You know how it is – you’re desperate to get online in an unfamiliar place but with only secured WiFi hotspots around you. You don’t have their passwords, so what can you do?

Foursquare’s tips are often a good way of finding the password for a nearby hotspot, but it’s not very practical to browse through every nearby location until you find one. 4sqwifi is an iPhone app that makes the process much easier.

Open the app and it will display a list of nearby Foursquare locations, filtered to only include those that have a WiFi password in their tips. In theory, it’s that simple – open the app, find a nearby venue’s password, and jump online.

Screen Shot 2011 11 13 at 11.52.19 520x382 Find the passwords for nearby WiFi hotspots, with 4sqwifi for the iPhone

 

There are a few factors that hold the app back from being perfect, but that’s more to do with the data source than anything else. Passwords can change, so the information shared by Foursquare users may not be up to date. However, it’s better to have at least a chance of getting online than none at all, right? Also, sometimes it displays Foursquare tips where people complain about there being no WiFi at a location, although that could be useful in itself.

While sometimes, using a hotspot without the owner’s permission is at best a little rude, the information is already shared on Foursquare and this app is simply making it easier to access. 4sqwifi is the perfect example of a simple app that concentrates on doing one thing well, and it’s a useful tool to have with you.

➤ 4sqwifi (app store link)