Gowalla

Summary

Having started up in Texas, Gowalla has grown exponentially, acquiring fans and users from all over the world.

Gowalla gives you the option of letting your friends know where you are at the moment with the help of status messages. These notifications can then be communicated to others via Twitter and Facebook.
 

With Gowalla you can locate your current position via GPS and then “check-in” to a specific spot. Once you’re at a spot, you can click on Check-In to let your friends know that you’re there. On top of that, you can share this information as a status message on Twitter or Facebook. This way you can keep all your friends and followers informed – even the ones that aren’t registered with Gowalla.

One click on the Activity section tells you where your Gowalla friends are currently “checked-in” and whether they’ve taken any pictures of the spot. You can view these pictures and write comments about them directly from the app. In the Trips section you can embark on huge variety of different tours that include a multiple number of spots. Some of them are limited to specific neighborhood, while others are ambitious cross-country road trips. Going on a tour with Gowalla is sort of like completing a video game level. Once you’ve been to all the spots (similar to video game waypoints), you are listed as having completed the tour. The great thing is that anyone is free to create their own personalized tours for others to enjoy. The Passport section gives you a detailed overview of all your activities, friends, photos, trips, bookmarks, and stamps (check-ins). You receive a pin for every one of your check-ins, which is kind of like earning merit badges in Boy Scouts. Find out more about what you can do with these pins at www.Gowalla.com.

If you happen to be at a spot that isn’t included in Gowalla, the app let’s you add a new location. Just add a new spot name and place it into one of the available categories. After that other Gowalla users can check themselves into your newly created spot. This is the only way that Gowalla can grow to build a bigger and better community.
 

The application has everything located on a single screen and is easy to use. On the start page, you can view your recent check-ins, those of friends and your current location. All the other options are presented in the form of tabs.

In summary, I got a really positive impression from this app and I’ve become an avid Gowalla user. It’s just a lot of fun to check-in to different places and then look at where you spend most of your time. In my opinion, I would’ve enjoyed the app even if I had to purchase it because of how well this useful app is developing and growing.

WordPress users also have the option of listing their check-ins directly on their own blog. Just search for “WP-Walla” and add the widget. I really like the fact that you can’t cheat with this app since it is only possible to check-in once you’re actually physically present at the spot. That way you can’t earn pins for places that you’ve never been to all thanks to GPS navigation.
 

The application is really reliable and requires a good mobile internet or Wi-Fi connection. The synchronization process is very fast when you’re using Wi-Fi. Since Wi-Fi isn’t always available, you’ll have to resort to using your phone’s 3G, GPRS or EDGE mobile internet connection, which can slow things down a little bit. From time to time, your location may be a bit off because of a poor GPS signal. Having internet and GPS is a must for using this app.

The app can be downloaded for free from the Android Market. All updates are also free of charge.