To start the comparison most simply, there are two main kinds of check-in apps, there are the foursquare and Gowalla variety – those apps that require a few seconds of your time when you want to check-in and give you little else to concern yourself with, and then there is MyTown, which is still a fully functional check-in app, but adds in more “game-like” elements for those who like having an entire town to manage, on top of checking in to local establishments.

For foursquare and Gowalla, the differences come in the few “extras” available in either app. For foursquare, if you check-in to the same location more than once, you have a chance of becoming the “mayor” of that location. This is most easily possible at locations that don’t already have a mayor as two check-ins will earn you the spot. If there is a standing mayor at the location, you’d need to rack up more check-ins than the sitting mayor, all without them adding to their own total – needless to say, a little luck might be needed.

Additionally, foursquare offers a point system for checking into locations – you’ll earn more points based on how many locations you check-in to in a day, whether or not you’ve ever been to a particular location before, and so on. These check-ins will eventually help you to earn a series of Badges, or foursquare’s version of achievements. There are Badges for everything from checking into a certain number of venues, being the mayor of multiple locations simultaneously, or even checking into the same location as a mass amount of others, within the same time frame (say, a concert or convention, as seen with the Comic Con 2010 Badge, or Swarm Badges below).

Gowalla, meanwhile doesn’t contain a point system for checking in, but instead offers a series of Stamps and Pins. You earn a stamp for each and every venue you check-in to, whether it be the Ritz Carlton in New York, or just the McDonald’s down the street. State Stamps are also given out, which are obviously much more exclusive, as they require you to check-in from that particular state in order to earn them.

For Pins, these can be compared to foursquare’s Badges. You’ll earn pins for adding pictures to locations, checking into a certain number of locations, or even fulfilling certain requirements based on current world events or themes. For one example, a World Cup Pin was available for checking into a location and adding a comment about watching the World Cup from that location, while another example is the Jet Setter Pin, available only to those individuals who check into one of the busiest airports in the US.

In addition, Gowalla also includes a system of item collection, where you’ll randomly receive a themed item upon checking into (again, random) locations. That is, you may receive a bag of Airline Peanuts when checking into an airport, or an Acoustic Amp for checking into a music store. While you can instantly “Vault” these items to your permanent collection, you can also drop them off at locations to become a “Founder” of them. If the location has items already, you can exchange one of your items for the item you’d like you pick up. Each item is numbered, so part of the game could be trying to collect items with the lowest numerical value.

While this might seem like a lot of content to keep track of, it’s nothing compared to MyTown, which is by far the most complex of the check-in apps, due to its allowance to purchase venues, upgrade them, add decorations, and collect rent. Each time you check-in to a venue, you’ll receive points which go to your in-game level. The higher your level, the more properties you can own, with you having the ability to virtually “purchase” any location you’ve previously checked into, so long as you have an available lot in town.

Once you “own” a location (there isn’t a limit as to how many real world people can own each venue – it’s all specific to your own game), you can collect rent from it, giving you more money to purchase further properties. You can also use this rent money to purchase upgrades for each building; again, the higher your level, the more upgrades you can purchase for each building. Upgrades make your properties worth more money, and make them generate more rent, thus continuing the cycle of earning money to purchase even more properties.

Also adding to a property’s value are visual upgrades in the form of decorative items that you can voluntarily add to each. Certain items are themed for real-world events, like a series of World Cup national flags that added a whopping $500,000 to each building’s rent instantly.

You can also visit your friends’ towns in the game, and you’ll receive a free Scratch-Off card in the process (along with receiving one the first time you login to the app everyday). Scratch cards reward you with items like food or property upgrade coupons, that mostly function as one-time-use items, either giving you more points or money if used upon your next check-in, or as property upgrade coupons, lowering the price of your next property upgrade by 10 or 20%.

You can also buy items with both real world money or your earned virtual currency via the game’s store. These could be instant property upgrades or lot unlocks (allowing you to instantly purchase another venue), or point boosts, useful if you want to level up quickly.

While MyTown will allow you to visit friends, as mentioned above, if you’re more of a social individual, foursquare will most likely have more of your own friends already registered on the service, as not only is foursquare growing 75% more rapidly than Gowalla, but it immediately started out on a popular footing, by being launched at SXSW 2009. You’re also much more likely to earn real-world rewards via foursquare, by becoming the Mayor of various locations, as retailers have a better chance of being familiar with the app and therefore rewarding your loyalty (free VIP parking at a stadium, or discounts on coffee at your favorite coffee shop, as examples).

