Bugs feast on latest BlackBerry app from Foursquare

January 7, 2011 7:55 PM
Cody Barbierri
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Location-based check-in app Foursquare has released an updated version of its service for RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones, according to mobile blog Crackberry. However, any excitement by users should be short-lived.

The new version, v1.9.10, was released earlier this evening, and an issue immediately arose where some users got a false “unable to check-in screen.” Checking in, or announcing your location to your friends on the service, is kind of the point of Foursquare. Recognizing the severity of the bug, the company quickly released another version, v1.9.11, to resolve the issue.

Foursquare isn’t out of the woods just yet. According to several BlackBerry commenters on Crackberry, the new version is now leaving a white blank screen when the app is launched. (My girlfriend’s BlackBerry shows the same behavior.) A Foursquare employee named “Pete” posted on the Crackberry comment thread, saying that the company was looking into the issue and that is should be fixed within 24 hours.

Regardless of the bugs, the new version does have a few upgrades worth noting, including improved tip and to-do management, ability to call a business from the venue page and improved battery life and performance. Regardless of the updates, it appears BlackBerry users are once again left wanting more.

It’s tempting to blame the app developer in these situations. But given the complaints we’ve heard about BlackBerry versions of popular apps like Foursquare, we’re wondering if RIM’s aging platform and inconsistencies in behavior from device to device aren’t equally to blame.

Foursquare, based in New York City and founded in 2009, has raised more than $21 million in funding. It currently has more than 40 employees in its hometown and a new engineering office it’s opening in San Francisco.

  • http://sheynkman.tumblr.com Kirill Sheynkman

    Love how Venture Beat immediately turns apologist… Yeah, RIM is an aging platform, blah blah blah.There are three possibilities:1. RIM is really an aging platform wrought with device compatibility issues.2. Foursquare doesn't have either a. the engineering talent that knows how to code for the platform b. the QA/integration infrastructure to support multi-device quirks (though they seem fine on Android)3. (Most likely) bothSolution:Marketing, addressing the world: “We are excited about our platform extending its reach into the RIM device market. We are thrilled to deliver the same functionality enjoyed by our iPhone and Android users and want to be 100% sure that the experience is comparable across the variety of devices. We need to take our time to build the product the savvy Blackberry user deserves”Marketing, in private: “When is HTML5 coming so we can skip the native port.”Bus. Dev. addressing RIM: “WTF guys?”Bus. Dev., in private: “We need to hook up with a dev shop that knows this device inside and out and spend some of that VC money on this ASAP”Engineering, addressing public: “There are quality issues, but they are rapidly being addressed.”Engineering, in private: “WTF guys?”:-)

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