Foursquare turns on Radar for iOS 5 users

Foursquare has launched a new feature, called Radar, that helps iOS 5 users find out what's going on around them.

To get the feature to work, users can start following lists. Based on the focus of a respective list--Foursquare gave "101 Best Dishes of 2011" as an example--the application will find locations or establishments nearby that might relate to it and alert users. The service also lets users know when and where a group of friends might be meeting up nearby.

"The app doesn't even have to be open, it just works," Foursquare wrote in a blog post today announcing the new feature. "We call it foursquare Radar, because it finds things nearby that you normally wouldn't know about."

The addition of Radar to Foursquare might not be groundbreaking, but it is a notable improvement nonetheless. Since its inception, Foursquare has been focused on getting users to share information about where they are and what they're doing. With Radar, the application now provides users with actionable data to help them go places they might be interested in.

Foursquare has been quite active as of late. Over the summer, the company unveiled a daily-deals service, which it developed in partnership with LivingSocial, AT&T, and fashion-focused Gilt Groupe, among others, to help find users deals around their location. To justify its picks, Foursquare informs users why a deal might be right for them.

To take advantage of Foursquare's latest addition, users must download version 4.0 of the application on an iOS 5-equipped iPhone. It's available now in Apple's App Store.