The app is designed to help users discover and rate nearby places. It mirrors the Hotpot functionality in Google Maps for Android and works in conjunction with Hotpot on the web to include reviews and ratings from friends.
After downloading the app [iTunes link] and logging in, the Google Places with Hotpot for iPhone app highlights popular search categories (though you can add your own too) such as restaurants, ATMs and gas stations. Clicking on a category reveals nearby places with Place Page info, including ratings and reviews.
Results are personalized based on your previous ratings, with the app's ultimate aim to serve each user with personally tailored recommendations according to their individual tastes. As such, the app experience is highly focused around getting users to add their own ratings and reviews.
Google has long been pushing Google Places as a way to discover nearby places on the web, and more recently on mobile. The location-focused product is an important one that competes with the likes of Yelp and Foursquare for the attention of consumers and local businesses. By baking Hotpot into the Google Places for iPhone experience, the company can inspire even more mobile users to contribute to its place-based recommendation engine.
