Foursquare will no longer need users to “check in” to their locations, instead opting to send users tips and notifications about their locations when they arrive, CEO Dennis Crowley announced today.
There’s no formal name yet for this feature, but the idea is that users will turn on the app, leave it running on their phones in the background, and then Foursquare will send them tips. For example, if a user arrives at a restaurant he or she hasn’t tried yet, Foursquare may alert him or her to “try the soup” with a push notification. Most tips will be user-generated, but not paid messages, writes Peter Kafka of All Things D.
For now, the feature will only be available to about 2,000 new users who download the app on Android. The app probably won’t be available on iOS until Apple launches iOS7, but all Foursquare users should be able to get the update by the end of the year.
If this works, it could solidify Foursquare as a company to continue watching, rather than as just a trendy concept that’s losing its shine. Kafka tweeted at Crowley to say it seemed like a “bet-the-company move,” with Crowley replying with “…this is obviously the future and we’re getting there first.”
For more, read All Things D’s article here.