As always, while there are multiple large and obviously noteworthy differences between all three of these check-in apps, there are also some smaller, technical differences like those listed below:

• Both foursquare and Gowalla are available on the Android platform, while MyTown is not.
• In terms of the iPhone apps, both foursquare and Gowalla have been updated for iOS4, while MyTown, as of this writing, has not. This, of course, allows the former two to take advantage of multi-tasking, while MyTown must “re-launch” each time you want to use it.
• MyTown uses Google Maps to list available locations, meaning that you’re much less likely to come up empty the next time you want to check-in. On that same token though, both foursquare and Gowalla allow you (and in fact rely on users) to add missing locations.
• If a location is entered into the system incorrectly, foursquare will allow you to flag it directly from the app, or you can head to foursquare’s website and edit most details yourself. Gowalla, on the other hand, does not. As one example, our local Target has been listed as “Taget” for months, and there’s no way for us to fix it, either on the app or on Gowalla’s website.
• Gowalla is the only option of the three to offer a true iPad app.
• In addition to the official foursquare apps, you can use any phone with text messaging (smartphone or not) to check-in to locations. You won’t receive any points or Badges for this, but you can still share the news with Twitter or Facebook.
• In terms of proximity to your location, foursquare and MyTown will let you check-in to anything, regardless of how close you actually may be to the location, you just won’t receive the points in foursquare or the Proximity Bonus in MyTown if you’re not close enough. Gowalla, on the other hand, will simply refuse to allow you to check-in, if the app can tell you’re “cheating.”

As we hope has been made clear, each of these three apps offer very different experiences to the user, even if they may outwardly seem to be entirely similar. That being said, which check-in app is the best? While we have our opinions here at Frisky Mongoose, we want to know what you think, and we’re giving you a way to voice your opinion, either by voting in the poll below, or commenting at the bottom of this post and/or in our forums.

So which app really is the best? You tell us, and be sure to check back next week as we bring you another Thursday Throwdown!

Related posts:

1. MyTown “Check-In” App Has Blown All Major Competition Off the Map
2. Checking-In With Check-Ins: Gowalla Still in Race, Foursquare Planning Choose Your Own Adventure?
3. MyTown Passes 1 Million Residents

Twitter Testing Tweet Media Function

A mysterious new feature has popped up in a few users’ twitter accounts called “Tweet Media” which suggests that they are integrating videos and pictures into the timeline. The function, being sent to a test set of users at the moment, simply asks you if you’d like to view photos and videos from everyone. The description reads:

“By default, you’ll only see images and videos shared by people you’re following, and reveal those by people you’re not. Check this box to see media from everyone on Twitter.”

Despite having the option, the setting appears to currently have no function. Pictures and videos look the same after enabling the option. Twitter confirmed the feature:

“We’re constantly exploring features and settings. What you saw was a small test of a potential consumption setting for inline media. We show inline media on our own iPhone and Android apps.”

CardStar Adds FourSquare Integration

CardStar, known for being an excellent alternative to carrying around rewards cards from just about every store. Today, the service has added Foursquare integration to the iPhone app. When scanning a card from a store on CardStar, there will now be an option to check-in to Foursquare at the same time.

The idea is to eliminate the need for CardStar users to have to launch Foursquare separately and will center engagement for CardStar. “The typical CardStar user already launches the app at point-of-sale in retail locations, airports, gyms and libraries. The CardStar integration with Foursquare was the next logical step to deliver a more cohesive mobile experience,” says CEO Andy Miller.

Related posts:

1. Twitter Releases Official Twitter App for iPhone
2. Foursquare Expands its Reach with New Media Partnerships
3. foursquare Hits 347,000 Check-ins in a Single Day

Gowalla Determined to Make Head-way on Foursquare

Many have already determined that the race is over, Foursquare is the king of check-ins with no competitors seeming to make any headway. Gowalla, however, refuses to back down and believes it still has a place in the location-based world.

According to CNET, earlier this week, reports stated that Foursquare is now five times larger than Gowalla and happens to be growing at a 75% faster rate. Not only are they growing faster, but the users tend to check in more frequently. Even with these humbling statistics, Gowalla claims to not be done and is launching new campaigns to aggressively earn marketshare.

Last week, we told you about Gowalla’s partnership with LIVESTRONG and the Tour de France and their promotion with Threadless. These promotions are looking to gain traction and bring more users to Gowalla instead of Foursquare.

I think the location based app market is still largely untouched, as it hasn’t hit the huge mass markets that Facebook and Twitter have. Until it hits those types of numbers, I wouldn’t declare a winner just yet.

Foursquare Creating Choose Your Own Adventure Game?

Not only is Foursquare growing rapidly and dominating the location based world, it’s also looking to expand its feature set with new, innovative ideas. TechCrunch is reporting that Foursquare needs to “build a compelling product on top of check-ins” that they key to this is to “make the game more fun for users — drawing more people in.” Essentially, expanding on the game aspect of the service, making it more fun and compelling for people to check-in.

Initially, Foursquare was all about the leaderboard and being on top of it. The novelty wained a bit, as users quickly figured out how to game the system for more points. Instead of the leaderboard, Foursquare has gained due to mayorships and badges. Expanding on these aspects is in Foursquare’s best interest if it wants to stay ahead.

Foursquare’s Anoop Ranganath spoke about this: “Foursquare is a game. If you think about games that allow you to level up in different ways and games that allow you to specialize. If you think about the city as the board of your game, you can’t do everything. We’re going to introduce gaming mechanics that allow you to choose a path that you’re going to go on and earn certain achievements.”

