Up until now, Foursquare, the hot location-based service, has only let a handful of developers play around with its API. Starting today, the company is formally unveiling it, hoping that a robust app community will form around their data.
Here’s the way they’re describing it:
The foursquare API enables developers to build applications that interact with the foursquare platform. You can use the API to create new ways to check-in to foursquare or visualize the data generated by the foursquare community. Our API is still a work in progress and we look forward to your feedback and suggestions!
In announcing the API, Foursquare has also created an app gallery to show what’s already been built ontop of the API so far. Included in this gallery are:
- Foursquare Android, the open-source Android app (our coverage here)
- SocialGreat, a venue popularity tracker (our coverage here)
- MobZombies, a location-based Zombie check-in game
- PeekMaps, a way to view your friends on a map on Peek Mobile devices
- FourTap, links London subway card swipes with Foursquare data
- YipIt, a way to find nearby deals in New York
- A Foursquare WordPress plugin
- Ul.timate.info, a way to send geo updates to Firefox
- Last Night’s Checkins, a diary-creator for your Foursquare checkin history
Another third-party app just announced is Layar with support for Foursquare. The augmented reality browser has a new beta version with functionality that allows you to use your mobile device to look around and see Foursquare venues around you. You don’t even have to have an account with Foursquare for this to work, so it seems like it could be a good way to convince new users to sign up. If you do have an account, you can checkin to venues right from within Layar.
That’s a pretty good list of third-party support considering that access to the API has been very restricted up until this point. The opening of the data is likely to be important for Foursquare in the long run. Foursquare is getting traction with users putting information into its system, but a real explosion could come if third-party developers start making some great apps on top of the service. Obviously, we’ve seen that type of community swarm around and feed services like Twitter.
Foursquare has also already set up Google Groups to use for both documentation and developer discussion purposes.
[photo: flickr/indienate]
This is great news. I am going to check out that app gallery right away.
BTW, what commenting system are you guys using here. The ease of use and simplicity are great and the option to use the trackback url and the short url are perfect.
a slightly modified version of the wordpress one.
The github link to the wordpress plugin repository is dead.
If you’re interested in installing the wordpress plugin, try http://wordpres...ins/foursquare/
Now I can publish my post about Foursquare API and OAuth PHP:
http://andrewma...-oauth-and-php/
yes, you can. nice work.
Cool. I built a little page to show who’s at our coworking space here in Atlanta: http://ignition.../foursquare.php
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/ignite/public_html/foursquare.php on line 64
Hopefully this means someone is going to create a way to post Foursquare checkins and mayor updates to Facebook.
Or does that exist somewhere and I’ve missed it?
=Ryan
ryan@adobe.com
I am working on that app now… but I’m not so hot with Facebook API.
get it done. that would be great.
who cares
Yipit is still in a private preview mode but we are so pleased with the experience of our early foursquare users that we allow anyone with a foursquare account to bypass our waitinglist and create a Yipt account.
very cool.
Lets see what gets pasted together.
So what exactly do people get out of this?
Here’s the blogpost from the Layar Developer who built the Foursquare layer, making use of (also) Layar’s (open) API!
http://squio.nl...-for-layar-app/
I wrote a little greasemonky script that will allow you to quickly add places from Yelp.com to Foursquare.
The Metro Atlanta area was in need of a lot of places to be added and this seemed like the easiest way.
Check it out: http://userscri...ipts/show/58787
Now I guess I should rewrite using the API!
i wonder how there api is in comparison to geo api that was recently announced.
I have an awesome idea.
I’m going to find a way of getting access to the DHCP server at my house to detect what clients are logged in.
Then, I’ll connect the MAC addresses to Foursquare accounts.
So, when I walk into my house, my iPhone automatically connects to Wifi, the DHCP lease is renewed, and I’m automatically checked in at home.
This could be pretty cool. My iPhone always automatically connects to places I’ve been. This could be set up at offices.
Why didn’t you use a photo of your halloween costume
Sweet one of my photos got used for something
Here are some API ideas for you kids, start ‘em up!: http://blog.ste...uare-api-ideas/