Foursquare – I Tried It, The Test Drive

This is the follow up to my post “Foursquare – What Is It and Why Would I Want It?” I gave it a year.

The Review:

Ok I downloaded the app. I hate the app cluttering up my Facebook feed or seeing peoples check in’s, so I tried to set the privacy settings accordingly. I wanted friends on the Foursquare app so linked to my facebook and twitter to find friends. Every time I was asks if I wanted to post my check in’s on my feeds I declined. To my surprise, upon checking my Twitter feed I saw that I was posting my Foursquare check ins and points on my feed. Ugh!

If I go on Facebook or Twitter I can care less if your the “Mayor” or if you got badges!!! I also don’t care to see where you are checking in, that is what the app is for. Why would I do that to my friends?

If I go on Facebook or Twitter I can care less if your the “Mayor” or if you got badges!!!

Another thing my Twitter account is public, I think why would you make Twitter private? But that means I’m broadcasting my schedule to the world, not good in a privacy way. I’m not just cluttering up my friends feeds but putting out my comings and goings to anyone who wants to stock me. The worst thing is I can’t find a complete way to stop it from posting check ins to my Twitter & Facebook feeds!

Things I like or want:

History- (not built into the app, but online available by checking through the Foursquare website) I like that I can look through and see where I’ve been and track my life. With comments about the places as I go. If I ever am foggy with what and where I ate something or saw something I can go back into my personal log and track down the details.

Tips- If I know something about a particular place, I can leave a tip to the next person to come to the place. Being geo based means being very specific and relevant to people who are there but other than the people who are there who really cares?

Lists- not so crazy about list as they seem to be just random lists of places. For example a list might be called “Best Cheap Eats San Jose” and the list will list all the places you put in it. You can omit McDonalds or any place and include expensive restaurants it doesn’t matter, and people can load you list as one to keep. I don’t know if this is the best way to group info.

It would be cool if I went someplace and there was a list of the top photographic attractions of the area with time stamps of the best time to take pictures of that particular place, that I would use.

Feature I would like; Auto check in, since I am keeping a historic log of the places I go and when I go there, there should be a geo-based way of auto check in. That is if you go to a place and tag it, it should ask upon future visits would you like the app to self tag. If you check yes it could give you the option of notifying you when it’s tagging and ask if you would like to add comments. If you say no it will tag without comments but there also should be a “cancel” button too that you can hit if you elect not to tag that location. Only places you approve of will ultimately get tagged and only places you initially visit and check in will geo pop up notifications.

Things I don’t care about;

Mayorships, badges, and points, the gameifacation of the app is clutter on a potentially useful tool.

I really can care less about new badges or points.

I also hate broadcasting to people outside the foursquare app my check ins. It just clutters up people’s feeds. I know the Facebook app has a geotagging feature but really who cares?

I like that it is a separate app that keeps this data and this information should never clutter a friends wall. I don’t care to see their info and I cringe knowing that this info can show up a friends wall.

That’s about it, Foursquare is not an often used app, but if it was tweaked I’d use it a lot. In a nut shell, I like the geo tagging abilities that I can search though my check ins and places I’ve been. I like that the I can leave a note for the traveler through the app, like a bread crumb, that share reviews and tips about a particular place. What I hate is having to remember to check in, as it knows I’m there and it should ask me if I want to check in. I don’t like badges any points. I really don’t like it being tied to twitter and/or Facebook as I wish it would stay within those that want this kind of content and not be a part of my tweets or my wall if I choose to have them separate.

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Tweet this, put it on your Facebook or comment below. Thanks!