This all sounds very interesting, and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on the latest on Gowalla and Foursquare as it comes in.

Related posts:

1. Foursquare Passes 40 Million Check-ins
2. foursquare Hits 347,000 Check-ins in a Single Day
3. Foursquare and Gowalla Battle it Out for Your Location at SXSW

LIVESTRONG, with Gowalla, is looking to inspire people with 40 characters messages with hope and inspiration directed at @chalkbot. LIVESTRONG’s chalkbot will take these messages and paint them on the Tour de France streets and will check-in with Gowalla while doing so.

While this is happening in France, you can help by checking in to Nike retail stores here in the states and leaving those messages of hope and inspiration as well. A custom stamp will be added to your profile for doing so, but checking-in specifically during the Tour de France will earn you a limited edition LIVESTRONG pin.

Threadless’ campaign is simply looking to take checking-in to a whole new level with a cross-country trip. Members of the online clothing store will be hitching a ride in a camper trailer in celebration of the company’s 10th anniversary.

Gowalla will be tracking the trailer as it moves across the country, as it will be considered a moving “Spot” that you can check-in to for a free T-Shirt. Pretty neat way to promote this event if you ask me.

Both have decent causes but really show the power of checking-in and how many companies have adopted these services.

Related posts:

1. Foursquare and Gowalla Battle it Out for Your Location at SXSW
2. H&M Partners With MyTown to Offer Free In-Game Items
3. Foursquare Partners With TLC

Now, you can’t be sloppy because the validity of your art is judged by other users in the area. The art that receives the most positive votes will crown the artist “King” of that particular spot. You’ll also earn points simply by viewing and voting on other’s artwork.

TagDis is still just growing currently but a rapid pace. If you’ld like to check out the game for yourself, download it here.

Related posts:

1. Checking-In With Check-Ins: Gowalla Still in Race, Foursquare Planning Choose Your Own Adventure?
2. Foursquare Passes 40 Million Check-ins
3. foursquare Hits 347,000 Check-ins in a Single Day

“We’ve always wanted to understand how we can drive traffic from other platforms into our product,” Keith Lee, Booyah’s CEO told InsideSocialGames. “And secondly, we want more people to get use our app with Facebook Connect. It’s a really great synergistic aspect.”

This seems like a good way to get people to use MyTown more than they already have. If you’re earning something by checking-in, why wouldn’t you?

Related posts:

1. MyTown Adds Partnership with Travel Channel’s Food Wars
2. MyTown has Over 450,000 Residents
3. FreeAppADay for 04/08/10: MyTown

TheNextWeb points out that it’s unknown if the service will simply tie in with other services like Foursquare and Gowalla or if this is an entirely new service altogether.

Along with the discussion of the location based service, Zuckerburg discussed a few other services like Spotify and how they are integrating Facebook into their cores. We will be sure to let you know when more information is available.

Related posts:

1. Facebook and Foursquare In Talks For Partnership/Merger?
2. Facebook to Take On Foursquare
3. SXSW Was All About the Location

The talks appear to be surrounding Facebook’s implementation of location-based services. The social network would like to improve their ability to attract small business to advertise on their site, and location-based services is clearly one big way to get local dollars into Facebook’s coffers.

From AllFacebook:

Whether or not Foursquare will play a significant role in Facebook’s Location product is unknown but the volume of buzz about Facebook location is significant. However it’s not clear what the future will hold aside from it being guaranteed that Facebook will at some point play in the location space.

The site goes on to say that there is nothing concrete to go on as to why the two companies were in discussions. Looks like we’ll have to wait for the news to unfold down the line.

Related posts:

1. Facebook to Take On Foursquare
2. Zuckerberg: Facebook’s Location Features Are Coming Soon
3. Foursquare Not Rushing to iPad

For now, the app covers 100 airports in the U.S. and Canada and serves as a directory for these airports. According to Mashable, the app is simple and easy to use, with it showing several different restaurants and shops to explore while you wait for your next take-off.

The app is very detailed, with each different venue having its own page with ratings, comments and user photos to help you on your traveling ways. Along with being a directory, the app also features “checking-in” much like Foursquare complete with contests from airlines.

JetBlue is sponsoring the “check-in” aspect of GateGuru, in that the person to score the most points in the “check-in” meta-game will win two free JetBlue tickets. This app and contest sound pretty handy to me. Sometimes a little extra help in an airport can make the traveling experience less stressful.

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Along with the challenge, Explore Chicago is giving away two tickets, hotel rooms and museum passes to Chicago in order for a few out-of-towners to attempt the challenge themselves. The contest only required that you tell then which scene you’d love to recreate yourself. The contest ended June 4th.

This should certainly boost the hype levels that some have for Foursquare and give it some mainstream social media cred as well.

Related posts:

1. Facebook and Foursquare In Talks For Partnership/Merger?
2. Foursquare Not Rushing to iPad
3. Harvard Students Get Special Social Foursquare Spin-Off