Swarm is launching tomorrow. More details on the Foursquare blog.

Swarm is out on iOS and Android (although it may take another hour or so to become available). cc @noah_weiss

Very smart move IMO, really excited to try out Swarm when it's ready. Spontaneous meetups with friends are superior to planning weeks in advance re frequency, effort. Often the 'un-planned' events are the best anyway. There have been several attempts to crack this space. It *is* a real problem, it will be solved by someone eventually (I've considered attempting it myself) but as we've seen with past failures, execution tailored towards ease of use and mainstream use is key. For the refactored Foursquare app, their design has always been superior to Yelp's IMO. Data is different areas varies of course – arguably Yelp's is better in SF – but by moving forward with a clear message I believe they have a real shot at winning the market. Time will tell :)

I wish I could change notifications to only ping me when people are very close. The settings seem tuned to non-cities, which is probably smart, but mostly useless for me in San Francisco. If my friend is a mile away, there is a 0% chance we're going to meet up :)

Is "experimental side-app" the new "permanent beta"? Not only have I never used FourSquare to meet up with friends I wasn't already going to meet up with (despite the initial promise of doing so), I've only ever seen *anyone* do it since I joined in 2009. I must either be in the minority, or they see a need to push people toward this in a way they don't see feasible in the current app (Or perhaps as a user-psychology hack, it's worth trying, but if it fails as an experimental side-app, it doesn't hurt the Foursquare app's brand.)

I'm big fan of Foursquare(both check-in and explore). But I'm skeptic about Swarm. Not only we yet to see pure meet-people-nearby-model working, but they also going head-to-head with Facebooks "Friends Nearby" while being an underdog.

YOU ARE SO FAST, @RRHOOVER

Pretty interesting - communication options for friends: phone call, SMS, Facebook Messenger

Have to reserve some judgment until the app is actually released, but I can understand why they're doing it. Lots of people still think Foursquare = check-in, but there's more business to be had on the recommendations/discovery side. Plus, as the article points out, this way the user gets an experience optimized for the action they want to perform 19/20 times.

Really digging on the plans functionality

So...I can't check in on @foursquare any more in about a month? I have to start using @swarmapp? I guess I'll be putting Swarm on my homescreen and relegating Foursquare to my "going out" folder... [self-aware acknowledgement: i'm in the vast minority in that i still check in at the gym, out with friends and on vacation]

My biggest use of foursquare these days is sharing locations for meetings, lunch, dates. Will that get better / easier on Foursquare? Will there be chat in Swarm? These are my questions.

Very similar to a Scottish startup called Swarmly (http://www.swarmly.co/)