Aug 06, 2014 05:09 PM EDT
New Foursquare Is Ready To Take on Yelp (VIDEO)

Foursquare has completely revamped its app, changing everything from photo placement to design touches and increasing its personalization.

The newly launched app has a refreshed color scheme in pink and blue and has lost the usual check-in feature, TechCrunch reported.

A New York Times blog compared the updated Foursquare to a digital travel blog that encourages users to explore the area based on their tastes. The app will now implement past check-ins from users to recommend restaurants and other nearby spots.

Foursquare's signature check-in has now been moved to the new app Swarm, which is intended to provide the social aspect in a separate location. The change allowed the Foursquare team to expand beyond just check-ins.

"We've just got so much data on where people want to go and what they want to do, and we haven't really been able to flex that in our original app until now," said Dennis Crowley, Foursquare's chief executive, as quoted by the Times' Bits blog.

With the update, Foursquare has positioned itself squarely in competition with Yelp, which guides users to nearby restaurants. The company unveiled the new logo last month, spotlighting the split into Foursquare and Swarm.

Wired pointed out that the new app could be a huge privacy invasion if the data shared by users ends up in the wrong hands. Because check-ins are now separate, users are no longer voluntarily sharing their location; in the update, location-tracking is automatic.

According to Foursquare, the more intimate version of the app is intended to be personalized as it constantly tracks your location.

"To actually get an app to talk to you like a friend would talk to you. That's what we're going at here, and I think we've done a really good job of it," said Crowley, as quoted by Wired.

See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?

 PREVIOUS POST
NEXT POST 

EDITOR'S PICK    

Hyundai to Invest $16.1 Billion for EV Business; Sets Annual Sales Goal of 1.87M Electric Cars by 2030

World's Most Expensive and Most Heavily-optioned Porsche 928 GTS is Coming Home to the U.S.

Major Boost as Tesla Giga Berlin Facility in Final Phase of Approval Process; Delivery Event Set This Month

Audi Looking for e-tron Electric Vehicles to Spur Car Brand's Growth in India in 2022

Toyota Offers Free EV Charging to Owners of 2023 bZ4X After Partnership Agreement with EVgo

2022 Suzuki Baleno Finally Unveiled in India: What are the Specs and Features of this City Car?