“Apple Inc.’s coming iPhone map application will include Yelp Inc.’s ‘check-in’ feature to let users broadcast their whereabouts to friends, according to materials Apple distributed to software developers,” Danielle Kucera reports for Bloomberg.
“Apple Maps, which will replace Google Inc. as the default location service in software set to debut later this year, will allow users to communicate through Yelp without exiting the map and opening a new app, the materials show,” Kucera reports. “Yelp, a website that lets users review businesses ranging from plumbers to pet shops, introduced a check-in service for mobile phones in 2010 in an effort to help local merchants build loyalty with regular customers.”
Kucera reports, “Integration with Apple Maps may help Yelp challenge Foursquare Labs Inc. and Facebook Inc., two leading providers of check-in services… Mobile check-ins use the GPS capability in smartphones to let users share what local businesses or events they’re visiting. The feature can show how many other people have checked in at a location, whether those individuals are friends, and can publish users’ whereabouts through social-networking services”
Read more in the full article here.
Yes they did mention that at the keynote presentation 😪
More useless crap to turn off. What is with the fascination of stalker apps (location based social media)?
+1 lol
Such a battery waste when your device is constantly gathering your location.
Isn’t a check-in just a brief GPS hit and then it’s done (after a user initiates the process)? I didn’t think that it needlessly tracked users all the time…
You are right. It’s a one time point marker, not a continuous tracking beacon. When people choose to share info about themselves it is not an invasion of privacy, and some people like to give ‘shout outs’ to their friends from various place for various reasons. It’s no big deal.
Yelp is evil!! Do not trust yelp. If you do not sign up your business with the high-pressure sales force from Yelp, you will start seeing negative reviews and comments. This is a fact. Do not trust reviews from Yelp. I’m disappointed that Apple will align itself with a company like Yelp. It’s a terrible move by Apple. Yelp is evil. Much worse than Google. Beware!
…So do you not like Yelp?
I have a friend who runs a business in the DC area, and he told me exactly what Weekend is saying. That they pulled all of his good reviews, left up the bad ones and said that he had to pay a premium to restore all of the reviews. Sounds like extortion to me.
Um, either your friend is lying or can’t afford a lawyer, because what you’re describing sounds illegal as all hell. If that were true, there would already be a class action lawsuit under way.
“Ignore those bad reviews on Yelp! I totally had tons of good reviews! They just, uh… They got taken down! Yeah, that’s it! They got taken down… because I wouldn’t pay Yelp’s extortion money! Yeah, extortion, that’s the ticket!”
——RM
have you ever been recognized after posting an unfavorable review?
i posted a review of my local burger king, basically complaining about their menu display and they’re bathroom.
next time i went in the manger recognized me and confronted me and he was not happy. he told me he found out about the posting cause someone from corporate office called and told him about it. by his attitude i assumed he got chewed out.
a similar situation also occurred after eating at a fast food chinese place. the owner even had a yelp sticker on his door. after my review and a couple of negative ones by others he wasn’t nearly as kind to me and ripped off the yelp sticker