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Foursquare touts faster check-ins with iPhone app update

June 22, 2011 — 9:30am ET | By Jason Ankeny

The new foursquare 3.2 for iPhone is highlighted by the addition of a dedicated Check-In button that accelerates the process of connecting with local venues and contacts as well as an improved Explore tab that identifies nearby special offers and discounts. Foursquare 3.2 for iPhone also retires the standalone Shout button.

"Since foursquare is ultimately location-based, we decided that shouts should always be attached to a check-in," the startup said on its blog. "From now on, if you want to shout, just enter your text when you're checking in someplace (millions of you do, every day)." Foursquare adds that updated apps for Android and BlackBerry smartphones are in the works.

Foursquare launched in March 2009, and check-ins at local venues now surpass 3 million each day. In the U.S., users check in most frequently at retailers (led by Target, Walmart and Macys), banks (Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo), apparel outlets (Old Navy, H&M and Victoria's Secret) and convenience stores (7-Eleven, Circle K and Wawa).

Despite media buzz and investor excitement around services like foursquare, mobile check-in services remain a niche interest according to data issued last month by digital research firm comScore. Only 16.7 million U.S. wireless subscribers checked in at local destinations via mobile device in March 2011, corresponding to 7.1 percent of the total nationwide mobile population, comScore reports. Smartphone users exhibit a far greater interest in mobile check-in tools: 12.7 million U.S. smartphone users checked in at nearby merchants, bars and venues in March, translating to 17.6 percent of the national smartphone population and 76.3 percent of all check-in app users.

For more:
- read this foursquare blog entry