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Screenshot
 A user's Swarm profile holds all of their personal stats within the app, such as check-ins, mayorships, streaks, photos, and stickers they have unlocked. | |||||
| Developer(s) | Foursquare Labs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial release | May 5, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-05-05) | ||||
| Stable release(s) | |||||
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| Platform | iOS, Android | ||||
| Available in | 12 languages | ||||
| Type | Social networking service | ||||
| Website | www | ||||
Swarm by Foursquare (commonly known as Swarm) is a mobile app that allows users to share their locations with their friends and create a record of their experiences in a personal lifelog. Swarm launched for iOS and Android devices on May 15, 2014. A spin-off from and companion app to Foursquare City Guide, Swarm allows users to check-in to a given location, and see who is nearby. These check-ins are chronologically listed to create a personal lifelog for each user, which serves as a digital library for all the places they have been, in a searchable database that can be revisited and shared.
Location and check-in data collected in Swarm are used to improve a user's recommendations in Foursquare City Guide. Splitting check-ins and general location sharing into the separate Swarm app was designed to let the main Foursquare app focus on exploring and discovering information on locations in a Yelp-like fashion. Swarm supports checking in with photos or stickers attached and allows broadcasting of check-ins to other social networks including Facebook and Twitter. Swarm features include a shareable personalized map, unique stats like total lifetime check-ins, number of unique categories visited, and data on streaks and 'mayorships' (a feature of the platform's gamification elements).
Features
Swarm 5.0, released on iOS August 8, 2017, and on Android August 16, 2017, was the most significant update to the app’s core functionality since launching in 2014, focusing more on lifelogging.
Major features include check-ins, messaging, stickers, challenges, 'mayorships', history search, and merchandise.
Reception
CNET described the app as a "bold move", and praised it for removing some of the "clutter" of Foursquare and focusing on letting the user "quickly see where friends are and make plans". The redesign was unpopular with some existing Foursquare users, who complained about its lack of gamification elements, and the need to download two apps for what used to be contained in a single Foursquare app.
References
- "Foursquare Swarm on the App Store". App Store. Apple Inc. June 30, 2024. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
- "Foursquare Swarm on the Play Store". Google Play. Google. June 30, 2024. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
- "Foursquare's Swarm App Tells Your Friends Generally Where You Are". Gizmodo. May 1, 2014.
- "Foursquare's Swarm And The Rise Of The Invisible App". TechCrunch. May 15, 2014.
- "Meet Swarm: Foursquare's ambitious plan to split its app in two". The Verge. May 1, 2014.
- "Mentioning and checking in friends on Swarm", Foursquare Blog, May 20, 2014
- "Swarm now lets users check-in without sharing their location". TechCrunch. April 21, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- Swarm Now Has Direct Messages But No More Plans, March 16, 2015
- "Swarm on Twitter". Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- If every day is a game, then there should be prizes, right? Introducing Swarm Challenges.
- "Looking Back at Foursquare, the App That Made Life a Game". Muse by Clios (The Clios).
- Crook, Jordan (August 8, 2017). "Swarm kills the clutter, focuses on logging location | TechCrunch". Retrieved September 7, 2017.
- Sarah Mitroff (May 15, 2014). "Swarm review". CNET. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- "Some Loyal Foursquare Users Are Checking Out After Swarm Spinoff", NPR, July 30, 2014
External links
- Official website
- What is Swarm?, Foursquare Help Center