Localmind is free (iPhone, iPad). Localmind will help you decide where to go and what to do, say, in a new city, and it will be helped by ordinary people who are right now in the same city or area – who, if not them, can give the best advice to a visiting citizen. But there is a downside to this social network – every time you register with foursquare or Facebook, you become available to be asked questions about the place where you are. Localmind automatically connects you to someone who needs information on that location or someone who has the information you’re looking for. Localmind is a true mobile encyclopedia based on the knowledge of locals who are familiar with the area.
It’s a cross-platform, location-based crowdsourcing app that lets you connect with people in any location of your choice (a pub, hotel, or multiplex) and ask them questions about the place. Users who have registered at a certain location through various social networking services can use Localmind to answer questions from other Localmind users who may be interested in getting some recommendations/information about a certain location and the services around it. Localmind currently supports checks from four popular services: Facebook, Twitter, Gowalla and Foursquare. Although the Localmind client for iOS has been on the iTunes App Store for quite some time, its public beta version (v1.0) has recently been released to Android users.
Crowdsourcing, when done through social media, helps people find appropriate solutions for their specific problems, and with services like Localmind implementing this wonderful concept on smartphones, the process becomes even more instant and efficient. Especially if you want to get “real” information about a specific location / location, rather than looking at user reviews, Localmind can come in handy. Just choose the registration service you want and start submitting questions to wherever you like. Asking questions to registered users who are present at the location you’re interested in can help you learn about the latest activity going on. This can be more than helpful if you are planning to visit an undiscovered location.
The application opens on the main screen with four tabs: Localminds, Questions, Activity, and Profile. Localminds displays a complete list of all places with their exact location and distance from your point. Simply select the location you’re interested in from the list or on the map, look out for active “local minds” as well as experienced local minds, and start chatting with them. The distance to a location can be easily filtered to your liking. Simply tap Menu> Filter Distance and select a specific distance for different locations.
The Questions tab displays all questions you have sent and/or received. The Activity tab displays all questions and answers that others may have sent through Localmind. You can receive notifications about all your activities on Localmind. SMS notifications for Localmind can be enabled/disabled from the app as needed.
Finally, the Profile tab allows you to check your karma points and the total number of people you have helped through Localmind. Karma points are earned in several ways. For example, you earn karma points for each registration, for answering questions, or by proving that you have enough knowledge about the specific place in question. The more questions you answer correctly (and quickly), the more karma points you earn, thus increasing your chances of becoming a Local Expert.
