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