Why Foursquare Is Splitting Into Two Apps

(Image Credit: Foursquare)

Foursquare announced today it is carving itself into two separate apps: one for discovering new places and another for knowing where your friends are.

The Foursquare app will allow users to discover new places, while the breakaway app, Swarm, will allow users to meet up with friends who are checked-in to certain locations.

As it stands now, the two services are bundled into the single Foursquare app. In a blog post, company officials said the change was prompted by user behavior, noting that most people opened the app "almost always do just one of those things."

The new, polished Foursquare app will take local search to the next level by accommodating personalized requests, such as finding a great dinner date spot.

"We believe local search should be personalized to your tastes and informed by the people you trust. The opinions of actual experts should matter, not just strangers," Foursquare said in a blog post.

Swarm will be available on iOS and Android within weeks and then later on Windows Phone. The revamped Foursquare app is slated to make its debut later this summer.