iPhone Maps App To Feature Yelp Check-Ins in iOS 6

The upcoming iOS 6 will feature Yelp check-ins and will be tightly integrated into its in-house iPhone Maps application, reports Bloomberg. The feature was discovered inside the developer kit, which the Apple distributed to software developers earlier this month. Apparently, the iOS 6 SDK contains screenshots of Apple Maps with Yelp check-ins.

According to the report, Apple Maps in iOS 6 will allow iPhone users to broadcast their current location via social network Yelp without leaving maps or launching a new application. Your friends with iOS 6 installed will likely receive a push notification the moment you check-in somewhere. You’ll be able to share these to on Facebook and twitter as both of them are tightly integrated too.

Author Danielle Kucera adds:

Apple Maps, which will replace Google Inc. (GOOG) as the default location service in software set to debut later this year, will allow users to communicate through Yelp without exiting the map and opening a new app, the materials show.

Integration with Apple Maps may help Yelp challenge Foursquare Labs Inc. and Facebook Inc., two leading providers of check-in services.

The most important feature of Yelp’s check-ins, which I like, is that it ties in with Yelp’s business reviews features to show reviews by people who check-in to that particular business often. Yelp also offers incentives to people who check-in at certain places often. Without installing third party application on your iPhone, users on iOS 6 will be able to hunt down the nearest place to hangout with friends or convenience mart for a bag of ice.

According to study conducted by the Pew Research Center, Yelp check-ins is used by 18 percent of adult smartphone owners. And, if it comes on Apple’s iOS 6 Map Apps, the business of Yelp will increase by manifold.