Localmind – Review

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By: Localmind

Version #: 1.0

Date Released: 2011-03-08

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Price: 0.00

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From the Ideas-So-Cleverly-Simple-Why-Didn’t-I-Think-of-It-Before-Somebody-Else-Did? Department comes the relatively new location-based iPhone app called Localmind. Localmind, developed by a group of smart Somebody Elses making up the startup company of the same name, takes the novelty of checking in to places using popular location-aware sites and combines it with the age-old itch of humans for asking and answering questions to come up with a service that’s not only aligned with the current trend in social networking but is actually quite useful if properly tapped.

First things first: As apparently simple as it is, one does not simply walk or check in to Localmind. That’s because before you can start using the app you must already have an existing account on either of the two most popular location-based services today, Foursquare and Gowalla, or on the most popular social networking site today, Facebook, whose Places feature is continuously being made available to more countries around the world.

Once you’re logged in using any of these channels, your location is immediately determined by the app and shown on a map, courtesy of Google Maps, of course.

The lifeblood of Localmind is the constant current of questions and answers within its userbase, so it’s advisable to engage in the exchange right away. Check in to a nearby Localmind location and wait for other users to ping you with a question about your location, or drag the map around in search of a Localmind pin, which indicates that another Localmind user is checked in at that place (alternatively, you can call up a list view of nearby locations populated by at least one Localmind user with the tap of the top-right corner button), to ask your own question.

A question can be about anything, as long as it’s relevant to the location under consideration. Say, you are at home and bored out of your wits and instead want to check out an independent film at art house which for some reason doesn’t publish an online or print listing. You then launch Localmind on your iPhone, and as luck would have it another user — let’s call him Chad — is checked in to that theater. You type your question, asking what film is being shown and whether it’s any good, and press send. Chad, who happens to be passing the time on his phone before the show starts, is notified of your query and is glad to provide you with an intelligent and helpful answer, although he could have been a bit more glad if he were able to send a photo of the long line of art film lovers he is standing in.

Chad is glad (and I assume you would be, too, if you were in his position) because he is rewarded with karma points that when accumulated will eventually make him a Localmind expert, or a Localmind celebrity for that matter. More than that, though, Chad — that is to say, you — is rewarded with that warm, fuzzy feeling that arises from being able to help someone, whether it’s a graduate student confirming the signal strength of the WiFi in your favorite coffee shop or a burnt-out guy in need of a nice drink.