Swarm by Foursquare Released for iOS and Android

As we reported earlier this month, Foursquare split its mobile app in two standalone apps - reviews, recommendations and location discovery is now solely the initial Foursquare app prerogative, while the newly born Swarm takes on the social interactions part.

The original Foursqure app is awaiting a major makeover later this summer, while the colorful Swarm app is already making a lot of buzz on the iTunes and Google Play. From now on, social network features like check-ins, location sharing and other interaction perks will be the key features in Swarm.

Even though the Foursquare app has high ratings and millions of downloads both on Google Play and iTunes, the developers took the risk of introducing a new app, and it looks like they invested a good deal of effort both into the app and its promotion.

Beside the full check-in history and the neighborhood location sharing, the Swarm app introduces an array of new awesome features to help you instantly find who to hang out with and who does what, where and why. Apparently, Facebook has received a powerful rival, which is great - competition creates better conditions for users.

Whenever you launch the app, you will be able to see immediately who of your friends are nearby, so you can join in on whatever they are doing, or share your own plans for the night and invite your friends to join you.

Instant Messaging and checking in features are quick and intuitive, while the developers point out the battery juices consumption has been significantly minimized without compromising on the app's functionality and reliance on the location technology. Nevertheless, users must be fully aware the continuous use of GPS-reliant apps in the background can and will drain your battery resources, so moderation is highly recommended.

Your existing Foursquare contacts are ported to the Swarm app once you install it, so no worries here - you won't need to look for your friends manually. Even though Swarm derives its roots in Foursquare, its functionality goes beyond the Foursquare's. The app's main screen offers a list of nearby friends, their locations and distance. The neighborhood sharing feature offers the current updates of your neighborhood, provided you choose to share your specific location.

You will also be able to search through your past check-ins to find that specific place, name or person.

However, some users already found flaws in the new app - there are neither leader boards, nor points. So, for those of you who enjoyed a high reputation on Foursquare, the same regalia won't follow you to Swarm. Likewise, if you were using both social network part of the app with location sharing AND reviews and location discovery, and everything worked fine just the way it was, you might face yet another need to adapt to changes.

According to Foursquare, "Later this summer, a completely revamped, search-focused experience will be coming to Foursquare."

The revamped flagship app will reportedly allow users to discover not only hotels and places of interest and shops, but also nearby businesses that may be of interest to them.

Get the Swarm app on the iTunes or Google Play store. It's free and lightweight, and requires iOS 7 and up or Android 2.3.3 and later.