Fresh on the heels of Apple’s release of iOS 5, available now for iPad and iPhone users via iTunes, are several updates to popular social apps. Facebook and Twitter updated their iOS apps earlier this week, and now Foursquare has released version 5 of its app for iOS, which takes advantage of functions available with the iOS 5 platform. The Foursquare app for iOS has made some small changes, like its logo, but now features a revolutionary service called Radar.
For Foursquare users running iOS 5, Radar can help discover new places they might be interested in visiting that are geographically nearby. Say you follow a list that includes the best restaurants in your city. As you approach one (with your iPhone near you, too), Radar will let you know that you are nearby. Radar will also tell you if friends are nearby so you can meet up with them. On its blog, Foursquare notes that you don’t have to have Foursquare open on your phone to take advantage of these features. In the words of Foursquare, “it just works.”
The new functionality within Foursquare that notifies users of nearby points of interest is subtle, but could be effective in driving not only more traffic to retail and restaurant locations, but also more Foursquare activity as users can use Radar to remind them to go somewhere or do something when in a certain area. Similar functionality exists using other apps like Cues, but contain no social layer, which makes Radar actually useful. Foursquare also seemed to leverage the functionality built with the app Sonar, which lets you know when friends and friends of friends are nearby using the Foursquare API, to influence the functionality that helps Radar find nearby friends — though now, without needing another app.
Foursquare 5.0 is available to download or upgrade in the iTunes App Store. If you use Foursquare, be sure to let us know what you think of these new features.