Swarm vs. Foursquare
An Unbundling Success Story
FourSquare launched in 2009—the year I graduated high school—as a gamified check-in app. Using new smartphones like the iPhone, users could interact with their environment based on GPS location signals.
By checking-in at locations around campus (in my case) you could let your friends on the app know what you’re up to, rack up points, collect stickers, and eventually even land yourself a coveted mayorship at one of the hot spots in town.
You could also do things like leave tips and ratings and use coupons that businesses created specifically for Foursquare users.
Unbundling Foursquare
As time went on, it appears the Foursquare team’s tea leaves were telling them an evolution was necessary.
In 2014, Swarm launched—to many users’ dismay and confusion. The check-in feature would now have its own app, meanwhile the Foursquare app would be… Well, at the time, it wasn’t really clear But a few months later, “Foursquare 8.0” came out and it was a bit more obvious:
Foursquare now = Yelp.
The new setup was a bit jarring and more than a bit confusing, mostly for branding reasons: Everyone knew what Foursquare was, and by comparison, very few people (beyond Foursquare super users) seemed to have any idea what Swarm was.
However, it’s now been a few years since the switch and there are no signs that it’s ever going to go back to the way things were.
User numbers are hard to find, but from what Foursquare shares on their website, and what I’ve seen shared with other sources, usage looks pretty strong:
- 50 million monthly active users (between Foursquare City Guide and Swarm)
- Up to 8 million check-ins a day (source)
- 12 billion+ total check-ins
Original vs. Unbundled Foursquare
Sometimes I find it helpful to make a chart to compare these types of changes. So, here are the major features in Foursquare and Swarm, how they compare to each other, and how it compares to the original Foursquare:
By looking across the rows, you can start to understand how some features were split between these new, distinct user flows. Check-ins went to Swarm only, along with adding friends, but you can still “follow” others in the City Guide app.
At the same time, the City Guide app now includes features that the original Foursquare never had. Instead of relying on location to power everything, you can now explore and plan things to do all over the world.
Verdict?
While I was skeptical when they first made this change, in hindsight I think Foursquare’s strategic move has paid off.
The original app was known for checking in, but that was only ever going to take the service so far—especially considering other more popular services (namely, Facebook) integrated the feature. By unbundling the check-in game, those who enjoy it can have a dedicated product all their own. Meanwhile, taking it out of the main app allowed Foursquare to become the “City Guide” app it is now. Even though it first felt like a total Yelp rip-off, I actually think Foursquare works better than the Yelp app in many ways, especially it’s filtered search interface:
(I really love that “Open at…” menu. ❤ )
While this short article focuses on the experience of using the apps, it’s hard not to mention that Foursquare’s business really relies on location data, which local businesses pay money to maintain, and other businesses (like Uber) rely on for their own location information. I don’t know how the unbundling affected the company’s data collection/dissemination efforts, but I think it’s safe to say they wouldn’t have made this switch if they didn’t think it would have a positive impact on their revenue streams.
So, what do you think? Was unbundling Foursquare a success? Or was it just another example of suddenly needing two apps when one used to do just fine?
