Also new on my iPhone are Foursquare and for comparison, Locle.

Both are location-based social networking apps. Where Foursquare could be described as venue-centric, the Dublin-developed Locle is more people-focussed.

Foursquare is a game with points and badges, and while I can see how this may encourage checkins, the strength for me is seeing tips for people’s favourite coffee shops and restaurants around the city. New places, but also the realisation that Twitter contacts are frequented my regular coffee haunts and I never knew. I’m currently the Mayor of Cafe Metro.

The Foursquare app. has some glitches: it doesn’t seem to accept tips posted on the mobile, and I stopped getting push notifications of shouts after a recent update, but given the initial burst of activity after the launch in Dublin that’s probably a good thing. A good bunch of my Twitter contacts started using last week which makes this a regularly used app for me. I’ve been trying to add tips on wifi and mobile coverage at my regular coffee haunts.

The Locle Mini app seems to have more features. It offers a map with nearby contacts pinned, and will tell you who is nearby and loads more than I had time to take in.

Main problem is that I don’t know anyone on it so it lacked the interest factor of tracking friends while not having the venue element. Like many social apps, it needs that critical mass to judge properly. I imagine that many years ago before every hour was filled with work and family, an app like this would gave been very useful when looking to hook up for a coffee or pint.