HeatMapz - Nightlife deals

Summary

It's almost Friday which means it's almost the weekend, almost time to let one's hair down.

Sometimes cosy-ing up at home with a warm cup of tea and a good book is just the thing—and then sometimes all you want to do is party! Party all weekend long, at a club that boasts the best DJs, but without having to stand in queue/in line for hours only to be denied entry by some haughty bouncer.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a tool that allowed users to keep in the loop on what the hottest clubs of the hour happen to be?
HeatMapz - Nightlife deals promises to do just that. Find out how effectively it performed in our party test runs in today's review.

Test device: Samsung Galaxy Note II
Android version: 4.1.1
Root: None
Modifications: None

HeatMapz - Nightlife deals starts up with a map of your current surroundings. All clubs in your proximity that are listed will appear on this appear the form of a barometer—an atmosphere barometer, that is. Should you prefer to view the listings in list form, there is an option for that.
You can also do a search for a club using the club name or view a list of clubs within a certain region. Search results are displayed according to their atmosphere barometer ratings.

The atmosphere of a place is determined by three key factors: the vibe coming from the people, the queue/line-up outside and the music. Users determine these factors, meaning you get first hand opinions from people who are actually at parties/clubs.
Should you wish to rate a club, simply check in (you can only check in when you're in close proximity to a given club). Once you've checked in you can rate the overall mood using the three slide controls.

The concept is great, but seeing as this a relatively new app there aren't all too many users on board yet. I would like to see this app take off as it's an easy and straight-forward way of getting the party lowdown.

The one major downside is that the club owners can potentially also post ratings. We've seen this type of thing happen on every user generated rating system: from Google Play to Qype.
However, the HeatMapz - Nightlife deals developers have built in a few precautionary measures to dissuade club runners from trying to hike up their own rating. For instance, a user can rate only once per hour, and all ratings are set back the following day at noon, meaning what you see on a given night is the current atmosphere barometer.

The app also hosts a number of informations related to various clubs, including the address and phone number as well as (sometimes) a few background infos.

The app has an integrated Facebook option, meaning you can post and share with your friends there, as well as check where your friends are (provided they are also HeatMapz - Nightlife deals users).

More options include: posting your own pictures of a club in the club overview, as well as a number of coupons and special promotions to help you score a few free drinks here and there. I did not come across any coupons during my test runs of HeatMapz - Nightlife deals, but I am guessing that this is due to the fact that this is still a relatively new app and their partner network is still growing.

Bottom line:

HeatMapz - Nightlife deals is an app with a lot of potential, though a few useful functions (such as favourites list) are still missing. The community is just beginning to form itself, but my guess is that if more people join in this will be a fun app to help select potential parties.
 

HeatMapz - Nightlife deals is not completely up to date in its design, something which becomes apparent in the app's menu design, for instance.

Overall, the HeatMapz - Nightlife deals controls are good, though a few details could still do with some improving.

HeatMapz - Nightlife deals runs well save for the list view which is not as smooth as we'd like it to be.

HeatMapz - Nightlife deals is free of charge.