Now that the official iPhone app for Googles Latitude location-sharing service has finally arrived, the developers of third party solution Ladidude that we reviewed last month have found an interesting way to keep it useful theyre turning Latitude into a game.
Yes, the most recent update to the app has Apple Game Center integration and you play simply by leaving the app running in the background, transmitting your location to the Latitude servers. Theres a leaderboard, showing which users have traveled the farthest distance and Game Center achievements can be earned for actions like manually updating or hidingyour location. The developers say there are hiddenachievementsto be earned at certain locations too.
While its quite a basic gamification of Latitude, its an interestingapproachto making an app useful after its initial advantage (filling in for an official Latitude app) has been lost. Id love to see the gaming element expanded lets see some social challenges for things like being the fastest to travel between two points, or for meeting up with five of your Latitude friends in a day.
Latitude has so far failed to capture a widespread audiences attention in the same way as Foursquare has. Maybe building gaming elements on top of it might give it the kick it needs. While still quite a rudimentary version of this idea, Ladidude points in the right direction. It can be downloaded for! free.
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