Here's a first look at the new, GoWalla 3.0 for iPhone packed with new functionality...
Announced just today (Dec 2) on the Gowalla team blog, Gowalla 3.0 for iPhone is now out. Users will find a new UI with loads of new functionality, most notably, additional social connectivity and sharing with the inclusion of foursquare connect, note sharing and highlights - it's like GoWalla meets Yelp, flickr, and eHarmony all in one!
This release boasts quicker check-in, with places you've already visited quickly showing up near your location (makes sense). When checking in you now have the ability to share your check-in with facebook, twitter, tumblr, and foursquare.
The app has additional photo viewing capabilities with quick viewing of photos from places and by your friends. Bookmarks have been added so you can save your favorite stops and a really cool, new feature enables you to leave notes for friends... imagine, the next time your friend checks in at a place, perhaps at a local bar, you can ping them with a note to call you... that's cool and very social although you may want to be a little more careful about who you friend as this could really have some serious "stalker" potential! Another cool new feature is the addition of highlights... now you can place your stamp of approval on a place by highlighting something great. Perhaps they have the "best cup" or "best slice" now you can share your opinion with others - awesome!
The image above shows a “highlight” (think tip) about a place and shared on facebook – Cool!
Finally, once you check-in to a place you're input is validated by being presented with a cool check-out style receipt, similar to what you'd get from a grocery store... quite cool and fun! Finally, if you aren't on iPhone no worries, the team comments that GoWalla 3 for Android, iPad and Blackberry are coming soon!
Honestly, with this functionality I'm starting to wonder why I even bother to use foursquare! Reasons why I prefer GoWalla: