Today, Gowalla announced that they have released a “rethought and reworked” version of their check-in application onto the Android market. With Gowalla 3, the Gowalla team hoped to bring an application that was uniquely Gowalla and uniquely Android, a feat they’ve largely accomplished with the new release, though you’ll still notice some overlap with its iOS counterpart.
The updated Gowalla application has been re-envisioned from the ground up, and brings the following changes/enhancements:
- New passport view and action bar – Passport view gives you access to all the main features of Gowalla, and provides a quick glance at your recent check-ins and user profile. The action bar provides an easy way to update/refresh the Gowalla application. Most of the former features in the menu bar are now found on the action bar.
- Updated/streamlined check-in menu – the new check-in menu allows easier check-ins and sharing options than its predecessor.
- The friend feed is also updated to provide a clean glance at your friends’ check-ins. The friend feed has the option to incorporate Facebook places and Foursquare check-ins into a single feed.
- Optional notifications (Android 2.2+) – Gowalla has also added opt-in notifications that will provide you with a notification-bar update when your friends check-in someplace or comment on your check-in. Though I don’t see much personal use for this, I’m sure this will please some of you out there.
Overall, the new application looks and feels awesome. Though I’m not convinced the nicely-updated application is enough to convince customers to switch from competing check-in services, it certainly will be a welcome update for those of you who already use Gowalla. If you haven’t check out Gowalla yet and aren’t tied to any one particular check-in service, the update is certainly worth giving Gowalla another look.
Gowalla 3 is now available on the Android market for all Android 1.6+ devices.
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