# FindPenguins — Feature Research

*Researched June 2026. Source: findpenguins.com, App Store, support docs, reviews.*

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## Overview

FindPenguins is a German travel tracking and community app. Core features are free; premium subscription ($4.99/month or $32.99/year) unlocks more photos per post and ebook exports. Revenue comes from subscriptions and printed photo books ($40–240). It leans more social than Polarsteps — discovery, community, and inspiring other travelers are central to its identity.

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## Core User Flow

1. User creates a **Trip** (title, dates, cover)
2. App runs in background with **automatic GPS + flight detection tracking**
3. User creates **Footprints** — individual journal entries tied to a location and time
4. Each Footprint can contain: location, title, date, text story, photos, video, weather
5. Footprints appear in a **chronological timeline** per trip
6. Trip is shareable; social followers can view, comment, react
7. At the end, optionally order a printed **photo book**

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## Map Features

- **Automatic route tracking**: GPS + flight detection, works offline
- **Interactive world map**: route lines drawn between footprints
- **3D flyover video**: auto-generated cinematic route visualization, free
- **Countries/continents highlighted**: on personal map
- **Visited places completion**: stats on what % of a country/region visited
- Battery usage: ~4% per day (comparable to Polarsteps)
- Route visualized as path on map, not just pins

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## Footprints (Journal Entries)

Each "Footprint" is the core content unit:

- **Location**: GPS-detected, shown as city/country; uses reverse geocoding (LocationIQ)
- **Title**: required, user-set
- **Date**: required, defaults to current time
- **Text story**: freeform journal text
- **Photos**: 6 (free) / 10 (premium) per footprint
- **Videos**: 1 (free) / 2 (premium) per footprint
- **Weather**: auto-populated at location + time; manually editable
- **Place name**: auto-detected city/neighborhood/country, editable
- **Selective sharing**: each footprint can be public, friends-only, or private
- **Delayed posting**: option to share location with a time delay (privacy feature)

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## Photo Handling

- Up to 6 photos per footprint (free), 10 (premium)
- 1 video per footprint (free), 2 (premium)
- Photos displayed in carousel/grid within footprint
- High-res stored for photobook printing
- Cover photo selectable per trip

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## Statistics

- Countries visited (count + list + % world)
- Continents visited
- Total distance traveled
- Number of footprints / trips
- Days on the road
- World coverage percentage
- Shown on profile and within photo books

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## Social & Discovery Features

- **Follower system**: follow other travelers, see their public footprints
- **Comments**: friends/followers can comment on individual footprints
- **Reactions**: like/react to footprints
- **Discovery**: browse 10M+ travel experiences from other users by destination
- **Group trips**: invite co-travelers to add footprints to a shared trip (with known bug: co-travelers can delete each other's content)
- **Travel inspiration**: browse community trips to plan your own
- **Explore by destination**: search real traveler experiences for any city/country

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## Privacy Controls

- Per-footprint visibility: public / friends / private
- **Delayed sharing**: share location with a configurable time delay (safety feature for solo travelers)
- Trip-level privacy: whole trip can be private or public
- Can hide real-time location from followers

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## Photo Book (Premium)

- Printed book with maps, photos, text, statistics, and friend comments
- €40–€240 depending on size/format (hardcover or layflat)
- Free ebook version for premium subscribers
- 5% discount on books with premium

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## 3D Flyover Video

- Free feature: auto-generates a cinematic 3D video of your route
- Shareable directly from the app
- No native app required for viewing (shareable link)

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## Offline Capability

- Tracker works fully offline (GPS, flight detection)
- Footprints can be created and edited offline
- Syncs when connected

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## What Makes FindPenguins Distinctive

1. **Flight detection**: auto-detects flights and logs them on the route
2. **3D flyover video**: compelling visual output, free
3. **Delayed sharing**: useful for solo travelers worried about broadcasting real-time location
4. **Richer social layer**: comments on individual footprints, community discovery
5. **Destination exploration**: browse real traveler posts for any place (like a user-generated travel guide)
6. **Premium photo books**: more polished physical product with friend comments included

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## Limitations (relevant to our context)

- Requires native app for GPS/flight tracking — not reproducible in a web CMS
- Social discovery features irrelevant for a solo personal blog
- Group trip feature has a bug (co-travelers can delete your content)
- Premium paywall for basic things like more than 6 photos per post
- Community/social focus means the UX is designed around a social graph we don't have
- 3D flyover video requires proprietary rendering pipeline
- Real-time delayed sharing is a privacy feature for apps broadcasting live location — moot for a blog that posts after the fact
