X

Foursquare lets users toggle friends to 'Always On'

The check-in social network rolls out a new feature that lets users see where their specified friends are at all times, no matter where in the world they're located.

Dara Kerr Former senior reporter
Dara Kerr was a senior reporter for CNET covering the on-demand economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado, went to school in New York City and can never remember how to pronounce gif.
Dara Kerr
2 min read
Foursquare's "Always On" feature. Foursquare

It's never been easier to stalk, ahem follow, your friends on Foursquare. The social network announced a new feature today called "Always On."

This feature lets users get all check-in notifications from their specified friends at all times, no matter where they are. To use the feature, members simply need to go to their friends' profiles on the site and toggle the "Always On" button from the drop down menu.

According to Foursquare, this feature will help people know the necessary goings-on with friends without having to text or call them. It also lets armchair travelers vicariously hop around the globe with their more adventurous friends.

Here's more from a Foursquare blog post about the feature:

Have friends or family that live in another city, state, or country? Now you can choose to receive notifications when they check in, even if they're not nearby or you have all check-in notifications turned off. Is your spouse traveling for work? See when he or she arrives at the airport safely. Friends visiting Iceland for a week? Easily keep up with their glacier-climbing, fermented-shark eating adventures.

Before now, users would only get Foursquare check-in notifications from friends in the same city. Luckily, the "Always On" feature is only available for people who've accepted friend requests, so randoms can't just figure out when and where users are via the social network.

Foursquare has been tinkering with its social presence lately. In August, it re-rolled out an old but favorite feature that lets users see where their nearby friends are. When the social network redesigned its app back in June, it deleted the nearby friends hallmark, but member feedback urged the company to bring the missing feature back.