Foursquare is divided into two parts: recommendations and check-ins

(image source: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images )

Foursquare today announced the division of the service into two separate applications: one will be called Swarm , and the second will be used by the former brand - Foursquare.

Everyone knows that Foursquare started out as an application for check-ins, the essence of which was to quickly notify their friends and acquaintances about their current location. This feature will still be available in the new Swarm app, which will be released in the coming weeks for both iOS and Android. Owners of Windows Phone will have to wait a bit, but the version for this platform has also been announced.

For the past few years, Foursquare has been slowly but surely expanding the functionality of its mobile applications. The company wants to become a full recommendation service, and, based on the current location of the user, his preferences and history of visits, to offer the best restaurants, bars, cafes and attractions.

"We believe that the search for places should be based on your preferences and advice of people you trust" - say in Foursquare. “The opinion of real experts should be more important than the opinion of strangers. The application should respond to requests like "advise me a good place to date," and not just "show the nearest gas station". "
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Therefore, now the company is working on a new, research-oriented new places application (it will be simply called Foursquare), which it plans to launch this summer. They declare that both applications will work as efficiently as before, but without a doubt, what we see now is an attempt by Foursquare to redirect its main focus (chekins) to the mainstream of recommendations based on the user's location. They are probably hoping to finally push Yelp out of this niche.

If you are interested in trying a new application first, then a separate page has been created specifically for this, where you can subscribe to updates.

From the translator: By the way, and also Swarm (as well as the bee logo), this is the name of one of the badges (or rather the whole class), which are given for chekins in places of "increased activity".

And on this occasion a few polls. Please refrain from voting if you are not using Foursquare. Thank.