Following the launch of Apple’s iOS 5, Foursquare has silently, without throwing tantrums have released an update to their app. Its version 4.0 looks like will make ‘purfect’ use of the iOS 5 update. The company has stuffed v4.0 with Radar, a new feature that basically operates as location-based recommendations and notifications for one’s mobile device. Radar sounds good, but is effectively better. However, the update is restricted to only iOS 5 for now. This means that neither would one find Radar on their devices if they are on any other OS, nor will they get it if they are using an iOS device, which is not yet updated to iOS 5.
moving on, Foursquare is a praise for its latest addition as it says that “it helps you discover more about the world.” One can easily note that with Radar, that it would help one with ideas as to what they can do given in their current location. With the help of Radar, Foursquare will be able to notify people about the happenings around their current location.
To ease the confusion, one can note the following instance. Let’s say a user adds a new Chinese restaurant to their to-do-list on the app, Radar starts working and when they are in the vicinity, Radar sends a reminder. It works in the same way with the new Foursquare Lists feature. Accordingly, if one follows a list, for example “Best Irish Bars in Chicago,” Foursquare Radar would notify the user as soon as he visits a place which is near to the said list.
Radar is a good feature for those who want to catch up with friends, who are in the nearby area. This would however be based on the check-ins, their friends opt to post on Foursquare. Positively, it can help many events end up on the better side, but there is even a possibility that a few show-spoilers might chuck in and crash the party.
However, the Radar feature would not take up much of one’s RAM memory, as once a user turns on the new Radar feature, it will begin notifying them about all your best location-based options. For this to happen,one does not have to keep the app open. This was surely a thought in the mind of Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley for quite some time as he had spoken at a tech event in April, about the future of the company. he had noted that he had his preference on making things more passive than active. This meant that he wanted to ease the task of one opening up an app and working on searching their list or to check out their friends’ activity. He wanted Foursquare to come up with suggestions for a user.
Rightly, it seems he has come up with an option, which fits perfectly with his requirements. Radar makes it so that the world of Foursquare can exist outside the app.
To add to the excitement, Foursquare has restricted its v4.0 only to iOS 5 users as of now. This would help the collaborated efforts work on ‘premium terms’, even though it is not.