Foursquare vs Gowalla

[Warblad13]

I am in NYC wonder whats popular here

[Warblad13]

[grandebob]

just got gowalla and playing with them both. I don't really have any friends on either, so that's not a deciding factor.

[barkerja]

Actually, I prefer Brightkite.

[qst4]

I've only used Foursquare. Its fun, I like rolling up to a spot and saying "I'm the Mayor!". I did not realize Gowalla was in so many cities.

[Warblad13]

wow no one uses this progs?

[freeridstylee]

I've only used Foursquare, but am excited for it's potential, I've got a few friends on it too, so there's no going to Gowalla for me. Facebook will soon add similar features and probably put these 2 to death, but who knows.

[bevcraw]

How about none of them. Sorry, I'm not into social networking. I guess it's a generational thing.

[jamiedhouse]

I've used both and I like both... For WebOS, the Foursquare app seems more "full" featured, but I am sure Gowalla will get there soon. I like that Gowalla tightly manages what locations can be added to the service, because everyone seems to be adding their house or their couch in some cases to Foursquare... so they are always the mayor of that. I think Foursquare will get a lot of crap locations if that continues. I think everyone should try both of them and make their own personal decision. They are both free so it doesn't hurt to try.

[SportingLions]

I don't "get" foursquare.
I check in this one place 9 times, but this guy that only checked in 2 times is the mayor? =S

[jeffreytz]

Ok so I didn't have either of these apps until last week, and then when Gowalla came out I decided to try them both. I used both at the same time over the last 5 or so days so I could compare them, and here are my thoughts (I'm testing in downtown Chicago):

Initially I thought Gowalla is the "prettier" of the two, at least from a webOS standpoint. In concept I also thought that Gowalla was easier to use, as when you start it and hit the "pin" icon you get a detailed lists of nearby spots. Foursquare gives you a "trending now" list (which never seems that relevant to me) and a very short "nearby" list. At first Foursquare frustrated me as I didn't see what I was looking for.

But as it turns out, Foursquare actually works much better once I started using the search function. When I'm at a location I pull up Foursquare and immediately hit the search (magnifying glass) icon, then key in the first word of where I'm at and almost always it lists what I'm looking for right there; a quick click and I'm at the check in screen.

Gowalla has turned into such an exercise in frustration that I'm about done with it. There's no search (at least that I can find) and no sorting options. Theoretically it starts listing the nearby spots in order of what's closest to you, but the implementation on my Pre is terrible, it's usually way off on where I'm actually at (even outside!) so I'm not sure its really using the GPS, maybe just cell tower triangulation. Due to this inaccuracy its tough to find what you're looking for, as you can't filter by typing some search critera or sort alphabetically, etc. You're only option is to hit the folder button at the bottom left, then select the catagory of what you're looking for, then (assuming you guessed right) scroll through (again not alphabetically but by "nearness") the giant list.

This works about half the time. Today I wanted to check into the CVS I was going into (yeah, lame, but I'm testing!) and it wasn't on the nearby list, so I hit the folder, hit shopping, and scrolling through the list it found 3 CVS stores all about 3 to 4 block radius away from me, but not the one I was standing in front of. If you're going to rely on location-based services, they need to work and be accurate. I'm very surprised an app like this doesn't have any searching or filtering, and maybe it does and I just can't find it (and if it does, there there's a serious UI/intuitiveness failure going on).

So as far as checking in goes, Foursquare is the quickest, and that's important with an app like this - if it takes over 2 minutes everyone starts wondering what you're doing (or in my case, your wife starts glaring at you for playing with your phone). I also like that Foursquare lets you add a location if you can't find it, and it's check-in screen has a bigger map to verify location and shows useful things like parking and ATMs. Also I've already received some cool "coupons" when checking in with Foursquare. When I checked into one bar Foursquare told me I could get a free shot by checking in at the bar two doors down (great marketing!), and at another bar/restaurant I was offered a free desert at that location if I just showed the on-screen coupon to my server (I wasn't eating there so I didn't use it, but still pretty cool).

