Find Your Friend In A Crowded Bar With Marco

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If trying to meet up with someone feels like an exasperating game--without the fun of pool classic Marco Polo--a new app, Marco, may offer a solution. By letting the two people see each other on a shared map, Marco makes it so that you're never stranded on a street corner trying to find someone standing a few meters away.

What it is: Marco combines text messaging with location-based software so that a simple SMS can enable users to connect on a shared map.

How it works: Marco uses the smartphone's GPS to locate the user, as well as the recipient of the Marco request, on the sane map. Though the app itself is only available for the iPhone, non-iPhone users can get in on the action, as long as their phone allows GPS.

Once the user has opened the app, a map with your own location appears. After clicking "Find Your Friend," you can add anyone from your address book.

Marco users trying to find each another will get a message from the app with the option of viewing a map. Others get a text message saying, "Marco! Show Amy your location on a map" with a link to the shared map.

Why you'd use it: Especially when trying to find a friend in a crowded bar, looking at a map to find other people could help speed up the process and ease the frustration.

Though location-based social networking services can also help place friends on a map, Marco's simplicity--the app is limited to communications between two people--also allows for a more private experience. Location sharing lasts up to 30 minutes, or until someone taps "End.". All Marco requests have to be approved on both ends.

How to get it: Visit usemarco.com or go to Apple's App Store.

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Comments

[tarikh]

04:51 PM on 03/21/2011

So to respond to a couple of the comments. Marco can 1) Tell you where your friend is at a crowded event, indoors or out - imagine a summer concert, a convention, a crowded beach or a picnic, for example. 2) Marco's not like Latitude because it's all private. The service is opt-in and time sensitive. You only share your location when you want, with whom you want, for a discrete period of time. 3) The location is usually good, but you can manually fine-tune it 4) The map is real time and fully zoomable. Thanks for all the comments!

[Alexis Mott]

12:13 PM on 03/20/2011

Neat idea, but if you and a friend are in the same freaking building can't you just call or text to figure out where they are??

[LangstonA]

12:51 AM on 03/18/2011

How is this more innovative or an improvement on Google Latitudes?

[gtoddyt5]

11:55 AM on 03/17/2011

My GPS is not capable enough to pinpoint where I am in a bar. Its accurate within 1000m, at least on Google Maps. I would hope that this app is more accurate.

[J0E1]

01:12 PM on 03/17/2011

I imagine the best it's going to do for anyone is tell them what side of the bar you are on.  At that point, I could text them : "northwest corner by the miller sign" and probably have better results.

[Aldo Rodriguez]

11:09 PM on 03/16/2011

...Polo!

[JackHoffman]

11:09 PM on 03/16/2011

It would be cool if you could text the bartender your drink order and have your friend closest to the bar get it and bring it to you.

[FoxIslander]

03:28 PM on 03/17/2011

...now THAT app would be useful....this one is not...It's never taken me more than 30 seconds to find a friend in a bar the old fashioned way.

[NonCon]

05:27 PM on 03/16/2011

Cool

[J0E1]

05:10 PM on 03/16/2011

Judging by that picture up there, the best it's going to tell you about your friend in a bar is that (s)he is somewhere within that city block.