Yelp! gets updated, adds reservations and check-ins

By George Ponder
last updated

Yelp! is a popular location based search app for our Windows Phone. You can search for nearby bars, restaurants, cafes, gas stations, banks, and more. Then read reviews, get directions to, find deals and view photos of the businesses.  You even have an augmented reality feature that throws up an overlay on the camera view of the businesses in your area.

Yelp! was updated today for both Windows Phone 8 (v2.5) and Windows Phone 7.5 (v2). While there's no official change log, it appears the new features includes the ability to make reservations through OpenTable without the need to leave the Yelp! app, write reviews and the ability to check-in to share your location with other Yelp! friends.

We haven't visited Yelp! in a while and reports are also appears to have gotten a slight revision to the user interface (may have come along with previous updates). Regardless, the update reminds us how nice of an app Yelp! is for locating and getting you to local establishments.

Yelp! is a free app for your Windows Phone and you can find it here (opens in new tab) in the Windows Phone Store.

Thanks, everyone, for the tips!

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

49 Comments
  • Can we finally WRITE reviews?
  • Yes!!! Just tested it. This app is finally useful
  • +1
    Been waiting for this to be fixed.
  • About time. I missed a special deal while I was in San Diego to get in a club. Downloading now...
  • Thank goodness!!  Maybe it was my persistent annoying of the Yelp staff via email that led to this.....hahaha, I think not.
    Glad it was updated though!  Thank you!
  • 1500+ ratings and 2 ½ stars... K
  • These carried over from the old application. So they are pretty irrelevant.
  • The rating should have been lower, the previous version of the app was a joke, it was basically just there as a placeholder.
     
    I'll be updating my 1 star review to 2 or maybe 3 stars, the app is still sorely lacking functionality compared to the iOS and Android versions, but it's not an abject failure anymore.
  • Wasn't the previous versions developed by MS? I could have swore I saw that on my WP7, but in checking the About on this update, it shows Yelp. Did Yelp finally get around to doing it themself?
  • Finally it gives me LOCAL results! Until today it was nearly useless for search since it would prioritize results around 40 miles away from my specified city. It actually listens now.
  • Should I be using this instead of Local Scout? What I want is to be able to boot up an app when I'm in a new city and find some good restaurants nearby. I have been using Local Scout so far, but it's been so-so for me (doesn't have some results and always leads me to restaurants that are closed during that time). Is Yelp a better option?
  • Wow...they actually updated it to be useful?!?!?! Are pigs flying or is it a cold day in Hades????
  • I'm speechless. It was really one of the worst excuses for an app ever. So this is nice to hear
  • Agreed. It's actually quite nice now.
  • You can now check in?! Wow, and only 3 years after they released the app on Windows Phone! Too late Yelp, I've moved on a long time ago. 
  • Wow! It's actually good now. Be sure to leave/update your review everyone!
  • Finally!! The last app I was waiting for windows phone
  • Glad they updated, and happy that even the 7.x version still got some love.
  • F Yeah!
     
    Just in time for my European vacation too, homefully the big update hits by the time I leave too
     
    edit: so far I'm not seeing friends check-ins though
  • sadly, it's still not that great. I can check in, but the only way to see my friend's check-ins is to manually go to the feed tile, then slide over to friends, where it shows a list of all check-ins, tips, reviews, and bookmarks. I can't comment on or like their check-in either. Doesn't seem to be any notification options either. (of course, i've never gotten notificatinos working in 4th & Mayor or Foursquare either.)
  • Yes!
  • Sort of offtopic...i actually thought the phone in the picture was the 8x lol. Which Lumia is that? The 720?
  • It's a Lumia 920 with a Nokia colored case:
     
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ABYVTJG/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=12Fa%3E2Fp%3E&tag=wpcentralb-20
     
