In the Dunkin’ MIB3 Capture game, you play an agent who’s captured an alien in your phone. To keep Spikey happy, you have to feed him virtual DD iced coffee and donuts. The more you feed him, the more content you’ll unlock, including a laser-blaster game and tic tac toe.

Playing with Spikey (he loves tickling, spinning, dancing and more) earns you more iced coffee and donuts — as does checking in at DD on foursquare, which you can do right from within the app.

MIB3 Capture isn’t going to become your favorite game overnight, but it is a fun little app that can kill a few minutes of your time. It’s free for Android and iOS, but only available through June 30.

On top of the app, Dunkin’ Donuts is launching a few new menu items in honor of the movie. You can try the Black Cocoa Creme Iced Coffee, Undercover Black Cocoa Donut or the Chocolate Lunarmax Donut. There’s also a Twitter trivia contest you can enter each Friday in May by following Dunkin’ Donuts and answering the trivia question correctly (with the #BlackFriDDay hashtag, of course). Winners will receive a $33 DD gift card and prizes from the movie.

What do you think of the game? Are you excited for the MIB3 premiere?

Your foursquare check-ins help feed Spikey in Dunkin’ Donuts’ new MIB3 app originally appeared on About Foursquare

The latest update offers an “updated check in flow” and “a map at the top of the screen shows the location reported by the device.” The map — similar to the one shown in Simple Check-in — simply shows where foursquare thinks you’re located right above the list of venues.

Users continue to report problems with the app, however, especially its GPS performance. One reviewer on the Google Play store says of the most recent version:

I traveled from LA to San Diego. When I arrived, I checked in to San Diego & received “NO points” because I was too far away to check in. Allthwhile attaching a pic of the Downtown San Diego skyline. Remember when all you had to do was tap the Explore button and you’d get a list of everything near you? I miss the ease of use this app used to have. Refresh is a button with no function whatsoever. The only way to reset the location is to uninstall the app and reinstall it. BE SURE to get the spelling right! You could be standing inside the venue & if you spell it wrong, search will return that it’s not nearby or does not exist. If they could re-integrate GPS into this app, that would be AWESOME. Please bring that feature back! NEGATIVE 5 Stars! …

This mirrors complaints we’ve seen for the past few months. I don’t own an Android phone, but I’ve witnessed the issue on friends’ phones. It’s a real problem, but continues to go unaddressed by foursquare.

Other users dislike the new version for other reasons:

Already dropped the latest #foursquare for Android for a backup. No more long-press to check in and search/refresh buttons switched.

May 3, 2012 7:58 am via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite

@ack154

Allan Kintz

It appears foursquare is in need of a major overhaul to their Android app. Judging by the number of negative reviews, I can’t imagine many new Android users are sticking around for long.

Have you experienced the GPS issues? Does this update fix them on your phone?

/Thanks to @jst1986 for the screenshot above and to everyone else who sent one in!

Foursquare updates Android app to 2012.05.02; doesn’t appear to fix GPS issues originally appeared on About Foursquare

Enter Simple Check-in, a new Android app from Matthew Rathbone, one of foursquare’s analytics engineers. It does one thing, but it does it very, very well.

“I built the app because sometimes I want to avoid being rude, or because I’m checking in somewhere mundane like the supermarket,” says Rathbone in a blog post. “This app allows me the best of both worlds, I can check-in so fast no-one knows I even did it.”

Simple Check-in shows you nothing but a map (so you can confirm you’ve been located correctly) and a list of nearby places. A single tap on that list checks you in.

There’s no broadcasting to Facebook or Twitter and no private check-ins. The app is meant mainly for those mundane, daily check-ins, so those items really aren’t necessary.

Simple Check-in is written in just 770 lines of code, which helps keep it fast and reduces battery drain. Rathbone’s goal is to keep it under 1,000 lines.

Users who’ve experienced trouble with foursquare’s official Android app getting their location correctly should be pleased with Simple Check-in. It doesn’t appear to exhibit any of the same problems. It also succeeds where SwiftSquare failed. Your location is transmitted to foursquare, so you’ll have no issues earning and keeping mayorships with Simple Check-in.

