Foursquare Blog

Say hello to the Foursquare Time Machine

Foursquare — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:50:07 PDT

With 4 billion check-ins on Foursquare, we love exploring new ways to visualize all the places people go around the world, and the connections they’re making between them. Now, you can re-live each and everyone of your check-ins, and have your own beautiful visualization to share with the new Foursquare Time Machine.

Zoom through time and space as you visualize all your check-ins
Discover all the places you should head to next
Save and share pretty infographics of all your stats

Ready to enter the Foursquare Time Machine? Click here.

Nine kings. One cone. Whose banner will you take up? #GameOfCones starts today!

Foursquare — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:45:36 PDT

As the sun rises in the east, we march into battle. Only one House may prevail in the fight for the Iron Cone. The time has come to choose sides, check in like a maniac, and eat lots (and lots) of ice cream. Starting today until June 21, recruit your friends and check in as many times as possible at your favorite ice cream shop in NYC or SF to help them win the Iron Cone! (Don’t forget to include the #GameOfCones hashtag.)

Check back at gameofcones.foursquare.com throughout the competition to see who’s pulling ahead.

Excitement is already churning, from the East to the Westeros Coast. It’s not too late to join the ranks.

#SummerIsComing

Game of Thrones got you stressin? Bury your anxiety in ice cream. #GameOfCones

Foursquare — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:54:33 PDT

Summer is coming — which means only one thing: ice cream. Lucky for you, Foursquare is great at finding the best spots to secure a scoop in your city. To welcome the arrival of warmer days, we’re highlighting the top ice cream spots in NYC and SF. We give you: Game of Cones.

Nine kings. One cone.
Foursquare is pitting the top local, artisanal ice cream places against each other in two all-out battles for the legendary Iron Cone (inspired by epicness that is HBO’s Game of Thrones). Live in the Big Apple or Bay Area? Support your favorite ice cream shop by checking in as many times as possible between this Friday, June 7 and June 21 (the first official day of summer).

Join the battle
See which ice cream shops are competing at gameofcones.foursquare.com, and start checking in come Friday to show your support. Maybe treat yourself to some Neopolitargaryen, or Red Velvet Wedding (too soon?!).

Because as they say, when you play the Game of Cones, you win or you die.

#summeriscoming

How to kill time waiting for Arrested Development to start this weekend

Foursquare — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:46:04 PDT

Memorial Day Weekend is just around the corner! Whether you’re staycationing in your city (aka counting down the hours until the Arrested Development premier), or taking a trip out of town, Foursquare’s here to help you make the most of it.

Find a hiking trail, ice cream spot, or BBQ joint you’ve never been to before.
Don’t forget you’ve still got all of Saturday to enjoy (and probably Monday, after your episode-watching binge). Open up Explore to find fun things to do and eat. Try searching “sights” and filter by places you haven’t checked in before to discover new parks, hiking trails, and scenic spots. Then search for “ice cream” or “frozen banana” to find a treat for after.

Heading out of town? Check out the Best of Foursquare to find people’s most-loved spots.
We’ve analyzed our tips, likes, and over 3.5 billion check-ins from our 33 million-strong community to find the most-loved restaurants, nightlife, museums, and sights across the country. Check out the Best of Foursquare to see and save amazing recommendations in Austin, Portland, New Orleans, Nashville, and more.

Enjoy!

Giving data nerds access to the realtime pulse of check-ins around the world

Foursquare — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:20:19 PDT

Pretty much from the day we founded Foursquare, we’ve had a lot of requests from people who want to use our data for research. That’s because the general trends we can identify – like that New Yorkers are 2.1% more likely to get ice cream for every degree above 60 degrees fahrenheit, or that the busiest time to shop on Black Friday is 2pm – are really interesting, and they are something you can only figure out if you have Foursquare’s data.

In the past, we’ve worked with select academic institutions and press outlets on data research projects. The results are pretty fascinating. It led to this Wall Street Journal visualization of city movement, this Tampa Bay government study, and, for us internally, powers things like our Hurricane Sandy visualization. Through these relationships, we’ve seen firsthand the power of this data to shed new insight and to effect positive change in how the real world works.

