chore: consolidate all docs/plans/specs into main repo docs/

Moved from user/ repo: milestone specs, design spec, QA docs, research,
posting pipeline, bugs log, UI redesign plan.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/research-polarsteps.md

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+# Polarsteps — Feature Research
+
+*Researched June 2026. Source: polarsteps.com, App Store, support docs, reviews.*
+
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+Polarsteps is a travel tracking and journaling app used by 20M+ travelers. It is ad-free, primarily free to use, with paid travel books as the main revenue stream. It positions itself as "by travelers, for travelers" — clean, minimal, focused on personal memory-keeping and sharing with close friends/family rather than a social discovery platform.
+
+---
+
+## Core User Flow
+
+1. User creates a **Trip** (name, start/end dates, cover photo)
+2. App runs in background and **auto-tracks GPS route** continuously (dots on map)
+3. App auto-generates **Step Suggestions** when you stay somewhere — a notification asks "Are you in [City]? Add a step?"
+4. User accepts or manually creates a **Step**: a journal entry tied to a location
+5. Each Step gets: title, text, photos/videos, date, and auto-populated metadata
+6. Steps appear in a **timeline feed** ordered chronologically
+7. Trip is shareable via link; friends/family can follow in real time
+
+---
+
+## Map Features
+
+- **Route tracking**: GPS + WiFi + cell towers → white dots plotted on world map as you move
+- **Offline tracking**: stores locally, syncs when connected
+- **Travel Tracker steps**: actual route taken (not straight lines), with transport mode tagging (car, bus, train, taxi, walk, fly)
+- **Route visualization**: colored line on map connecting all steps
+- **Countries/continents visited**: highlighted on world map
+- **Battery usage**: ~4% per day (very efficient)
+- **World completion %**: gamified stat showing % of the globe visited
+- Tracks distance, speed, and estimated travel time between steps
+
+---
+
+## Steps (Journal Entries)
+
+Each "Step" is the core content unit:
+
+- **Location**: auto-detected city/country, adjustable
+- **Title**: auto-suggested from location, editable
+- **Date/time**: auto from GPS
+- **Text**: rich freeform journal text
+- **Photos**: unlimited (mobile app), displayed in a grid/carousel
+- **Videos**: supported on mobile only, excluded from printed books
+- **Weather**: auto-populated (temperature, conditions) at time of step
+- **Altitude**: recorded from GPS
+- **GPS coordinates**: stored and displayed
+- **Transport**: mode of travel to reach this step (car/train/fly/etc.)
+
+---
+
+## Photo Handling
+
+- Add photos directly from camera roll per step
+- Choose cover photo for the trip
+- Photos displayed in gallery within each step
+- High-resolution stored for travel book printing
+- No hard per-step photo limit mentioned (effectively unlimited)
+- Videos supported on mobile, excluded from print
+
+---
+
+## Statistics
+
+Displayed on trip and profile level:
+- Total km/miles traveled
+- Countries visited (count + list)
+- Continents visited
+- Number of steps/entries
+- Days on the road
+- World completion percentage
+- Furthest point from home
+- Number of followers / following
+
+---
+
+## Sharing & Social Features
+
+- **Privacy**: "Only me", "Followers only", or "Public"
+- **Shareable link**: send a URL to anyone to follow the trip live
+- **Followers**: people can follow your profile and see all public trips
+- **Reactions/comments**: followers can react and comment on steps
+- **Social media sharing**: export to Facebook, Instagram, etc.
+- **Travel Buddy**: invite friends to join and co-document a trip together
+- **Editors' Choice**: curated featured trips for discovery (like a magazine)
+- **Trip Reels**: auto-generated short video from photos/videos + visited places, shareable
+
+---
+
+## Planning Features (2025 addition)
+
+- **AI Itinerary Builder**: generates multi-stop travel plan on the map, with transport modes
+- **Accommodation import**: forward booking confirmation emails to plan@polarsteps.app → appears on map
+- **Activity planning**: add stays, restaurants, activities to itinerary
+- **Travel DNA**: personality-based personalization for AI suggestions
+
+---
+
+## Travel Book
+
+- Print a hardback book of your trip (€30–80, 24–300 pages)
+- Each step on its own page: photo, text, map thumbnail, metadata
+- Statistics page at the end
+- Designed, high-quality output — main revenue for Polarsteps
+
+---
+
+## Offline Capability
+
+- Full offline posting (text, photos)
+- GPS route tracking continues offline
+- All data syncs when back online
+
+---
+
+## What Makes Polarsteps Distinctive
+
+1. **Simplicity** — minimal UI, auto-everything, almost no friction to log a day
+2. **Route tracking** — actually shows where you walked/drove, not just pins
+3. **"Step suggestions"** — proactive nudges to journal without opening the app
+4. **Printed book** — the premium product, excellent quality
+5. **Ad-free** — rare among free travel apps
+6. **Battery efficiency** — 4% per day, usable on long trips
+
+---
+
+## Limitations (relevant to our context)
+
+- Requires native mobile app for GPS tracking (cannot do in browser)
+- Videos excluded from print
+- Social/discovery features add little value for a solo personal blog
+- AI itinerary builder overkill for one-person blog
+- Travel Buddy / follower system assumes a social graph we don't have
+- Reels require the native app video processing pipeline