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+# FindPenguins — Feature Research
+
+*Researched June 2026. Source: findpenguins.com, App Store, support docs, reviews.*
+
+---
+
+## 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.
+
+---
+
+## 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**
+
+---
+
+## 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
+
+---
+
+## 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)
+
+---
+
+## 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
+
+---
+
+## 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
+
+---
+
+## 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
+
+---
+
+## 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
+
+---
+
+## 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
+
+---
+
+## 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)
+
+---
+
+## Offline Capability
+
+- Tracker works fully offline (GPS, flight detection)
+- Footprints can be created and edited offline
+- Syncs when connected
+
+---
+
+## 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
+
+---
+
+## 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
diff --git a/docs/research-polarsteps.md b/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