Today, most highly functional smart phone apps use some form of geolocation to help you find just about anything you need from the street you are looking for to the restaurant you keep hearing about. A smart phone trend that has been growing in popularity is “checking in” which uses geolocation to allow individuals to show when they have shown up at restaurants, bars, or stores.

Nearly all smart phones today, including your Blackberry, has a GPS chip inside. This little chip is what makes these phones so useful when wanting directions or wanting to know your exact location in relation to something. However, GPS doesn’t always work right, and when GPS fails, geolocation kicks in making it possible for you to get your location on a whim.

Although geolocation has become incredibly popular in smartphones, it has many users including Blackberry owners wondering about their safety and privacy. While geolocation does keep tabs on where you are at all times, it also allows you to fully enjoy your Blackberry. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of the following Blackberry apps:

Foursquare

Possibly the most popular location app available, Foursquare allows users to check-in to their favorite places and then alerts those around them. Foursquare users are also able to get recommendations from other app users to find new places that may also be suited to their tastes. This app is great for anyone who wants to get out and explore their city by finding new places and people along the way.

Facebook Places

Although Facebook Places is popular, it only is because of its attachment to Facebook. By stating where you are through the app, your location will be immediately posted on your Facebook Feed alerting any close by friends to join up with you.

Gowalla

Gowalla is very similar to Foursquare; however, is different in the effect that it allows users to trade virtual goods for the real-life versions for free. The app also has a trips feature which allows users to list up to 20 places that they would hands-down recommend to anyone.

Geolocation may feel a bit like big brother, but it also provides a lot of fun for smart phone users. Even if you enjoy your smart phone apps using geolocation, you can better ensure your privacy by setting your privacy settings to keep certain information private.

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