Cool New Ways to Explore on Whrrl!

From Blake Scholl, Director of Product Development-

As you know, we’re continuously tweaking and improving Whrrl. I’m especially excited about our latest update – the most significant in Whrrld history. We’ve got a totally new mobile download that works on more phones and is faster and easier than ever… but that’s a topic for another post. Today, I want to share some of what’s new on whrrl.com including a revolutionary new way to explore the real world with the help of your friends.

Whrrl is all about getting more out of your real-world life, discovering new places to go and things to do by seeing what your friends are up to. We’ve made it even easier to uncover and share awesomeness in your city without ever typing a keyword. I’d like to show you how this works.

When you’re zoomed out, Whrrl colors your map according to your friends’ opinions so it’s easy to tell where the good stuff is at a glance.

With a flick of the scrollwheel, you zoom in and see more: are the places people you know love and are the places they’ve been. It’s fun and easy to cruise around the map and bump into cool stuff. Like eating at places with great water views? Cruise along the coastline and checkout the places your friends love. Of course, the more you and your friends use Whrrl, the better this works.

Even though I’ve lived in Seattle for almost a decade, I’m shocked by how many gems I can uncover just by browsing the map. Give it a try – when you find something cool, click “I want to go” to share your discovery and remember it for later. Come across something you already know? Mark it as “been there” and rate it. You’ll light up your friends’ maps (and their lives!) with your discovery.

To get back to your discoveries, go to “What’s on my map” and pick “I want to go” from “show only.” It works like magic: other places vanish leaving only the places you want to go on your map and list.

By the way, many of you have asked for even bigger maps. Now you can hide the left side of Whrrl by clicking the “arrow” control between the content page and the map.

Whrrl puts literally millions of places on your map. You can explore every single one just by hovering over whatever looks interesting. Want something more specific? “What’s on my map” gives you complete control over which places and events appear on your map. You can filter by dozens of factual attributes (everything from ‘open now’ to ’serves beer’), your friends’ activity (for instance, visited by a particular friend), and even by your own history (where you’ve visited and where you want to). Just open up “show only” and pick the filters you want. Your map and list update right away, and you can add/remove filters in any order you want. Family-friendly Mexican places rated highly by your friend Bob? Whrrl can find them. Sushi restaurants with a happy hour right now? As I write this, there are 9 in Seattle-including 2 recommended by my friends.

Without Whrrl, your friends’ collective knowledge is locked up in their minds. With Whrrl, you can tap into your friends’ experiences anytime, wherever you are. Combining your friends’ wisdom with Whrrl’s detailed database of places and events makes it easy to discover new favorites and be smarter when you go out.

We love all the new experiences we’ve been able to have, thanks to Whrrl. We’d love to hear what you think. Write us at feedback@whrrl.com. Please share your stories about your discoveries with Whrrl – we collect these, and from time to time we’ll post our favorites here.