Soon after announcing 10 million users, Foursquare is out with an app refresh that makes it easier to check in. This is simply a repositioning of the check-in button, and a further streamlining of the process. But with growing volumes of check-ins, little things like this can add up.

It has also improved some of the discovery functions of the app, creating a new specials section within the Explore tab. You may remember the Explore tab was a new feature of version 3.0 that suggests places based on location, past behavior and activity within one’s social graph.

Both moves fall right in line with the way things are moving in geolocation and with the directions the company wants to move, expressed to us and to others. Discovery features are an important trend, as is the move “beyond the check-in” with things of monetary significance like specials.

The ease in checking in is another big one. As founder Dennis Crowley told us at Where 2.0 in April, the next innovations will come from utilizing more mobile device “signals” to automate things for users. This includes the discovery concept above, but also things like automatic check-ins.

Expect lots more along these lines. Foursquare is out ahead in the check-in space not only because it invented it, but also because it continues to innovate rather than follow. We’ll get to hear lots more at next month’s Deals 3D conference where business development head Tristan Walker will join us on stage.