Drop everything and try: Pin Drop

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The free iOS and Android app Pin Drop (not to be confused with PinDrop – the space is terribly important) lets you drop a virtual pin in your favourite places, sharing them and even curating your own must-visit lists. And it’s so damn simple, it might just work.

PIn it

A London entrepreneur is hoping to take on Google and Foursquare with a new app designed to let people share their favourite places with friends.

The Pin Drop app, which has already been backed by Stephen Fry, was created by 35 year old Andy Ashburner, who previously helped build Summly, the app which London teen Nick D’Aloisio sold to Yahoo! for an estimated £20m earlier this year.

“This originally started out because I have a terrible memory for where places are, so I was using the pin drop feature of Google Maps,’ he said.

“Google is great for search and directions, but it falls short because there’s no way to sort and structure your data – its cumbersome to see your favourite places, or see a list of them, for instance.”

Ashburner decided to create the free Pin Drop app, which became an instant hit when it was released last week. “We’ve been taken aback by the initial demand,” he admitted.

“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, it’s brilliant but the servers have been struggling a little.”

The iPhone and Android app allows users to mark a favourite spot, or even a friend’s house, and attach notes to it.

“It can be for any location, a bit of graffiti, a lamp post or anything else. You can attach notes, and memories to it, and share those with friends."

Ashburner’s Shoreditch firm now has six employees, and he hopes the app will become popular enough to stop other firms simply copying it.

“There’s nothing to stop Google or Facebook doing this,” he admits, “but we believe we can get enough users and be able to build a better product. Six people can do a lot, and be a lot more agile.”

Source: Pin Drop