After about a year of offering a social network for beer check-ins exclusively through a web app, Untappd has finally made the switch over to native apps for iPhone and Android, enabling a bunch of new features. You can now attach pictures to your check-ins, for one. There’s also notifications for whenever someone gives one of your check-ins a “cheers” or leaves a comment. Multitasking is supported, and navigation speed is snappier than ever.
Untappd was actually extremely polished as a web app. It incorporated location-awareness so you could include your Foursquare or Gowalla check-in, as well as zero in on places nearby that are offering a particular brew. Untappd also features ratings so you can remember what not to drink in the future, and full access to your friend feed in a user interface that was really indistinguishable from a regular app. Even bookmarks that were saved to your home screen looked like an app.
While the graduation to a “real” app has obvious bonuses, I think Untappd made a great case for web apps in general, and can be a great place for developers to start their projects. I’ve definitely enjoyed using Untappd for the last little while on BlackBerry, and hope that it gets a native app sometime soon – RIM makes a port easy enough through their WebWorks SDK, at least. You can download Untappd in the Android Market here, or from the iPhone App Store at the link below.
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