4th & Mayor - App Blog

v3.12 is published

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:22:00 -0700

Version 3.12 of 4th & Mayor for Windows Phone has been published to the Windows Phone Store.

This release brings back points information after checking in - on the “What’s new” page!
Points information is now shown on any check-in, including those by your friends - the same page with “comments” and like/unlike of check-ins

4th & Mayor now available in 23 new marketplaces and 256MB devices

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:51:01 -0700

4th & Mayor has been certified and is now available for use on new Windows Phone 7.5 devices with 256MB, and in a ton of new markets, including:

Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Vietnam. That’s in addition to the five stores we opened earlier this year in Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, and the Philippines.

Update 3.3 is out!

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:56:35 -0700

4th & Mayor version 3.3 is now out, finally! Please update as soon as you can - you can often get the update to happen if you go to the Marketplace, search for the app, and then open the details page there.

This version is an important update for many users:

Location Services accuracy bugs have been corrected.
A large issue for many users recently has been issues where the location was found to be many miles/km away from where it should be.

This issue is fixed and a higher accuracy value is now being used.
Network download speed has been significantly improved.
An improved networking stack is being used to drop network download payloads by 30-70%. The app is now using less data thanks to web service compression and it should feel faster throughout the app now.

Hope you enjoy it,
Jeff

4th & Mayor is one year old!

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:35:36 -0700

4th & Mayor is one year old!:

I launched the app one year ago today, and have shared some thoughts on my personal blog, looking back at key app milestones.

4th & Mayor 3.2 is now live in the Windows Phone Marketplace!

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:22:00 -0800

You’ll be happy to know that Foursquare’s innovation is continuing at a record pace - several days ago restaurant menus (through a partnership with SinglePlatform) was announced.

As of today, the 3.2 update of 4th & Mayor for Windows Phone is live in the marketplace. It should be available to all users in the next 8-24 hours!

Since 3.1 just came out last week, this is a minor incremental release - but it does bring a few new features!

3.2 rocks because these features - menus and QR code check-ins - are not yet in the iPhone app even - so enjoy, Windows Phone users!

Introducing restaurant menus

On 1/18 Foursquare announced the new menu feature
4th & Mayor 3.2 now supports this as of 1/21 :-)
Powered by Foursquare and Single Platform, many places now have a menu available - you’ll find it right under the mayor information when looking at a place
Available in major US cities, over 13 million menu items at 250,00 restaurants - with more on the way!

Check-in using QR Codes

The Check-in page now has a new “QR code” check-in option
Simple scan the Foursquare Check-in QR Code - some businesses place these near their entrances
An optional “automatic check-in” will immediately check you in if you opt in to that!
Pin the “QR Check-in” experience right to Start

Other changes

Addresses some user-reported issues that were easy fixes.
The nearby places check-in page’s “pin/unpin” app bar icon has moved into the menu to make way for the QR code check-in option
Tweaks to the GPS and location detection per feedback
Invalid information as a venue/place loads will no longer be shown as often

Thanks for using 4th & Mayor. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see.

Cheers,
Jeff

3.1 of 4th & Mayor is out!

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:51:22 -0800

This is mostly a maintenance release that addresses feedback. Here’s what is new!

Push Notifications

The push beta is now active for all 3.1 users
Check-in pings: when friends check-in near you, you’ll get a toast
Leaderboard live tile
You can turn pings on/off for individual users in a profile page’s app bar
If you find these annoying, you can always turn off push in the app settings. 3.2 will add new options for improving the push experience.

