Tokyo Urban Bear Experience

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Goodbye, Foursquare!

Previously one of my favorite iPhone Apps, Foursquare has become frustratingly unusable since I installed the "upgraded" version 3.0.

From the tiny, tiny, light grey on lighter grey fonts, to the new Check-in tab inconveniently located "underneath" the iPhone's Notifications bar, the "new and improved" user interface makes Foursquare one of the most user-unfriendly apps I have ever used.

Version 3.0 of the Foursquare iPhone App is now so sluggish, I never know what I'm going to get when I tap a Menu tab. Too often, I get nothing, and the app crashes. Even when the app operates as designed, I cannot tell if I am checked-in to a place or not, or how to navigate to the function I want to use.

The check-in system itself is the most disappointing feature of Foursquare 3.0. After finally completing the arduous journey of checking-in to a place, far too frequently I am greeted with an "Aw-shucks, no points for this check-in." This situation can go on for 24 hours. Seriously, no points or badges for any check-in for 24 hours? Really?

Even first thing in the morning, I am chastised to "stay put for a while and relax a minute." I have been sleeping for eight hours! I was very relaxed until I tried to use Foursquare!

Naively expecting some reaction to my complaints from the company, I wrote to Foursquare several times, only to receive no response at all, or worse, a canned email responses, containing no evidence that a real human being has even read my message.

So after months of complaining, I am now done with the whole mess.

Goodbye, Foursquare!