@rrhoover woah, that's a lot of check-ins, @suzywillow! I've been using this IFTTT recipe to adds my check-ins (w/ maps) to a Google spreadsheet. Glad Swarm is starting to capitalize on all the location data its gathered over the years. Reminds me of Foursquare Time Machine from back in 2013.

@rrhoover only 8k checkins?? Pfttt... ;)

@patrickcoombe Totally with you on that. Reading through these comments, I'm surprised so many people are still so into it.

@patrickcoombe It's pretty simple. It's just like how Facebook has a separate Messenger app for chatting. Foursquare has a separate app for checking-in. Either you want to do it or you don't. But for people that like checking-in, I think it makes much more sense to have a dedicated app since it has nothing to do with reviewing and suggesting restaurants and services. Someone that hates "checking-in" would probably hate that all of that stuff was clogging up their food discovery app. The two apps leverage similar data but it comes down to what the user is looking to do when they open the app.

@chrismessina epic.

@dens Awesome! Still hoping that city badges will make a comeback! :)

@dens Great work! P.S. Would LOVE if Swarm prompted you to check into places with push notifications, Foursquare tips-style.

@cdohertyk @dens Oh, awk. Have I been doing Swarm wrong all this time? Let me check my settings...

@dens I've got this odd problem with 4.0. I have the latest iOS app, but am not seeing the new features. iPhone 6S, iOS 9.3. I've waited a few days, in case you're rolling it out slowly. Also tried removing and reinstalling the app. Username: ehn.

@dens hey what happened to Foursquare? I got addicted to checking in to every single place back in 2013-2014.

@dannylowney The main reason I use it is to keep track of where I've been and what I've been doing. I like seeing how many times I've been to some place or how long it has been since I was last there. With Swarm, the stickers and points/coins do make me think a little bit more strategically about my check-ins as I try to maximize points. So that's a fun little perk but it is mostly this lifelogging aspect that keeps me using it.

@dannylowney My first check-in was 6 years ago, in March 2010. I logged almost every single place I went: schools, monuments, restaurants, cities, friends' homes, etc., in my city but also in every country I travelled to, even with crazy data roaming costs a few years ago. The 'gamification' of Foursquare/Swarm was and is what made me want to check-in even more. Being able to know where (some of) my friends are, in a passive way, is also really awesome because they chose to without being creepy like Find my Friends or having to send a message saying "Hey, are you in town?" But my actual main use is that I have the most precise log EVER about where I was 1 year ago, when was the last time I went to the dentist or that specific shop, how many fast-foods I've been to this week, which places I visited when I was abroad… I mean, it's like a fun way to remember things with a press of a button. And imagine all the possibilities! Of course if you use the Foursquare app with all those checkins, suggestions are even more accurate; that's actually the point of Swarm checkins. But checkin stats are like… for real. We're constantly logging and tracking things: messages, emails, pictures, health data, todos, appointments, etc., and Swarm is what's missing about your daily life. Everyone use it their own way, of course, and that's why the Foursquare/Swarm split hurt Foursquare so much. For example, back in 2011, I remember telling a friend that something must be happening few blocks away because there were around 300 people checked in at a local park (there was a free concert). Trending venues was a killer feature. Sadly, it's not the case anymore, people lost interest in Foursquare when all those cool things have been removed. But I think this update tends to confirm that Swarm is back in the game, with all the cool apps you can be addicted to thanks to how anyone can use for very different purposes.

@dcdjason @dannylowney what are the coins used for?

@dannylowney Yeah, I love keeping track of where I've been, and I think having this data (what kinds of places I frequent most, etc.) will help even more. The social component is also super helpful for knowing where people I know are, even if I don't have a lot of friends on Swarm compared to any other social media. Just today, I saw that a friend of mine is in SF, even though we don't normally talk at all, and I just messaged her about getting lunch next week!

@andypngr When they were first introduced, the coins couldn't be used for anything. You got a few for each checkin. They were just a way to "keep score" amongst friends. A few months ago though, Swarm added sticker upgrades you could buy with coins. These upgrades give you a checkin multiplier when you use a sticker. So instead of getting 10 coins for the checkin, use an upgraded sticker and get 20 or 30 coins. Each upgraded sticker can be used just once a week. There is a leaderboard that tracks how many coins you've earned compared to your friends. At the end of the week, the person person with the most coins gets props along with some bonus coins. So pretty much just another gaming element.