Map improvements

The map view has a new app bar icon
The map view supports panning to see friends now
Map only shows nearby friends within the last 3 hours per foursquare guidelines
When viewing a place, the map page (touch the map) now will show your current location plus the destination on the same screen
You can open up the Bing Maps app on the phone and it’ll give you directions to the place

Specials

Specials now have a slightly improved link
Specials show the fine print required for cashiers to redeem your specials

Places

Places now show their tags
“Here now” is only shown at a place when people are actually there
New ‘share…’ options to improve the visual design
Share a link to a place using social networks

GPS Changes

Improved options to resolve locations quicker
Iterative improvements to try and address customer issues with location not always being found

Other updates

New dedicated pin pages available
The ‘What’s New’ page shows information about whether we notified Twitter, FB, or checked you in off-the-grid
Addresses many bug reports and crashes

Hope you enjoy the new release!

4th & Mayor 3.0 is out for Windows Phone 7.5

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:08:12 -0800

Check for it using the Marketplace app later today, it will begin rolling out worldwide this afternoon.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/c7d13b8d-9951-e011-854c-00237de2db9e

Big Changes

Quick Check-in now respects your Foursquare settings preferences for pinging Facebook & Twitter
New Live Tile Studio for organizing, customizing, renaming, and enjoying pinned places.
Fixed bugs where places pinned to the start would disappear after a phone restart.
Performance improvements and user experience tweaks
Integrates with Bing Local Search on the phone
Supports Windows Phone 7.5 features like fast app switching
Lists support from Foursquare, the new way for sharing information about places and tips, replaces “todos”
Maps of nearby friends
Maps from place pages will show your current location and the destination place

Changes and Features of Note

More fluid transitions between pages and experiences
Checkin photos appear inline when looking at all your friends’ check-ins
Checking in will no longer show places from far away when you’ve been on the move
More informative progress messages during data operations
Checkin photos can be marked as being viewable by everyone or just your friends
Adds direct Leaderboard access from the main application bar
The app’s small icon now matches your accent color instead of the bright red background
You can find more friends quickly by searching through your phone’s contacts
Simplified experience for learning more about a friends’ check-in
Better privacy: the app no longer uses your anonymized ID or device ID for push registration

Minor Changes

After checking in, you’ll get information about the services that were pinged with your check-in for confirmation
Adds a confirmation when you hit ‘sign out’ app bar menu item
The legal information is shown if you come back to the page from elsewhere on the phone or app
You can now view the high resolution profile image of people
A full resolution user photo will be used when pinning people to the start screen
There is a dedicated settings page now, it is no longer hidden away in the your profile page
Supports the selection of the classic tile for those who loved it

Foursquare “Expertise” BadgesAnnounced a few days...

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:38:05 -0800

Foursquare “Expertise” Badges
Announced a few days ago, the sweet expertise badges work great on every version of 4th & Mayor out there.

Enjoy, and happy badge-collecting!

Inline photos are in v3!

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:32:53 -0800

Inline photos are in v3!

New in the v3.0 release (coming soon): a simplified main...

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:29:17 -0800

New in the v3.0 release (coming soon): a simplified main menu:

separate settings page and profile links
easy access to notifications and live tile settings
leaderboard access

Version 2.7 is now in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Fixes a lot...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:21:56 -0700

Version 2.7 is now in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Fixes a lot of reported crashes and bugs, thank you all!
If you’re running Windows Phone 7.5, you can now pin places to start once the place loads
You can delete your own photos plus flag any photo

v2.2 is OUT and FIXES the app issues!

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:53:55 -0700

Hi, thank you all for your patience. v2.2 is now in the Windows Phone Marketplace and will be available as an update on all phones in the next few hours.

Very sorry for the troubles this week; I’d appreciate anyone that posted a negative review or comment to reconsider after using the app for a few more days.

Thanks for sticking with it!

v2.2:
• Updated to work with latest foursquare services.
• Adding a place/venue bug fixes.
• Friend requests now show up in your profile more clearly
• Added a link in the About menu to the official foursquare app

v2.1:
• Addresses a few small reported issues.
• Improves robustness of photo uploading to check-ins, venues, and with tips.

