Facebook Nearby, Foursquare mobile updated with improved social features

The Facebook apps for iOS and Android were updated on Monday with changes to the "Nearby" function that allows users to discover nearby business.

In addition, Foursquare's iOS app, which does the same while offering "badges" and other gamified incentives for going out, received an update on Monday as well.

Both companies purported to have made it easier than ever to discover new hot spots with Monday's updates, and each app now offers improved social functionality.

Of Facebook's reported 1 billion members, 250 million use the Nearby feature, according to USA Today, while CNET reported in April that Foursquare had hit 20 million users.

Facebook Nearby revamped

The Facebook Nearby update arrived on both iOS and Android on Monday.

The new Nearby tab within the Facebook mobile app will display nearby locations that have been recommended or checked into by friends first and foremost.

Rating and recommending locations and businesses will alter what your friends see when they check what's nearby on their own devices, and vice versa.

"This is an early release and there's lots more to do," wrote Facebook's Product Manager of Locations and Events Josh Williams in a news release.

"Results will get better the more people use Nearby, and we'll continue to improve it based on feedback."

Williams also revealed plans to add places info from third party services in the future.

Foursquare simplified

Monday's Foursquare update only applied to the iOS version of the location-based check-in app.

"We've made it even easier to decide where to go and what to do when you get there (and to learn interesting things along the way," read an official Foursquare blog post on Monday.

As of Monday, when Foursquare users on iOS tap on a specific business or location, the most important information - ratings, hours, etc. - is displayed first.

Once a Foursquare iOS user has checked in, the app will give them tips and allow them to leave their own tips and ratings, in addition to alerting them to who else is at that location.

Finally, once a user has checked in the Foursquare app "highlights an important takeaway," like what your friend's favorite dish there is or that you've been to the gym for however many weeks in a row, according to Foursquare's blog.