What’s New in Version 3.0.1

3.0.1 includes bug fixes and improvements to the just-released Gowalla 3.

- fixed issues with creating a new spot
- improved the initial launch experience
- improved the speed and efficiency of location updates
- other text and design improvements

Now, I can't see how this app works yet because it's crashing as soon as I open it. This happened before with a previous release and I'm pretty sure it's because my iPhone is jailbroken. I've tried rebooting, reinstalling and doing as some have suggested, removing and re-adding my login info under the settings app. Still not working.

One last rant… I do not like the new icon. I’m just going to create my own winterboard theme for it and put the old one back. Yay for jailbreaking!
   

Changes

Gowalla 3 has been re-imagined from the ground up!

THINGS WE MADE NEW

+ New, Faster Check In: With a single tap, Gowalla intelligently predicts which spot you’re at based on your history. Start typing a message while your phone is locating you.

+ Share your check-ins with Facebook Places, Twitter, Foursquare and Tumblr.

+ Connect your Facebook and Foursquare accounts to see what all your friends are up to in one place!

+ Notes: Leave a personal message—anything from “Don’t forget the bottle of wine” to “The queso will make you glad to be alive”—for a friend. They’ll receive it the next time they check in at that location.

+ Add and browse Highlights for your city, like Best Cup, Family Night and My Happy Place.

+ Bookmark a spot to remember nearby favorites and faraway dreams.

+ Flag a Spot to report problems or closed locations while you’re on the go.

+ All-new drop-dead gorgeous design. We’ve re-imagined Gowalla and made it more beautiful and easy to use than ever.

THINGS WE MADE BETTER

+ Upload a photo from your Photo Library
+ Creating a Spot is easier and more accurate, with smart searching for possible duplicates.
+ Browsing friends is much improved, including the ability to search any friends list.

Take it for a spin, tell your friends, and let us know what you think on Twitter (@gowalla).

ScreenShots

Available In: App Store

Price: Free

Announcement from Gowalla.com

Over the last 6 months we’ve been working on something very, very special.

Without further ado, I’m stoked to announce Gowalla 3, the most significant update to the service we’ve ever released—both in terms of design and utility. But before I dive into the specifics of new features, let’s dive straight into the feature that is sure to be the most talked about.

Gowalla is now the easiest and best way to keep up with your friends across services with a combined activity tab that merges the whereabouts of your Gowalla, Facebook and Foursquare friends. Additionally, Gowalla now supports checking in on both Facebook Places and Foursquare in addition to sharing with both Twitter and Tumblr.

In fact, we’ve made checking in at your favorite places even easier with a new, faster check-in interface. We debated calling this “quick” or “express” check in, but it doesn’t really need a gimmicky name. We just made it better. Simply tap the Check In button that is universally present in the tab bar and based on your previous history and current location, we’ll auto-fill where we think you are. We get it right about 80 percent of the time. In the cases where our best guess was a little off, it’s super easy to select the correct location with a couple quick taps. Then you can quickly and easily share where you are with your friends on Gowalla, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Tumblr.

Of course, one of the things we hear often from our community is how much they love the Gowalla experience—which is certainly evidenced by our recent announcement with Disney Parks—but they want to keep up with their friends on Foursquare and Facebook Places as well. We decided that this was a problem we could solve.

Today you can now connect both your Facebook and Foursquare accounts in order to keep up with friends across multiple services. We’ve combined them all into a single, connected activity feed with all your friends, regardless of the service they checked in on.

In addition to adding your friends’ Facebook and Foursquare check-ins to your activity feed, we’ve also made it easier to preview the photos your friends are taking with Gowalla on the fly. It’s a lot more fun.

Of course, we’ve added several new and improved features to Gowalla 3 as well.

You’ll notice that our Highlights feature is now baked into Spots pages on the iPhone. You can view the Highlights that have been added to a spot in addition to adding your own. And in addition to our own Highlights, you can even read tips from Foursquare if they’re present at that location.

Next, we’ve added a fantastic new feature called Bookmarks. You can use a bookmark to flag a favorite spot — or perhaps just a spot you wish to visit in the future. You can quickly pull back up your bookmarked spots from the Spots tab. We even use bookmarks to help us determine where you are when you use the improved check in feature. We think you’ll find this very handy.

Finally, I’d like to tell you about my favorite feature. It’s called Notes.

With Gowalla 3 you can leave a Note for a specific friend (or for yourself) at any location. They’ll receive it the next time they check in there. Use it to leave a menu recommendation (the queso will make you feel alive!), to welcome someone to your city, as a reminder for yourself (don’t forget the bottle of wine) or even to leave a love note for someone special.

You can leave a Note at any spot from the mobile app and also from the web as well.

This is just the highlight reel of what you’ll find in Gowalla 3. A refreshing design, better spot creation and management tools, and improved friend management features are also neatly tucked into this update.

You can download Gowalla 3 for iPhone today at iTunes. Gowalla 3 for Android, iPad and Blackberry are coming soon!

What’s good about this is there an update coming soon. Until then there’s a easy workaround. Just visit m.gowalla.com and then add it to your homescreen. It makes an icon and one of those sweet fullscreen web apps. Here’s some screenshots:

ScreenShots

[nggallery id=91]

A quick shoutout and thanks to my buddy Justin shared with me about Gowalla’s mobile site. Just just recently switched to an iPhone 4 after a long time using BlackBerries. Congrats man! And thanks!

Gowalla

- Design: A fresh new experience that is more flexible, readable and usable than ever
- Photos: Upload a photo after checking in, browse photos from friends and see photos taken at a spot.
- Checkin Commenting: When a friend checks in someplace awesome, tell them what you think!
- Multiple checkin messages: Skipped typing a checkin message? Come back and add one.
- Hot Spots: Discover the most popular spots nearby
- Browse your friends… and friends of friends.
- Browse friends’ bookmarked spots and created trips.
- More ways to get in touch with Facebook, Twitter and web links for friends.
- Spot details (when available): address, phone number, Twitter name, Facebook page, website

Price: Free

[nggallery id=43]

foursquare

- Brand new look and feel!
- Faster, more efficient checkin and shout flow
- “Places” view now supports categories
- Easily see a history of places you’ve been
- Pull-to-refresh

Price: Free

[nggallery id=44]

Loopt

-Friend Map has its own tab thanks to your feedback (got more feedback? e-mail feedback@loopt.com)
-Loopt Pulse is even better at helping you plan your next move with new Events info from Metromix, ZVents, and SonicLiving
-Listen to music clips from concert Events and RSVP to see who else is going on Facebook!
-Search for Events and Places by date and distance around you, your friends, or specific places
-Share button on Events and Places to share them with friends

Price: Free

[nggallery id=45]