Foursquare 7 introduces a scannable redesign and smarter location recommendations for users
For people who live in big cities where there's simply too much for one person to take in by themselves, Foursquare can be a blessing. It can be a way to build a curated list of recommendations based on which places have brought joy to your friends, maybe find a good discount and, most importantly, become the mayor of the hippest bar in town. Foursquare has already released one update to coincide with the updated look of iOS 7, but today it's unveiled version 7.0 of its app featuring a complete redesign and new features.
The most important addition to Foursquare 7.0 is the app's improved notification and recommendation system. When you check in at a new restaurant, the app will alert you to which dishes are the best reviewed on the menu. When you first arrive in a city or new neighborhood, if you have notifications turned on, the app will provide a list of places to try out based on your choices and those of your friends.
If you're weary of turning on push notifications because of how annoying they can be, Foursquare understands. In an interview with TechCrunch, Foursquare's Vice President of Product Experience, Jon Steinbeck, explained the company has optimized its notifications by looking into what users actually respond to. This means you should expect more notifications when you're arriving at a location and fewer random suggestions. Notifications also use significantly less of your battery life than previous versions.
Its new look helps users quickly scan through their recommendations, tips and specials with a simple finger swipe. You'll notice your check-in feed finally takes up your whole screen instead of being split with the maps or trending events that used to take up space on the screen. As a whole, it's a cleaner, less-cluttered and easier-to-navigate take on an already well-designed app.
This is the most powerful version of Foursquare yet. If being a mayor of a hot new local dive bar is important to you, consider this upgrade a positive step toward building your power.