There's some cool stuff about Gowalla that I really like, such as picking up items and the icons it posts to Facebook rather than the mini map icons that Foursquare uses. But even the item collection is botched up; I should get a notification from Gowalla when I pick something up at a location. I have three items and I didn't even know it until I went onto the website and logged into my account to check some settings and saw there were three things there. I've since found that on the profile, if you wait a minute or so, the icons of your items will show up in the light green bar below your last location checkin.

I also which there were some better explanations about how to use some of Gowalla's features, i.e. what does it mean to put an item in "inventory" vs. carrying it, and how to I move something out of inventory back to "carrying"?

So I actually like both services and would use both on my Pre, but until Gowalla fixes some of the interface issues and makes it much faster and easier to find the spot I'm trying to check into, I'm just going to use Foursquare for now.

If any Gowalla power users have any tips or suggestions I'm all ears

[kuoirad]

I use 'em both - been using Foursquare longer since it's been available for webOS longer, obviously. But I've got friends on both services, so I just use them both. They're both fun in their own way.

jeffreytz - putting an item "in inventory" and taking it back out is what they call "Vaulting" on the website. And I believe at this point, you can only do that via the website, not on the phone. It's that way for the iPhone version too, afaik.

I wish we were able to create spots in Gowalla now, I imagine it's coming. I do like that bit about Foursquare.

One thing I do like about Gowalla over Foursquare is it continually updates your location, something Foursquare doesn't do. Even if there was a button I could hit to manually have it recheck my location, that would be great. Location awareness on this phone seems to be wonky - sometimes (due to tower triangulation, I imagine) it's got me way away from where I really am.

And yes, I believe Gowalla needs some better documentation...

[skirkster]

@kuoirad - Your wish is our command. En route in 1.0.

[T3CK]

Last time I used gowalla, I could not set a new location. Uninstalled rightaway.

[jhoff80]

Originally Posted by SportingLions

I don't "get" foursquare.
I check in this one place 9 times, but this guy that only checked in 2 times is the mayor? =S

I believe you need a picture to be the mayor.

[wgregory]

I tend to use Brightkite because it allows me to interact with people nearby. Foursquare seems to be more about the "game", earning badges, becomming mayor, etc. I've continued to use it, but I'm not sure I really "get it" from a social networking perspective. At least with Brightkite, I can interact and communicate with people near me to find out what there is to do nearby. Since I could not add places in Gowalla from my Pre, I deleted it after attempting to use it for a couple of days.

It seems to boil down to what you're wanting from the application.

[mu7efcer]

I know that this is offtopic, but I don't understand why anyone would use these at all. I'm an active facebook and twitter user. I blog. I really like social networking, but I don't get the idea behind geo-social-networking.

Why would I want to give my location to a single entity (brightkite, foursquare, gowalla, google latitude) so that they can give it to other people for me? I understand wanting to know where my friends are and telling them where I am.. at least a little bit. But the idea that I would trust a 3rd party with this information is what I can't get passed. It just seems like that's too much information to give out to a 3rd party.

What am I missing?

[Surfrock66]

I think there's a bug in foursquare. I became the mayor of Five Guys yet I am receiving no free food, no secretaries, no access to the local budget, no favoritism from the local police force, nothing. What gives?

//sarcasm.

[kuoirad]

Originally Posted by skirkster

@kuoirad - Your wish is our command. En route in 1.0.

Cool, thanks! I know you guys are a little swamped with SXSW going on.

BTW, need anymore Street Team members in Austin?

[PapaCl1ck]

I'm a huge Gowalla fan boy, I love the UI and the pins, stamps and items are really awesome! I took a trip to PA to visit a friend and a stamp that I visited PA... I really like the whole item idea. Right now the only way I can really use Gowalla is if my Wife is with me (she has a stupid droid.... ) so she can create a new spot for me then I am able to check in, but now she is addicted to Gowalla so a small win-win. I have been reading on Gowalla's feedback forums that us webOS users will be able to create spots soon... Who knows how long soon is tho...