Foursquare, one of the App Store’s pioneers, is saying goodbye to its iconic city guide app to focus on enhancing Swarm for a better user experience. The city guide app will shut down on December 15, while the web version will remain operational until early 2025. This move marks a significant shift from the company’s strategy a decade ago when it separated its check-in service into Swarm and transformed the Foursquare app into a city guide. Foursquare now plans to emphasize check-ins once again, with new features and updates anticipated throughout the year. The reasoning behind elevating Swarm over the original app is unclear, especially after the company’s recent layoffs of over 100 employees to streamline operations. Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley, now co-chair of the board, acknowledged feeling down about the changes but remains optimistic about the company’s future.
