Checking in used to be something you only did at hotels or on your sleeping kiddies. Now, it's the sort of thing you do at bars, restaurants, offices and parks and it rewards you with merit badges, mayoral designations and simply by letting you know where your friends are. I'm talking about location check-in services, or games and apps that ask you to let others know where you are at any given moment. Go somewhere, check in and let the fun begin.
Here are five location check-in services that may be worth checking out.
Photo © FoursquareThis is the granddaddy of them all and for good reason. Once you link your address book, Facebook and Twitter accounts to the site, you'll likely see many of your friends using the service already. I find the most businesses I'm looking to check into are already listed and their badges and both surprising and motivating. It's not often talked about, but the tips feature is great. It may help you get the most of your visit to a business. Foursquare is available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm's webOS and Nokia's Ovi.
Photo © GowallaGowalla comes in a close second behind Foursquare. The service uses a passport and stamp metaphor to keep track of the various locations you've visited. The traveling theme is more than just a gimmick, though. They've partnered with National Geographic and other groups to curate trips to complete. The service also stands out by allowing users to upload photos of their check ins. Gowalla is available on for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Palm's webOS.
Photo © MyTownFoursqusare and Gowalla both have game mechanics built into their services, but MyTown really takes the gaming idea and pushes it to the max. They essentially took the concepts that made games like Farmville wildly successful and applied it to real life. This resulted in, depending on your chosen metric, the most popular check in service out there. MyTown is only available as apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Photo © FacebookIt's both a blessing and a curse that Facebook launched a check in feature on the site earlier this year. On the one hand, it's really great to see location updates you’re your friends in one place. Unfortunately, many Facebook Places check ins seem to get lost among the other updates on Facebook. It also seems that a smaller percentage of Facebook users are taking advantage of the feature. Facebook Places is available through Facebook application for iPhone and web-enabled mobile devices via touch.facebook.com.
Photo © LooptLike others on the list, Loopt can help you find nearby friends and will publish checkins to Facebook and Twitter. Loopt also pulls in some of the best features of group messaging products, like geo-based text messaging and photo sharing. The Loopt Star product was rolled into the their flagship app along with their association with and discounts from major brands. Loopt is available on Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7 and iPhones.
