This week’s Asha app spotlight concerns a service that plays to one of the great strengths of the Asha devices – being social and connected.

In the Nokia Store you will find all the apps and tools that you need for a terrific social experience. We’re talking giants of social media and messaging such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, ebuddy or Nimbuzz.

However, it’s Foursquare that gets the honour of being in the Asha app spotlight this week.

Look around you

The inscription of architect Sir Christopher Wren’s tomb at St Paul’s Cathedral reads:

“If you seek his monument – look around you.”

That’s what you get for designing one of the world’s most beautiful churches and, indeed, for his many other churches and historic buildings in London, many of which still stand nearly 300 years after his death.

For everyone else, there’s Foursquare!

Location, location, location

If you’re not familiar with the idea behind Foursquare, then the inscription on Wren’s tomb is a fairly good starting point. 

It’s a social network with a difference, in that it is all about your location. When you’re out and about, you can use Foursquare to save and to share the places that you visit.  

Likewise, you can also see where your friends have ‘checked in’ and read their reviews of restaurants or other places of interest.

You can get personalised recommendations and also special deals – all based on your location and the sort of places that you enjoy visiting.

Foursquare on Series 40

As you can imagine my mobile device, specifically my Nokia Asha 311, is the perfect way of using Foursquare.

As with any social network, the first thing you’ll need to do is to sign in or register if you don’t have a Foursquare account already. It’s a simple process that only takes a couple of minutes. 

The opening screen has a big button for you to ‘Check In’ to your current location and shows you where else you have checked in previously. 

Tap the check-in button and the app will load a list of the nearby places. Tap on a place to check in and you’ll also be able to leave a comment, take a photo and see who else has been here. 

Think of it as declaring your arrival!

Badges

Foursquare has developed a nice sideline with its game of badges.

You get rewards for the places that you check in, particularly if you do it regularly, and will eventually receive an honorific title. 

For instance there’s Adventurer, for checking into 10 different venues, Jetsetter for five different airport check-ins or Swarm for checking in at a location where 50 other people have checked in too.

This can be good fun and there are literally hundreds of badges for you to collect.

Exploration

As well as checking in yourself and collecting badges, Foursquare is really handy for discovering places of interest around you. 

To do this, just tap the icon in the top right corner and you’ll see a drop down menu.

Places loads up your nearby locations and Explore brings up recommendations of places of interest in your area. Click on each one for more details, such as who else has been there, reviews and photos.

This app for Series 40 gives you all the Foursquare elements. It’s a social network where you can see where your friends have been, it’s a tool for discovery, it’s a fun game and it helps you to remember all the places you’ve been. Badges all round!

image credit: n.hewson