foursquare Explore explained

foursquare rolled out a new feature called Explore back in March. The launch of the new feature was included for both the iPhone and Android platforms. BlackBerry users have been left behind, lost in the world of foursquare, unable to Explore their cities—until now.

With the latest version of FourPlay (1.1.20) for the BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry users get their first real look at Explore. So what is Explore? Read on to find out.

foursquare released Explore as a means for foursquare users to find new venues, of all variations, whether they are in their home city or visiting a new city. 

If you view foursquare as a big data center, collecting data non-stop, data of where people like to go, when they like to go there, and who they go there with.. you will begin to understand the value that Explore brings.

foursquare uses all of that data, and some pretty complicated algorithms, to suggest places you should visit based off of both location, and check ins (everyone, friends, or yours).

So, as an example, let’s say you wanted to find a new place to eat. Open up FourPlay, navigate over to the Explore section and wait for the GPS to locate you, or enter your location manually.

You can either search by typing in a type of food, day of week (tips are search, revealing venues with specials for that day), or any other keyword that fits exactly what you are looking for.

You will then be given some results, based off of your keyword, as well as your settings (swipe down the menu, decide if you want recs based off everyone, friends, or just your check ins as well as the proximity.)

You can also use the five buttons across the top to search, or use the drop box in combination with one of the buttons to narrow down the search even more.

We can write another 500 words about the Explore feature, but as long as you get the gist of it, the best way to learn it is to use it. We feel we actually have a leg up on the official foursquare apps with Explore due to the fact that we allow users to type in any location, and Explore that location. The official foursquare apps only allow users to Exlpore their immediate area.

FourPlay 1.1.20 update details!

We recently submitted FourPlay 1.1.20 to App World for approval. Do you see anything different? Let’s hope so!

About a month ago we added a great friend, Justin Peacock, to the FourPlay team. Justin does some great UI work, and we knew that FourPlay was in desperate need of a fresh and clean UI. I mean, let’s face it.. neither Kyle nor myself have much skill when it comes to graphics.

The entire UI, down to the very last button, has been redone. It should make for a much more pleasant experience on the eyes

But wait, there’s more! Keep reading for the rest of the details..

We added a ton of features, here is a complete list:

Home Screen -

  • Full Screen photo viewing of photos from your friends check ins
  • Badges popup now more streamlined (hide popup by clicking the badges button again)
  • Time stamp added to each check in so you know how long ago that checkin was
  • New menu options, from left to right: Checkin, Venues, Explore, Specials, “Me” (leaderboard/profile)


Venue Screen -

  • The venue screen has been redesigned to give you a much better look at the venue information
  • View venue photos in a full screen view like the photos on the home screen
  • View all tips and todo’s for the venue
  • See who the mayor is and how many times they have checked in there
  • See all specials that the venue is currently offering


Explore Screen-

  • Full implementation of the new Explore API from foursquare
  • The only BlackBerry client to have these features (even the offical BB client doesn’t :) )
  • Search recommendations by category (Food, A&E, Shops, Drinks, Coffee)
  • Set the radius of your search up to 25 miles.
  • Set who foursquare should use to make its recommendation… Everyone, your friends or just your check ins
  • Also can search by any phrase for type of place like Theme Park, Pizza, Japanese food, etc
  • See information about the venue that they are recommending to you
  • See the top tip from the venue
  • Shows why foursquare recommended that you go to this venue


Specials Screen

  • This one is simple. Shows you all the specials nearby your location, what type of special it is, if it is unlocked or how you can unlock it.


Me/Leaderboard Screen -

  • Complete leaderboard display.
  • See how you rank against your friends and how much more you should be checking in
  • See your weekly progress in points towards your max weekly point total
  • Shows your full profile, check ins, mayorships, friends and how many brands you are following.
  • Shows all of your badges in a visually pleasing grid mode
  • See all of your pending friend requests and approve or deny them one by one.


We went from a list of 8 main features, to having to break the features down by screen, needless to say.. this update is crammed full of foursquare goodies.

Big thanks to Justin for joining our team and making the app look the way Kyle and I had always wanted it to look.

FourPlay and the PlayBook GPS conundrum

Hi Guys! Thank you to everyone who has downloaded and used our app, we appreciate the feedback and support.

We are aware that some users have issues with GPS, not only while using FourPlay, but while using any location enabled application.

From our understaning, GPS on the BlackBerry PlayBook is pulled via your WiFi hotspot. If the location of the hotspot you are currently connected to is registered in the database, then you will see location data available in the application you are using. If the hotspot you are using isn’t registered, well then you won’t see any location data.

Until RIM smooths out the GPS reliability, location based apps will be hit or miss. In the mean time, we are going to brainstorm possible workarounds for the instances when you are on an unregistered hotspot and GPS cannot be pulled, which would then allow you to use the foursquare checkin capabilities we have built into FourPlay.

Announcing FourPlay (part deux)

A few weeks back we announced FourPlay for the BlackBerry PlayBook. We were not at all expecting the response we received from the video. The coverage even reached the WSJ and BusinessInsider both of them having reblogged posts from CrackBerry and About foursquare; a complete and total surprise to us.

The original intent of the project was to give foursquare users an application on the PlayBook that would allow them to easily view their friends checkins and photos with the ability to leave comments. That was it.

After seeing the initial reaction and excitement, Kyle and myself decided we needed to add more.. a lot more.

We have added checkins, upload photos with checkins and a view of nearby venue information.

There are still more plans and features on the ‘white board’ to be added down the road.

FourPlay is approved, posted in App World and eagerly waiting for users to get their hands on the PlayBook.

Announcing FourPlay for the BlackBerry PlayBook

With today’s official announcement of the BlackBerry PlayBook being released on April 19th, we figured now was a good time to show off our application, which will be available April 19th in BlackBerry App World!

FourPlay is the best experience of fourSquare on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

With FourPlay users can:

  • Access their friends recent checkin stream via the native PlayBook app
  • View and leave comments on checkins from within the app
  • View pictures their friends have included with checkins
  • View information about the venue their friend just checked into, complete with map
  • View their friends information, including a full badge view

Download FourPlay for free from BlackBerry App World for your BlackBerry PlayBook and start commenting and viewing pictures on foursquare right away!