around you – iGoiPhone

FourSquare app update becomes The Map to the Stars Home app

FourSquare on the iPhone has been updated to FourSquare 5.0. The changes include a updated UI, more maps, and more info about where you might like to visit around you. While I have yet to test the depth of the suggestions, the talk is that they are based on your likes and check ins. FourSquare is leaning more toward letting you know what is near you that you may find interesting, moving away from it being an app for showing everyone where your checking in at. Checking in got old for a lot of people after time as Businesses where not jumping in with discounts or promotions for those checking in, thus it became just a tool for folks to watch where you are at and have been. Time will tell if the new direction for FourSquare will be enough different from Yelp or other location information apps on the iPhone.

As a reminder, here is a couple screen shots of the previous version showing what you and your friends have been up to as well the check in screen… basically a list of places around you.

Checking into a location is now done through a ‘drop pin’ icon in the upper right corner of the screens within FourSquare 5.0, no longer an extra button along the bottom of the page. Taping the icon will result in a list of locations your near as well a map to see where those places around you are.

Suggestions in FourSquare has an updated view of the list of nearby locations as well a nicely pinned map to tap for more info and directions.

Viewing a person’s (including yours) overview is much easier to use. The earlier version had you tapping on list items that opened new lists, the buttons still require tapping but having all of the information on a single view through graphic buttons makes FourSquare 5.0 quick to navigate. A big win for regular users.

June 7, 2012

Discounts and Deals found using the iPhone

Ready for the craziness they call Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Asside from long lines, there are other deals to be had if you know where and when.

Nice that there is a free iPhone app for that, The Dealmap. As the name implies, this is an app that will tell you what deals are around you, the particulars of that deal which you can share with others if you like. There… you have the full story, now let’s deep dive a bit more.

Starting the app up, let it find you and you will quickly get a map with drop pins of discounts all around you. Tap a pin to get the Business name and a brief on what the deal is. Tap that result to drill into more details on the business and discount particulars.

The map is nice but sometimes your looking for a name rather than a spot around you. Just choose the ‘List’ button in the upper right corner to jump to a scrollable alphabetized list. Tapping any of the items drills down to more detail like the map view does.

The Dealmap app shows you more than just what discount you can expect. You can also see the particulars on the deal and who posted it to the service. The address and phone number, as well the very important thumbs rating from others. Don’t forget to tap one of those thumbs when you get a discount so others can see if it is as good as it appears!

November 24, 2010