I've just been trying out Google Latitude this week on my Android phone. I have also been using the Tweetmondo layer on Layar (see Augmented Reality Phone Tweeting), so I thought I'd do a quick comparison for anyone thinking of adding location services to their social media suite.
| Feature | Tweetmondo/Layar | Latitude |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Default is "suburb" accuracy, I'm not too bothered if strangers can see what suburb I am in, and it only updates when the Tweetmondo layer is open. Locations are show on a map or augmented reality view | Location is scarily accurate, but only available to friends I have invited to view it. Once again this only updates while the Google maps application is running. Location is only shown over google maps (no AR) |
| Updates | Done in twitter after updating location on Tweetmondo layer in Layar, so have to use two separate apps | Done from within latitude as "shout outs", all integrated and easy to use |
| Following/Privacy | Just like twitter, you are visible to anyone who's looking! | Invite only, so more privacy but this makes it harder to find new friends |
After creating this table I'm starting to think that the title of this post is perhaps a little innacurate. Latitude and Tweetmondo compete in slightly different niches of the social media space so this is not really a "vs" situation. I see myself using both applications. I will still use Tweetmondo to interact with people I don't know (trust?) in my immediate vicinity, but those people I get to know and trust will eventually be promoted from a tweep to a latitude friend.
Feel free to leave a comment and let me know which of these apps you use, and how much you trust your tweeps and friends.
Note- You don't need the Google Maps app open on Android for it to update. It will update in the background (iphone doesn't have this capability with any apps) depending on certain variables (connection type and battery life). My G1 will update itself several times throughout the day just sitting there.
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