Brightkite

The BrightKite iPhone app delivers a much needed seamless integration between the iPhone and the Brightkite social networking service. I no longer have to open safari, check into my location then go take a picture with my phone and email it to them, then go back to safari to see who is around me and my update. This app lets me do all those things in one intuitive and well designed interface. The smart location finding is also really cool, all I need to do is open the app and it picks up my location and lets me choose the nearest place to me to check in at. Well done and I look forward to future updates!!

I was a beta tester, and the guys at Brightkite have done a great job with the native app. The geo-capabilities are second to none, and with twitter integration it's all you need from a mobile geosocial application.

I just downloaded the app after reading the description and positive reviews. Once the app starts it asks for login info or to ask for an invite. I thought maybe you had to register for an account at the site but I found out the service is currently under private beta. This should be explained in the description so those that have access get the app while those that don't aren't left in the dark. I hope I get an invite soon since this app/service looks promising.

The best location-based social networking site to use, imho. Beats Loopt for sure, and anything else. Makes great use of the GPS in the 3G and makes it super easy to check in and post notes and photos! A must get!

If you don't have a brightkite account, asking around on Twitter will most likely snag you one. Plenty of twitter users are also BK users, and will have at most 10 invites ;) Snag one and get this app!

This app is fantastic. I can do everything I could on the web and on the iphone web friendly version, but now it's on the iphone natively. This app is fantastic with quick response to user initiated actions and the place snap is cool too. It was able to pick up exactly where I was and locate the exact place. This is great and will make it even easier to enjoy using brightkite's service.

I've been using Brightkite for the iPhone since it was released on the iPhone. I took it with me for a day in New York City. I've been testing it extensively in my town - checking in, taking photos, trying (in vain) to find more than one or two users.

First the plusses:
- Pretty stable at uploading photos
- Nice interface
- Easy to locate other users (when there are any)

Now the minusses:
- Few users in my area
- Lots of users seem to have tried it once and went to brighter pastures (you'll see a lot of "last login 9 months ago")
- GPS can be slow and rarely has automatically placed me anywhere - I usually have select the site manually
- Often the GPS will continue to place me at the last site I was at - even when I'm far away
- There is no way to tell the device to "refresh" your GPS location - if it thinks you're miles away it seems the only cure (I've found) is to manually place yourself

I really love the concept of this application. What's going to kill the service is the lack of active users. Sure, maybe this is going to grow in users around college campusses and big cities - but if it hasn't by now ? I'm not counting on a big rush of users to BrightKite.

There are competitors like Twitter and Friendfeed who have really good mobile clients that in my opinion render BrightKite to "also ran" status.

The HUGE problem with Brightkite (and similar services) is you need to plead with your friends to sign up. You could argue that this is a useful service to use while at conventions or PodCamps (and it probably is) - but I think the sheer annoyance of having to get a critical number of users to learn a new program during a busy time is a deal breaker for the service.

Cute concept. Ultimately nothing here to see. Lack of active users (your friends) makes this a curiousity and not much more.

Don't waste your time with all those other fools. These guys know something about the future - and here it is weirdo. Get it. Otherwise you might find yourself wearing multiple polos in neon colors with the collars popped. No one wants that now do they?!

The long wait certainly paid off! great job to the app dev team- what a great, seamless product that has made their service truly useful and revolutionary.

(UPDATE: I just read the all the reveiws of this app. It stinks to high heaven of the developers writing their own reviews. It also stinks of Brightkite games that thoughtful reviews that offer legitimate feedback (this being beta only and lack of other users to interact with) are tagged as unhelpful. Come on Brightkite knock it off. It's shameful. FACT-POTENTIAL USERS BEWARE there hasn't been a user in my area logged on in the last three days and I live in an city with several million people.)

First, why do I have to give out personal info like my email address and phone number? Any app that does that is on thin ice from the start.

Second, I have used this a handful of times and there is zero interaction with other users. The only thing happening is I see someone logged on and 'checked in' at a home depot or something. Ok???? So I know where some random stranger was 5 days ago?

Third, you better have unlimited SMS or be prepared for text message fees. The developer seems to love the use of SMS. Other apps have shown that you can have a better chat experience without even using SMS. Can iPod touch users, even use this?

Fourth, you click on something and next thing you know you are no longer in their app. It just takes you to another iPhone app - like the Maps or Safari. With no notice...bam! I am someplace else and have to hit home, then this silly app again...reload it...renavigate around to where I was before. That's too much work...this gets deleted.

So far, so good! Worth the wait.

Pretty neat app. The more people that will join the more people you will have near you. I had no problem getting an invite in < 5 minutes. The description of the application does say you will receive an invite with 24 hours anyway for you folks below.

I think it's really a bad idea to combine tracking your friends and meeting new people in a single app. The reason is that, while you are willing to disclose personal information to your friends, you really don’t want to disclose that same level of information to people you don’t know.

While there are barriers in Brightkite to disclose different levels of information to each group, there are bugs in all software and the only way to be sure that personal information isn’t ever disclosed to people you don't know is to not enter it in the first place!

There are other iPhone apps that specialize in meeting people you don’t know, such as
WhosHere, iCloseBy, iCrowdSurf and nrme. In general, these don’t require your phone number or your email address and they never show anyone’s location on a map!

I was annoyed that the registration process was web-based (trhrough Safari) rather than being part of the native iPhone app. I was shocked that, by default, my location was precisely displayed to everyone!

It's a little complicated 2 have 2 work with . It could just b me though . Wish chatting was a little quicker . But tech support was very prompt .

got an invite quickly, but there's not so many people that use the app around me, so it's about useless. seems well written, but there are other apps that seem to do the proximity thing better

I use this app A LOT and 2.5 fixes some annoying stuff like remembering your place in the stream.