A Look at Flook the Location Browser

Flook the Location Browser was released last month in the App Store and while it’s categorized as a travel app, it offers a bit of a social entertainment value to boot. Basically, Flook lets you see events, people, and places both near you and around the world. Through user-uploaded info cards and photos, you can find local events and places like art shows, music venues, and bars. Because Flook is location-based, you can discover things close by in real time or simply browse all the Flook cards. Plus, with a Twitter interface, you can add the photos and geo-location to your tweets. Flook users can pull up cards nearby and the closest ones will be displayed first, but the more you use Flook, it will start to sort the cards by user ratings — learning what you like and responding accordingly. You can double tap a card to get directions to a place or event, email the card, follow the creator, or “collect” the card. To browse through the cards, simply swipe through the collection. There is room for comments on uploaded photos and if you find a Flook user with cards you like, you can follow them to quickly and easily see their newest created cards. Granted, there are not a lot of users now, so depending on where you are at any given time, you may not see much nearby, but even so, some of the uploaded photos are phenomenal. And, since Flook is so new, you have the opportunity to really make your mark! Upload your own card and share your favorite places with other Flook users. Creating a card is simple: take a photo, write a description and upload. There is even a competitive edge to Flook. See if you can get the highest rated card by having people collect your cards. Best of all, Flook is free to download and try. There is no need to create any new accounts to use it and upload cards (though you’ll boost your card ratings if you create an account) and the user interface is fairly straightforward, though will take a bit of navigation practice. Given its infancy, I wasn’t sure how useful or entertaining Flook would be. Quite frankly, I was surprised to find an event card on Flook less than five miles from my home in a small Ohio suburb. (In addition to user-generated cards, Flook is sourcing out interesting content and creating it’s own cards until the app reaches critical mass.) Browsing through global uploads, it was easy to see how you could potentially locate any number of local hot spots while traveling and there are many photos of interesting places to view as well. As interesting as it is now, if more users begin participating, Flook will get even better. In the mean time it’s just free, simple fun. Keep in mind you’ll need a 3G iPhone with GPS and iPhone OS 3.0 or higher to use Flook. rating: 8/10 app_name: Flook the Location Browser © AppCraver , 2009. | A Look at Flook the Location Browser | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter !