First announced last month, location-based social app Gowalla has reportedly made its full release on the Android Market.

Its debut follows a round of beta testing towards the end of February, Android users previously having to make do with Gowalla's mobile web app to access to service on their handsets.

Consumer reaction to the beta was positive, reviews claiming the layout of the UI is actually more logical and user-friendly than Gowalla's iPhone app.

Making sure the Android app can compete with its iPhone cousin was a key force behind its development according to Gowalla's Josh Williams, the company's founder having previously claimed the firm didn't want to rush its release onto the market. 

All aboard Android

"A big thank you to everyone for your patience. We don't like that its taken so long, but our goal has been to do this right and provide a premium experience on the Android platform. We don't want it to play second fiddle to the iPhone," Williams said on Gowalla's community blog following the announcement of the Android beta.

Its launch marks the beginning of a period of expansion for Gowalla, the app aiming to up its userbase to compete with the likes of Foursquare and MyTown.

"Similarly, we're working on a native WebOS client and have plans for a native BlackBerry client," he continued. 

"We also plan to add BlackBerry support to a much improved mobile web version of Gowalla in the couple of weeks."