Simple Check-in is no replacement for the official foursquare app (and isn’t meant to be), but it makes a perfect complement to it for those times you’re in a hurry or want to be discreet. It’s free (and there aren’t any ads), so give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments.

Make check-ins super fast on Android with Simple Check-in originally appeared on About Foursquare

With Explore and lists, the foursquare app is good for lots of things other than just checking in. But those extra features also come at a cost — check-ins are slower and the app takes more time to navigate (and in the iOS version you’ll no doubt inadvertently turn off Radar in the process). For some of the places you check in on a regular basis you just want to check in quickly and get right back to what you were doing.

That’s the whole point behind a new free app for iPhone and Android, Swiftsquare. You add up to 10 of your favorite venues to a list. Checking in is as quick as opening the app, tapping an item on your list of favorites and touching the check in button. If you want to add a shout you can or you can opt to change your Twitter and Facebook sharing preferences from their defaults. The Android app even lets you check in to your favorites from the notification bar.

To make marking your favorites easier, Swiftsquare has a tab that shows your top venues from the past six months so you can pick the ones where you want to check in quickly. There’s also a helpful tab for checking in to nearby venues. If you’re like me and can’t remember which places you’ve added to your favorites list, you don’t have to leave the app and go to the official foursquare app just to check in.

Features like friends, lists, explore, profiles, tips, etc. are missing completely from the app, so it loads very quickly and checks you in even faster. A simple confirmation pop-up is all that you’ll see when your check-in has been completed.

Swiftsquare does indeed make those everyday check-ins like the coffee shop, work or grocery store faster and easier. For those types of check-ins, you typically don’t need all the other “cruft” foursquare provides, so why wait for them all to load?

Give Swiftsquare a try and let us know what you think in the comments.

Looking for a faster way to check in? Swiftsquare may be the answer originally appeared on About Foursquare

Every foursquare check-in earns you points, but there’s really nothing you can do with them. New app CheckinSave takes that concept and lets you turn those points into rewards — assuming you can find a merchant that accepts the deals.

With CheckinSave, you check in to places just as you would with foursquare — in fact, the venues come from foursquare’s database — earning points along the way (their point scale is different from foursquare’s). All your check-ins are automatically shared with Twitter, Facebook and foursquare, letting you earn even more points depending on the size of your friend network. If your friends later check in at the same place, you’ll get even more points.

Users can redeem the points for deals at CheckinSave merchants (it’s free for any company to sign up). Current deals include a $5 restaurant discount for 50 points and half off an order of business cards for 120.

“With about 800 million smartphone users worldwide, we saw that geo-location check-ins are rapidly growing in popularity but we also recognized that current systems lacked sufficient rewards,” said Jordan Brill, co-founder of CheckinSave in a press release. “So we built the CheckinSave platform completely around a financial reward model. Now consumers enjoy an added motivation for sharing their location with their social network – they earn points to save money!”

It’s a solid concept, but the lack of merchant partners is immediately jarring. There are currently eight spots where you can redeem the points — and only four of them are really considered “merchants.” All are located in the Vancouver, BC area. Without more merchants, it’s hard to see people signing up for the service, while it’s hard to see more merchants signing up without more users, presenting a real chicken-and-egg type problem.

The app is available for free in the iTunes app store or Google Play. If you give it a try, let us know what you think in the comments.

Let your check-ins earn you deals with CheckinSave originally appeared on About Foursquare

Every photo you take can be tagged with a location, powered by foursquare’s database. You can publish your photos to social networks, including foursquare, with a simple toggle. On foursquare they appear just like any other check-in photo.

Instagram is available for free in the Google Play marketplace.

Instagram lands on Android originally appeared on About Foursquare

A new game from Captain Morgan’s embraces the captain’s pirate past and encourages real-world exploration thanks to its connection to foursquare. The free app is now available for both iPhone and Android.

In Captain’s Conquest you’re assigned to a ship whose size is based on the size of your friend networks across social media, including Facebook, Twitter and foursquare. The bigger your ship, the better, because you’ll be pitting it in digital battles with other nearby ships.

To do battle, you’ll need to twist and turn your phone at the opposing ship to aim your cannon and fire. It’s surprisingly fun. Battles help you gain experience points, promoting you from stowaway all the way up to fleet captain.

