In early May this year, Foursquare announced that it would be splitting its popular location sharing app into two distinct apps. Keeping its word Foursquare launched its new check-in app “Swarm” this Thursday. The original Foursquare app will be revamped to help users find interesting places while this new app will be the one that comes with a check-in feature. Swarm is now live on both App Store and Google play.
The original Foursquare app let you find friends and discover places, while Swarm would tackle friends and check-ins. Although the check-in feature still exists in the Foursquare app, Thursday’s update sets the stage for its migration to Swarm. “Foursquare app would focus on discovery going forward, including personalization”, said the Foursquare.
Swarm makes it easy to meet up with friends, as the app lets you see who is out nearby. It makes checking in is faster and more fun than ever and you can easily message all of your nearby friends when you’ve got an idea for something fun to do. Swarm further includes many innovative features like insights about your life, including how often you check-in at a place, and stickers that you can attach to check-ins to express your mood.
Mayorships also got a revamp with Swarm; a venue can have several different mayors among different friend groups. You’ll now use Swarm to compete with friends instead of strangers. Thus, if your friend checks into a restaurant more often than you, that friend will be the mayor of that restaurant for the 60-day period. This setup means a place can have multiple mayors, because strangers will compete with their own friends.
The company says that they made this change, “So you and your friends can compete for the mayorship of your favorite bar, without having to worry about the guy who is there every single day.”
This new app also comes with a Plan board feature that allows a user to post a plan which is visible to his or her group of friends living nearby. “Swarm plans are different. It’s a new riff on planning, focusing on your nearby friends. There’s no invite list, and you can leave it as open-ended as you want.” The company describes. Swarm app comes with a 6.1MB install file size and is compatible with devices running on Android 2.3.3 and up. It currently has a 4.4 star rating out of a perfect 5 at the Google Play Store.
Swarm is available as a free download for iPhone and Android, starting yesterday.
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