Version 2:
• Accurate location reporting more often
• More responsive
• Replaces the Places pivot page with a dedicated Check In button and experience
• Lets you add photos to check-ins
• Expore profiles, including leaderboard progress, favorite categories and top places of friends
• Quick check-in respects your sharing preferences
• International users now get the complete maps experience, too
• Fixes a crash when checking in to a place too quickly
• Retires the dedicated Shout button
• Revamped user experience and interface
• Many, many other improvements and bug fixes - thanks for the bug reports!
• Explore is updated, adds the Outdoors item, moves Trending Now and Specials into new items

The app is currently not working

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:45:04 -0700

In case you missed the original tweet, a server-side change by Foursquare has rendered all versions of 4th & Mayor temporarily broken-ish.

You can still use the app but will very often be presented with a “What’s New” page that is empty.

A fix has been submitted to the Windows Phone Marketplace, but there’s no guarantee from Microsoft as to when the fix will be live.

Thanks for your patience during the downtime, hope to prevent these issues in the future.

Also, this new version, v2.2, fixes issues many people were having adding new places - so that’s a bonus fix to expect with the update.

v2.1 of 4th & Mayor is now published

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:32:35 -0700

A very minor set of incremental updates, v2.1 comes on the heels of v2.0 from a few days ago.

Much more robust photo uploading to check-in’s, tips, and places. Should “just work” now!
Small user interface and crash improvements.

I’m aware of a few small issues where first-time users are experiencing a crash, sorry for that - but after the first time it’s fine.

Remember, to check-in now, you do that using the “check-in” button in the app bar only - no need to swipe to “Places’.

I’m told that many people in the v1 era had issues with the Dell Venue Pro phone, no longer - v2.0 and v2.1 are reportedly working great!

Also, if you’re a developer experiencing Mango, beware that this build is not optimized in any way for Mango; will be nice once there is a Mango marketplace to take advantage of.

Enjoy!

4th & Mayor v2 is now out!

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:50:41 -0700

4th & Mayor Version 2 is out, dropping on the Windows Phone Marketplace this evening, and updating phones hopefully very soon. Check for it!

A new check-in experience, no longer do you have to ‘swipe’ to the ‘places’ list
Big performance improvements
Finally add check-in photos
Add venues
Venueless check-ins
AND MORE!

I’ve written up a more detailed post here: http://www.jeff.wilcox.name/2011/06/4am-v2/

Even NFL quarterbacks love 4th and Mayor!

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:53:14 -0700

Even NFL quarterbacks love 4th and Mayor!:

Very cool, Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks QB) thinks 4th & Mayor is fun.

Updates are in the works.

Tue, 03 May 2011 18:08:56 -0700

Just wanted to update folks, it’s been a very busy month for a lot of reasons and I have not been able to get out the update that I wanted to yet.

There’s one update in flight and I’m hoping to have some good news about other changes with the app, too.

Please be patient. And as always, thanks for sharing all the crash reports.

Featured in the MIX11 Keynote in Las Vegas

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:29:00 -0700

Very awesome, 4th & Mayor was demonstrated by Scott Guthrie, Microsoft Corporate VP, in the MIX11 conference keynote in Las Vegas on 4/13/2011. The keynote video will be up at http://live.visitmix.com/ later today.

Wow - #2 in the Windows Phone Marketplace

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:54:22 -0700

Thanks for the great reviews everyone, 4th & Mayor is currently the #2 top rated app in the Windows Phone Marketplace, and the #1 top rated free app.

Here’s a link to Bing’s listing!

Version 1.1 update is now live

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:21:36 -0700

In the Windows Phone Marketplace worldwide is now the v1.1 update.

This adds support for specials.

Nearby specials shown in the “places” pivot item
When you check-in to a place with specials, you’ll get notified in the “what’s new” page with information about the special (click to redeem, too)
When you view the details for a venue, any special there will be shown before the mayorship information
Swiping left a few from the “info” pivot item of a place will give you a “specials” list, both at the venue you’re looking at, as well as nearby places with specials.

Hope you like the update.