So, to allow more people to access this type of data, we are partnering exclusively with Gnip to distribute our realtime ‘places’ data (they have similar relationships with Twitter, Tumblr, and Disqus, among others). We give Gnip a realtime feed of the places where Foursquare users are checking in, which they can then provide to their clients. Here is the data we provide to Gnip: each check-in’s location (for instance, Stop & Shop), the time and date of the check-in (April 30, 2013 at 11:03pm GMT), and the gender of the person checking in (male). Only these three pieces of data are shared, and the check-ins are not tied to individual users. The technical-looking output looks like this:

This data, in aggregate, is incredibly interesting. For instance, market research companies can use it to get a realtime pulse on holiday shopping trends, and social media marketing agencies can instantly track the impact of a national chain’s Super Bowl campaign. Similarly, researchers can better understand a neighborhood’s evolution as the types and popularity of local businesses change. It’s fascinating data and this allows more people to examine the world in more ways.

For more information, head over to GNIP.

Super-specific searches to suit your every need — Foursquare does it better.

Foursquare — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:55:20 PDT

When you’re looking for somewhere to eat, sometimes you know exactly what kind of place you want — cheap or fancy, sushi or Mexican, an old favorite, or a place you’ve never been. With today’s update for iOS and Android, Foursquare helps you find exactly what you want, whatever that may be.

Try these five searches. They show exactly the type of thing you can only do with Foursquare (get super specific, we dare you):

A cheap sushi place that’s nearby and open now, but that I haven’t been to yet.
A bar downtown that’s new to me, but that my friends have been to. Oh, and that has margaritas.
A Moroccan restaurant that has tagines on the menu, but isn’t going to empty my bank account.
One of the museums in Paris that my friend Matt went to last year, that’s also near my hotel.
A burrito place I’ve been meaning to try (it’s on my to-do list) in San Francisco, that’s in The Mission and open right now.

When you filter by price, ‘haven’t checked in,’ ‘friends have checked in,’ or ‘open now,’ you can be as choosy as you want to be. Too lazy for a fancy search? Just tap the ‘Best Nearby’ to see what Foursquare recommends, or search for ‘specials’ to save a few bucks. Snag the update for Android and iOS today.

Happy filtering!

Picking the perfect spot just got easier with even more menus in Explore!

Foursquare — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:09:16 PDT

It’s a Saturday night and you’re meeting friends for dinner. You’ve narrowed the choices down to two popular Italian spots — but how to choose? Starting today, you’ll see more menus in Foursquare, so you can decide given what restaurants have to offer. In addition to SinglePlatform, we’ve also partnered with Locu (a company that shares our mission of helping restaurants and local businesses connect with customers).

Along with browsing through tips and photos, you can check the menu to see if a restaurant has your favorite dish, like spinach gnocchi or chicken parm. Foursquare isn’t just limited to dinner. If you’re searching for brunch, lunch, drinks, or dessert, you’ll be able to view those menus, too.

We’re also working to incorporate price and service lists for non-restaurants. Soon, you’ll be able to scope out the services offered by spas, nail salons, hair salons, yoga studios, gyms, dry cleaners, and more!

Do you manage a small business? Update your listing at foursquare.com, and add your menu on Locu and SinglePlatform to help more people find you in Explore.

Find the perfect place to go – now you can filter by price, what’s open, where friends have been, and more

Foursquare — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:03:34 PDT

Need to find just the right spot? We’ve added extra filters on foursquare.com to make finding the perfect date spot, brunch place, or bar even easier.

Click the buttons at the top of the page to tailor your results:

Choose a price range (like a fancy restaurant for Mother’s Day)
See which places are offering money-saving specials
See only shops that are open right now

And because it’s Foursquare, it’s easy to personalize the recommendations (you’ll need to log in to use these):

See restaurants you haven’t been to before (new adventures!)
See bars your friends like to go to
See places you’ve saved (make headway on your to-do list!)

We’ll be rolling out more options in the future, along with filters on your phone so you can find the perfect place when you’re on the go. Head to foursquare.com/explore now to try it out!

Show mom how much you care — find the perfect gift or brunch spot for Sunday

Foursquare — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:55:38 PDT

It’s not too late to do something special for the mom in your life this Mother’s Day. Don’t have time to hand-craft a custom coupon book full of coffee dates, spa visits, and free hugs? Not a problem. Use Foursquare to create the illusion that you’re the best kid on the planet.

Click the links below to find a special Mother’s Day gift or plan a Sunday activity:

Just hit 100 weeks in the row at the gym? Now you can easily share your best moments

Foursquare — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:11:55 PDT

We hear this story from our community all the time – people dragging themselves out of bed in the morning to keep their gym streak alive, or going out of their way to try a new pizza joint so they can up their expertise.

Now, when Foursquare reminds you that you’re doing great, it’s easier to share those moments with the world. Just tap the new share button after you check in to post to Twitter, Facebook, and more.

Download the latest updates on iPhone and Android to try it out!