For more supplies (I.e., cannonballs), you’ll want to dock your ship. The docks — really nearby foursquare venues you can optionally check in to — each sell different items.

Your “scope” can be used to capture QR codes or images of Captain Morgan’s bottles. You’ll be rewarded with special items you can sell or use on your voyages.

“Social mobile gaming is exploding in popularity and Captain’s Conquest is a relevant and unexpected way for the Captain Morgan brand to connect with our adult fans in a medium where they are proactively seeking new and exciting experiences,” said Tom Herbst, Director of Marketing, Rums at Diageo. “This mobile game creates an exciting and entertaining brand experience for our loyal fans by showcasing the Captain’s legacy and adventurous spirit via a 21st century medium.”

The game is a fun way for fans to interact with the Captain Morgan’s brand. It’s remarkably on point with the character the brand has developed. By integrating with foursquare, they gain access to a free source of location data, while being able to offer a unique side benefit to players who are also on foursquare.

give Captain’s Conquest a try and let us know what you think in the comments.

Set sail with Captain Morgan’s new Foursquare-connected game originally appeared on About Foursquare

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Ever since Facebook bought Gowalla, I’ve seen a few apps trying to fill the void left behind. Among them, Path with its visual storytelling and stellar design and WallaBee with its virtual items. However, not one has truly captured the virtual-item-meets-storytelling space until now.

Hitchery is a new mobile game that turns your iPhone or Android device into a virtual bus that can transport other players’ avatars called “hitchers.” You can ask other players to take pictures of your hitcher as they take it on adventures and earn virtual items like stickers for your bus or swag for your hitcher. Of course you can choose to pull your bus over at any foursquare location and checkin while you’re there, as well as share your Hitchery activity to Facebook.

On the surface, Hitchery seems like just another location-based game you probably won’t remember to play. But the larger mission of Hitchery is facilitating experiences through game mechanics. That’s where the true value of this app lies. In a nutshell, Hitchery provides an environment for serendipitous interactions with real people in places all over the world, like real hitchhiking but without the time, money, and danger.

On foursquare, shared experiences really only go so deep as a tweet announcing who you’re checked-in with. Hitchery allows players to document experiences with virtual extensions of each other. It’s a much more intimate social experience than lots of other mobile games out there.

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Hitchery founder Glen Daniels on Tech Interruption:

Hitchery just went live in the App Store and Marketplace in time for SXSW. I’m excited to see how the app develops and especially how brands get involved. So if any of you AboutFoursquare readers are willing to take my hitcher to the San Diego Zoo for a picture with the elephants, let me know!

Miss Gowalla? Social Mobile Storytelling is back with Hitchery! originally appeared on About Foursquare

• Bug fixes for the 2-08 release.
• In-line commenting on Check-in Details.
• Updated language translations.
• Android Beam now redirects to the Android Market if receiving user doesn’t have Foursquare.

There’s no word yet on whether this fixes the GPS issues many users have been having (all venues show as several miles away; no amount of refreshing helps). Once you install the update, let us know in the comments if it fixes the problem.

Foursquare for Android updated to 2012.02.23 originally appeared on About Foursquare

Foursquare touted yesterday’s updates for iPhone and Android strictly as improvements to Explore, but little bits and pieces keep getting discovered. The latest is a nice addition for anyone who shares photos on foursquare.

A new privacy option has been implemented when you add a photo to a check-in. You can now choose to leave it private, as check-in photos have always been, or make it public. This makes it visible right on the venue page for anyone to see.

It should help to increase the number of venue photos on foursquare significantly, since many check-in photos are also well suited to be venue photos. Photos of food, the building, etc. often have little reason to be private. Since the toggle is on by default, we’ll probably see an influx of photos that probably should be kept private, but at least everyone has the option to make them private.

The division between the two types of photos never made much sense. I often found myself adding photos to foursquare in two different ways, depending on the content on the photo. Family photos went up as check-in photos, while general pictures of the venue went up as venue photos. This left the more public photos less visible and less obvious to my friends since they weren’t attached to the actual check-in. With the new privacy option, I’ll be able to keep them all organized in one place.

What do you think of the change?

UPDATE: Apparently this is new for iPhone, but has existed in Android for some time.

/Thanks to Jeff Kessler for pointing out the change and to Alan Kintz for the Android screenshot!