NYC Summer 2017 Tech Preview: A Social App to Better Your Nightlife

social app heatmap venue nyc

Summer is officially upon us! And with it, exciting developments in the tech world. I’ve been looking around for something that will be the talk of the town in these hot months, and I think I’ve found it.

One of the major qualms I have with Yelp, Zagat, and similar apps is that the information they give me is outdated. Similarly, the photos my friends took of great places and posted on Instagram don’t let me know what time I need to be at a venue to have the experience that my friend had. Even though these are some of the go-to sources to discover new and exciting venues on a night out, I never feel confident, and I’m frequently disappointed when I show up. Enter Postcard.

 

 

postcard app social apps nyc articlePostcard is a new social app releasing this Wednesday, June 28th, and it promises to change how people tackle NYC nightlife. I was able to get my hands on the app a little early, and I was really impressed with what I saw.

Here are my major takeaways from my first experiences on Postcard:

  • Heatmap of venues in NYC
  • Ability to filter venues to find the one you want
  • Ability to contact the venue or bookmark it for later
  • Great tips from users and app editors
  • Real-time photos of venues
  • Curated lists of amazing venues
  • Exclusive deals at certain locations through the app

There’s a lot going on with Postcard, and it looks to be your go-to app on your night out in NYC this Summer. Here are some of the features that truly impressed me:

Heatmap of NYC’s hottest venues & real-time photos

There are countless locations in NYC where you and your friends can go on a night out, but finding the right place isn’t easy. Postcard helps you make sure you find the hottest spots in real time. The app immediately showed venues around me and gave great details about specific locations.

I was also able to filter by venue type, allowing me to only see wine bars, pubs, or outdoor locations if I wanted to. I’m pretty specific about the types of places I enjoy, so this was perfect for me. The app also gave me reviews of the venue, as well as directions, the ability to call from the app, and the venue’s hours.

What really excited me, however, was the app’s ability to give me a relevant stream of photos of the venue, making sure I knew what to expect when I showed up. I thought this was ingenious, but what really amazed me was that when I checked back a few hours later, the old photos were gone and were replaced by new photos! It turns out that Postcard filters photos of the venue to better show you what the venue looks like. If you check it at 6pm on a Friday, it will only show you photos around that time on past and present Fridays!

Curated list of venues & exclusive deals

The home page of the app immediately gave me a curated list of venues that the Postcard team and others made. I discovered speakeasies I had never heard of, the city’s hottest arcade bars, and wine bars that were very close to me! The app showed it all to me on a very easy to interact with version of the heatmap that showed the venues being spotlighted.

exclusive deals social app heatmap nycPostcard also offers exclusive deals at a select few locations. These deals were at some really exciting venues. I immediately bookmarked one that looked interesting to me, Mother of Pearl in Alphabet City. Now every time I check up on my saved locations, Mother of Pearl and the exclusive Postcard offer show up!

All in all, I was very impressed by Postcard’s ability to help me find new places and give me an accurate, time-sensitive look at the venues that interested me. I plan on using it to research restaurants, bars, clubs, and everything in between, as well as my on-the-go tool to show me the hottest venues in the moment. I’m very excited to see Postcard grow and the positive effect it will have on me and my friends.

The best part is, it’s free!

You can be one of the first people to download Postcard here.

 

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Jonah Gaynor

Staff Writer

Jonah is a Staff Writer at Silicon NYC’s advice section. He is a native New Yorker, with a passion for technology and he has experience working with startups in New York City.