The coolest parts of a city are not always easy to find, especially if you are out and about and are relying on Google Maps to find a great restaurant or art gallery. But with the release of the new Unlike City Guides app on iOS and Windows Phone, discovering somewhere to eat, shop or enjoy the view has become much easier.
The app, which has been in private beta since May, follows a complete redesign of the city guide service which aims to let the cool kids in a city share their own favourite places as well as discovering new ones, from nightclubs to art galleries, cafes to fashion boutiques.
Unlike provides users with a meaningful way to share their city. Through the app, users are able to take a picture of their favourite locations, add a comment and then save them for future reference. They are also able to pick locations from the Unlike database and build up their own individual guide of a city which is accessible both through the app and on their profile page.
Users can follow each other, and in a given location will see content shared by their friends and contacts, as well as Unlike’s editorial content. This creates a real time feed of user-generated content with the best selected by editors to be featured in the city listings. In time, the aim is to build a community of ambassadors for each city who will share their content and receive rewards.
After the initial success of the first Unlike app, the company ran into trouble during the 2008 financial crisis, with their investor pulling out at the last minute. Unlike went into a period of hibernation, coming back with a redesigned site and a new business model that relied on sponsors and advertisers instead. They have seen great success since with new guides launched in cities like New York, San Francisco and Warsaw, with plans to launch guides in Moscow and Istanbul.