  • Ugh yelpers are self important asses who have nothing better to do than make business owners' and employees' lives miserable. Reading yelp reviews is like a how-to master class in griefing.
  • Well, some people use Yelp for deals. Some of us write positive reviews as well as negative. Some of us use Yelp to discover and learn more about places to help us make better defenses. That's what you must have meant by "self important asses".
  • If you think reading anything on yelp is informing you about a place, you are part of the problem. Yelp is the Internet version of the mafia: pay or get screwed. It's a sort of anonymous trolling with real world consequences.
  • The claims of "extortion" are just a paranoid fantasy. I'm amazed how often I see it repeated on tech blogs, where people should know better. Yelp employs a filter, much like a spam filter. As a result, when a business has a bunch of people join and post 5 star reviews, many of them disappear, and the business complains. If you look at the filtered reviews for just about any place, the majority are either one and done reviewers, or hilariously obvious fakes.
  • Bullshit. I've been offered first hand to have reviews push down (about 5 years ago)
  • Ok, so what you're saying is that this business has been actively trying to extort customers nationwide for at least 5 years, and yet no one has been able to prove it? No recorded phone calls, no disgruntled employees, no media expose, and no former advertisers pulling back the curtain?
  • Its a toss up. While I agree some go onto Yelp just to be an ass, I think you can easily distinguish the honest reviews from chronic complainers. Personally, I have no problem posting my experiences on Yelp. Especially when it comes to customer service
  • That phone looks like a matte red??
  • It's a 920 with a Nokia cover on it. I love these. When I got my Nokia Lumia 920, they didn't have grey, so I bought a white one and just got the grey cover. They come in Red, Cyan, and Yellow and add like zero bulk to the phone.
     
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ABYVTJG/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=12Fa%3E2Fp%3E&tag=wpcentralb-20
     
  • Huge, huge improvement over last one. Finally its useful.
  • This is a huge improvement to the previous version! New interface too!
  • Is it late... yes!  Who cares though, I finally have a usable Yelp app.  Thank you.
  • When poor service ruins my experience, I can now offer and follow through with threats of "a strongly worded Yelp" review...on the spot. Mwa ah hah.
  • Fuck you and people like you. I have seen that sort of cavalier self important nonsense ruin lives. Try talking to a staff member before going for online slander. Imagine hundreds of people reviewing your every move, for every minute of your day.
  • I'm pretty sure he was joking, hence the evil laugh.
  • Dude. If you think your vitriol & foul language is going to sway anyone's opinion, there's no wonder you got clowned by either Yelp or someone using Yelp. I know of what you speak very well... but this isn't the forum for it. In the end, speaking plainly, you come off sounding like a real jerk in need of a few simple courses on conflict resolution. People that dislike you aren't like going to listen to you. Take a deep breath, review what you've written in a week or so then ask yourself, is anonymous Internet rage really going to help dissuade people from web-based libel, or visiting a site that charges small businesses upwards of $5000 for "promotion packages"? Gracious responses & considerate/thoughtful attempts at resolution generally work when engaging negative reviewers on ANY site - blog, TripAdvisor, CitySearch, or Yelp. And when they don't, your kind, courteous responses & attempts to rectify things are visible for all to see.
  • Fantastic!!
  • How about stubhub update their app next?
  • crazy I actually stopped using yelp because of how horrid the app was. Lost all my badges and check in dukedoms. i may give it another whirl here with a new app. we shall see.
  • Wow, didn't expect this. As mentioned by others, its been around for quite a while and now they decide to update it? What gets me even more, is this isn't just a WP8 remake, but they made it available for WP7 as well. Great to see some WP7 support still for official apps as well.
  • What app do people use to find restaurants?
    I used to have an Android and used Google Maps to find places around me which worked quite well. Here Maps doesn't have as many restaurants and even when it has them it lacks reviews and information about them. Can't seem to find a good app to find places nearby with a decent amount of reviews. I'll try Yelp now, but other suggestions welcome.
  • With open table integration if I make reservations thru yelp will I still get my open table points?
  • Holly shhhhhhhhhhh!!! Finally xD
  • Why can't I install it? i'm not familiar with windows phone 8 version 2.5 I'm using Lumia 920 unlocked
  • ...unfortunately it doen's work when a filter gets applied to a search. 
    Somehow it changes what it was looking for. 
    What?!?
    Apps for windows phones are such a dissapointment...
  • Has anyone figured our where your badges are displayed?
    I was SO excited to be able to 'check-in' like the cool kids with their fancy apps on the 'other' phones. I have even scored a few badges, but I can't figure out where the badges end up.
    Thanks for your insight!