Loopt for BlackBerry bests iPhone app with background location updates and Pulse suggestions

It’s not often that a mobile app for the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) platform out-plays its iPhone counterpart. But, when it happens, you can be sure it’s going to grab some headlines. Location aware friend-tracker Loopt is grabbing just those kinds of headlines today with a new update that enables background processing and things-to-do suggestions in the BlackBerry app. Loopt for BlackBerry will keep track of your friends even when you’re not actively using the app. In comparison, the iPhone version of the Loopt app, which could be considered the social network’s premier mobile app, doesn’t support background processing (and probably won’t for a good while). Take that, iPhone.

Loopts location-based social network is great for keeping tabs on your friends, but it basically becomes useless when you exit the app on your smartphone. Once the app closes, you’re cut off from your friends’ location updates until you fire up the Loopt app again. This new BlackBerry Loopt app update finally makes it possible to track your friends in real-time and in the background. If your buddy changes locations while you’re sending out an email or making a phone call, Loopt will take note and update its location database.

The update also sports the new Pulse suggestions feature that automatically recommends events and places that might pique your interest. It’ll also give you a quick glance at what your friends are doing at any given moment. And, with coupon support, the latest Loopt for BlackBerry update can automatically determine your location and serve up relevant coupons and discount offers from nearby businesses.

In the end, it all comes back to the fact that the Loopt for BlackBerry now supports background processing, and the iPhone does not. We’re hesitant to admit it, but the iPhone could learn a thing or two from BlackBerry.

Loopt for BlackBerry is free of charge. Get it here.