Location check-in and rewards-based application gets an update across mobile platforms
It's the week of Gowalla updates: in the past four days, Gowalla 2.0 has launched both for Android and Palm webOS.
The
Android version, which launched on Friday of last week, now includes features like photos, comments, trips, and friend requests. Users can now share and see photos at a Spot, comment on check-ins made by themselves or others, view friends' recommended trips and bookmarked spots, and easily accept or reject new friend requests.
The
webOS version of Gowalla 2.0, which just launched on Monday, incorporates all of these features, as well as advanced searching and filtering features, a redesigned passport (the user's profile on Gowalla), and "enhanced GPS flexibility." That last phrase seems to hint at the fact that users can now check-in to places they might not really be at, something at least one user won't be happy with. From the comments for the Android update, a user named "cawpin" comments:
It seems to me that this latest update completely screwed the check in model Gowalla has used. I can check into a spot from my house that is 1/2 a mile away. Is this intentional? If so, you’ve ruined the whole point of using Gowalla over Foursquare.Location-based services definitely walk a fine line when trying to offer the best experience to so many users.
Though webOS seemed to be falling behind its mobile competitors like Android and especially the iPhone in terms of attracting mobile developers and users,
HP's $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm in late April recast the mobile platform in a new light. If HP can design excellent tablet computers and other mobile devices, webOS could be back on the map in a big way.
Either way, Gowalla is certainly covering its bases by launching a revamped application for both Android and webOS (the iPhone version has been available for some time).
Steven Loeb
