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"After a week of dropping hints from its Twitter account, Foursquare has finally launched its redesigned app. \nAnyone who was anticipating new breakout features, however, need not get too excited. The main difference between the new and old app is (much prettier) packaging. \n\"We launched Lists, we launched Explore,\" Foursquare Head of Product Alex Rainert tells Mashable. \"What we set off to do six months ago is, now that we have these pieces, let's put them together.\"\nPhotos now take center stage in both the Explore and Friends tabs, making them look more like a Path or Instagram feed than a list. User profiles have a tiled interface that allows users to access stats, lists, badges and tips from one screen instead of scrolling.\nFoursquare also finally ceded to the social media norm of the \"Like\" function. Users can now click a heart button on venues, tips, lists and friends' checkins.   \n\n\nMeet the New Foursquare\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nExplore\nExplore now takes weather and time of day into consideration when making recommendations. Foursquare added venue and friends' photos to the feed.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nExplore Map\nFoursquare's previous version plotted friends on a map. Its new version also plots venues that they've been to. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFriends\nWith photos and an option to \"like\" checkins, the Friends' tab now looks a bit more like a news feed than a list. Users can swipe through photos directly from the feed.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMe\nThe new Foursquare profile is compressed into a one-screen tile navigation rather than the list it once was. Lists moved from its own tab to a profile item.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpecials\nFoursquare expects to start rolling out promoted placement for specials this summer.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTechnology-wise, the Explore tab got the biggest update. Its recommendations now take into account the time of day and weather in addition to location and friends' activities. \n\"If you open your phone on a Saturday morning,\" Rainert says, \"we know there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019re looking for brunch.\"\nThough Foursquare revealed last month that it has big changes in mind for its merchant platform, none of them appear in the new app. Eventually, merchants will have an option to purchase promoted placement of specials, and the offers will be targeted using the same technology that powers the Explore feature.\nA Foursquare spokesperson told Mashable that the company will begin rolling out the first versions of the option later this summer."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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