Foursquare updated its mobile app for iPhones today.
The upgrade is subtle. To many, it may seem like nothing was changed. But a small feature was added to the app that changes everything: the ability to see ratings on places.
This is huge news for Foursquare. It's now in direct competition with Yelp, the local-reviews site which has played catch-up with Foursquare in mobile features.
Now when users search for a restaurant, store, or other type of establishment in Foursquare's Explore tab, they will see a score next to the name of that place.
Users won't rate places on a five-star scale, the way they do on Yelp. But they already have the option to click a heart-shaped icon to indicate that they like a place or a friend's check-in.
Foursquare says that the new score is meant to give users a sense of how much people like a place. Foursquare's method of calculating scores is completely different from other sites. It says the score is derived from the same "magic"—or data-based algorithms—that powered suggestions in the Explore tab.
The company look at signals like tips, likes, dislikes, popularity, and nearly 3 billion check-ins from over 25 million Foursquare users worldwide.
Try it out for yourself.
Foursquare is free and available for iPhone and iPad.
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