Group text messaging app GroupMe this morning released an update to their iPhone and Android apps that brings integrated foursquare checkins and location data. The update is available in the App Store and Andoird Marketplace.

When you send a text via GroupMe, you can now share your location with your friends as more than just a latitude and longitude. You select your location from a list of nearby foursquare venues. If you’ve linked GroupMe to your foursquare account, it can also check you in simultaneously, although you’ll receive no confirmation that it has.

Linking to your foursquare account is accomplished through the settings menu found atop the list of groups (not to be confused with the settings menu inside a group).

Adding the location name adds a lot more context to the texts you send than just a latitude/longitude. It shows friends exactly where you are, which is especially helpful if you’re in a building with multiple restaurants, bars or other businesses. Integrated foursquare checkins are a nice timesaver when you’re sending a text to a group to determine where to meet up at a location.

In addition to foursquare locations and checkins, GroupMe has introduced push notifications through the apps, which should help reduce costs for both GroupMe and their users since messages can skip the expensive SMS channel. Locations of group members are also shown on a map inside the app. They haven’t integrated the results of their foursquare hack that lets you add nearby friends (who share their contact information with friends) to a group; that’s still available at groupme.com/foursquare.

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