After a string of rumors, drama-laden lawsuits and a seemingly botched exit strategy, Color Labs finally decided to call it quits.  They announced today that their mobile photo-sharing service will no longer be available when it shuts down their operations by the end of this year.  Though it wasn’t as popular or successful as the company wanted it to be, I’m sure a lot of Color users will miss socially ambient app that notifies you when other Color users are nearby.

Ambient-aware apps were all the rage earlier this year, with a bevy of them emerging at SXSW last March.  Color Labs was among the most promising of 2012, with heavy-hitting investors and a rather famous founding team.  Despite the backing, Color didn’t make the cut.  Here’s some other ambient-aware social apps that have fared better.

Sonar

This app is available for iOS and Android, and it lets you find other Sonar users just by being close to them, connect and hangout with those people – friend or not.  The app also allows you to set your status, share what you’re up to and chat with other Sonar users. Plus, you don’t need to manually check-in to locations because Sonar does it for you.

Highlight

The serendipitous discovery app brings people closer by alerting you if someone is nearby.  It could be another Highlight user: a friend of a friend, or someone with whom you share interests.  It gives you a detailed history of your social connections to avoid those awkward “What the hell is the name of this person I’m talking to and where do I know him from?” situations.  Plus, it allows you to send messages from within the app, so you can always start a conversation, even from a short distance.

uberlife

This app allows you to discover interesting people around you, and let you know where the cool uberlife users will be hanging out.  Aside from that, the app allows you to share awesome photos complete with camera filters, and it personally caters to your taste as you get informed of nearby hangouts that match your interests.

colourDNA

This app is not a solely location-based app but it does offer that feature via Near Me.  What sets colourDNA apart is that it is focused on your interests and your favorite color.  Based on the things you like and your fave color, the app tells you if anything related to your interests are happening nearby, such as a cool new restaurant that opened on the next block.   It lets you change your color preference depending on your mood, so it’s like a mood ring, only digital and socially aware.

Skout

This app is available for iOS and Android devices and it lets you instantly meet people around you, and anywhere in the world.  It lets you meet people by preference and proximity, chat, see who checked you out, get updates from nearby users, buy and send gifts, save your favorite users, browse profiles and pictures, promote your profile with in-app features, earn points to unlock premium features and more.  The only catch is, you have to put up with ads.  If you don’t want the ads, you can download the paid version, Skout+, for $9.99.