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Frustrated: check-in buttons disabled
Just installed the iPhone app yesterday and after several attempts it still won't let me check in at Whole Foods (Austin). The "check in" button isn't bright orange like in the screenshots: it's a transparent bordered box that says "Check in / 78 meters northwest." Is the distance issue why I can't check in? Or is the disabled button a sign of some other problem?
Maddening, y'all. The app looks really promising, but this is not a happy first-use experience ...
Maddening, y'all. The app looks really promising, but this is not a happy first-use experience ...
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The best answer from the company
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Hmmm...sorry to here it! Whole Foods is a popular check-in with folks (I myself checked-in there about 45 minutes ago while I was inside getting a scone). There could be a few possibilities for the trouble. Let's look at 'em.
1. Whole Foods is frickin' huge - You might have (somehow) been outside the fairly generous check-in radius at WF. If you were near the cafe section, you were closest to the center of the check-in location. However, upon your tweet, I boosted the radius a bit to make sure we encompass the entire location. It looked like we already did, but we tweaked it a bit more to make sure there's wiggle room.
2. You may have had no GPS - I know, this sounds weird, but it's possible for your phone to generally know where you are and also for the GPS functionality of the iPhone to unavailable, and since Gowalla relies on that to ascertain and verify your location for check-in, you could be in the correct spot and still unable to check-in. We have noticed that stormy weather, being inside under a heavy roof or not near a window, a few different things can interfere with the iPhone's ability to get use its GPS. And that would also explain why it thought you were 78M from a location you were actually in: the iPhone GPS was wonky.
3. Something to help in an urban area is turning on WiFi. That helps SkyHook further validate your location.
4. Just double-checking: you do have location services turned on for Gowalla, yes?
Sorry for the issues, but we're definitely here to help. Try to take another shot at checking in somewhere else. There's loads of great spots in Austin.
Thanks for trying Gowalla. Let us know how else we can help!
The company says
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?Hmmm...sorry to here it! Whole Foods is a popular check-in with folks (I myself checked-in there about 45 minutes ago while I was inside getting a scone). There could be a few possibilities for the trouble. Let's look at 'em.
1. Whole Foods is frickin' huge - You might have (somehow) been outside the fairly generous check-in radius at WF. If you were near the cafe section, you were closest to the center of the check-in location. However, upon your tweet, I boosted the radius a bit to make sure we encompass the entire location. It looked like we already did, but we tweaked it a bit more to make sure there's wiggle room.
2. You may have had no GPS - I know, this sounds weird, but it's possible for your phone to generally know where you are and also for the GPS functionality of the iPhone to unavailable, and since Gowalla relies on that to ascertain and verify your location for check-in, you could be in the correct spot and still unable to check-in. We have noticed that stormy weather, being inside under a heavy roof or not near a window, a few different things can interfere with the iPhone's ability to get use its GPS. And that would also explain why it thought you were 78M from a location you were actually in: the iPhone GPS was wonky.
3. Something to help in an urban area is turning on WiFi. That helps SkyHook further validate your location.
4. Just double-checking: you do have location services turned on for Gowalla, yes?
Sorry for the issues, but we're definitely here to help. Try to take another shot at checking in somewhere else. There's loads of great spots in Austin.
Thanks for trying Gowalla. Let us know how else we can help!
The company says
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?Looks like either the wider radius or turning on WiFi worked — now it says, "You're there," & shows the big orange button. Thanks for the help.
I’m happy
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Inappropriate?Just had the same problem myself using this for the first time. Tried to check-in at Winstead's and the JC Nichols Fountain in Kansas City and I only got the "Check In Here" box with the distance. This is quite misleading. If you can't actually check in from, say 50 meters away, why is the box labeled "Check In Here?" I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working; I just figured the app was slow to load or had a bug. I can see this being quite frustrating and making the app unappealing to use.
I’m frustrated
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Inappropriate?Jessica:
I think this is the problem: the button is grayed-out, and not indicating a possible check-in.
Below is what it looks like when you're close, but not able to check in
This is what happens when you're actually close enough to check-in:
Does that help? Or was it more of a situation where you were physically at the spots and the Pins where in the wrong place?
1 person says
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?Yep, I get it now. I just think it's misleading that the box reads "Check In Here" when check-in is not actually possible. It would help is Instructions/FAQ were easy to find.
I’m satisfied
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Inappropriate?I would agree with Jessica that, UI-wise, it's not an ideal first user experience. It's not clear the box is greyed out unless you're already familiar with the bright orange box (which you never on, when you first play with the app). Also, the text says "check in here" instead of something more clear like, "you can't check in here because you aren't close enough."2 Comments Add a comment
This answers the question
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I concur. A "grayed" out box implies that it is a semi-translucent -orange- box, not a outlined area that is "hollow" with a smaller, less bold version of the "Check In Here" text.
I think just changing the text, in this case, would be the easiest fix. -
It's a good point and to be honest I hadn't noticed. I'm sure it used to say something like, 'You're not close enough to check-in here' - or am I just imagining things?
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Inappropriate?The check-in area for airports need to be extended. I could only check in to Dulles from one specific section of the airport.
1 Comment Add a comment
This answers the question
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Also, had the same problem with conflicting verbiage. The app found me automatically, said "Check In" and "You're here," but the button was not orange (i.e. not clickable).
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Inappropriate?I am having this same problem.
However, I am literally sitting AT my desk, the same exact place I created the spot from in the first place and it will not let me check in.
It's a small office, and the distance it tells me I am away would take me way away from the office. Only thing I can guess is the GPS is acting wonky or something perhaps?
I’m meh
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Inappropriate?Ok, now, it's even more frustrating... I checked into Qdoba at lunch, then came back to work and wanted to check in. The iPhone app now says, "Check In Here" and under that it says "You are checked in here" for my work spot.
It's also telling me the spot is 153 meters southwest. Well, as I said above, I am sitting at my desk now. 153 meters would put me on the highway or in the parking lot.
Sounds like a bug in the iPhone app to me.1 Comment Add a comment
This answers the question
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Not necessarily. You remain checked in for a period (3 hours?), so the app would indeed say 'You are checked in here.'
As for the positioning, the GPS sometimes goes wonky inside a building. It's why they recommend you creating spots outside.
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