Apple will push social networking integration forward in iOS 6 not only with Facebook sharing across the board, but also with the ability to check-in to a venue via Yelp within the new Maps app in iOS 6.
The ability to check-in is already in the Maps app for developers with access to the iOS 6 beta. If you tap the red pin and then the blue info button, you’ll see the Check In button buried underneath the Reviews tab, which is also integrated with Yelp. In the first beta, it was featured more prominently under the main tab, but I’ve noticed that after installing iOS 6 beta 2 on my own iPad, it’s been moved to a more subtle location within the app.
Right now if you tap that button, you’re yanked out of the Maps app and into Yelp. It doesn’t check-in for you right away, but rather it just brings you to the Yelp app to complete the action. Bloomberg is reporting that by the time iOS 6 reaches the vast majority of consumers in the fall, check-ins will be seamless within Maps so you don’t have to leave the app.
Yelp check-ins advance the partnership between the company and Apple even further. It was first evident when Apple built Yelp into Siri at its launch last year, and now with iOS 6, a good portion of the Maps app relies on Yelp data. It’s a tad disappointing for Foursquare users though, since that’s the app people use more than any other for checking in, but it’s not much more of an effort to just launch the Foursquare app separately by comparison.