’t wait for everyone to experience it.

Here, check out the promotional video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvMVFGOJ2Z0

For those wondering, in the five years since Foursquare’s inception people have contributed 6 billion check-ins, 55 million tips, 65 million places, hundreds of millions of photos and billions of social connections.

Detailed information about the changes can be found in the official blog post.

Foursquare 8.0 for iOS (iPhone screenshot 003)Foursquare 8.0 for iOS (iPhone screenshot 002)Foursquare 8.0 for iOS (iPhone screenshot 001)

Foursquare 8.0 changelog:

  • Tell Foursquare your favorite things and it gets to know you. Every search is tailored to your tastes, your past ratings, and picks from friends and experts you trust.
  • Your tastes can be very specific like “whiskey” or “salted caramel.” Or more general like “outdoor seating” or “used bookstores.”
  • Leave tips to share your best discoveries. Pay it forward and earn expertise.
  • Search for restaurants, coffee, nightlife, shops, and more. See what’s nearby or plan ahead.
  • When you arrive at a place, see insider tips: what’s good to order or something not to miss.
  • Follow people and influencers whose tastes you trust, and their tips show first. Connect your Facebook and twitter accounts and see spots your friends have liked nearby.

Foursquare 8.0 is available free in the App Store.

The 26.4MB iPhone-only download requires iOS 7.0 or later.

Swarm is also available free.