I like the idea of exploring what others had found before. Maybe it doesn't need to be gear towards just travel but also this gives an opportunity for locals to explore places they've never knew before too?
I've also recently launched a walking app - made for myself but thought others would enjoy too. I had added an anonymous collective walk counter which encourages others to keep walking.
BTW, Mapbox does give sponsorships to projects/apps for displaying how their product is being used so once you get to a certain level you could submit a form for it. I know this project was sponsored by them: https://gpx.studio/
Thanks! Just out of curiosity, what country do you reside in? We're iOS only for now (planning to come to android in the near future) and the App Store availability is set up market-by-market, so it'd be useful for us to know where the demand is.
If you are releasing for every country you might need to do a special form on the App Store for the EU region before they are allowed to distribute your app. I had found this out when I first released mine.
This is almost 1:1 with a project we worked on several years ago. Unfortunately it never launched - founder ran out of money. It was one of my favourite projects we’ve done and I genuinely believed in the concept, so I was sad we couldn’t see it come to fruition. But glad someone else is giving it another go!
Without giving away anything confidential, I can say your cold start plan is very similar. Can’t say it’s a good or bad plan because we never saw it executed in practice… but it’s not unreasonable!
I think distribution and stickiness will be a challenge. Even if you get enough content that users will have a great first experience, most people don’t travel that often, so getting them to come back regularly won’t be easy.
Alex, appreciate the warmhearted comment. Especially from someone who's been in a similar spot, means a lot. Curious what stuck with you from that project, good or bad, if you're willing to share (contact info in profile if you want to talk privately).
On distribution: agreed. Stickiness is the hard part for sure. Our angle is that the app should also work as a way for users to discover their own city through other people's POVs — not just for travel. We also built in a collaboration feature and private routes, so it doubles as a planning platform whether you're going solo or with a group.
We're hoping the creation side carries the retention we're looking for. Following a route is one side of the coin. Making the route, collaborating with friends, planning places you want to visit over weeks — that's where we're estimating (hoping lol) most of our retention will come from. Can't say for sure yet, not enough data.
Thanks again for the comment!
Awesome job! Congrats on the launch!
I like the idea of exploring what others had found before. Maybe it doesn't need to be gear towards just travel but also this gives an opportunity for locals to explore places they've never knew before too?
I've also recently launched a walking app - made for myself but thought others would enjoy too. I had added an anonymous collective walk counter which encourages others to keep walking.
BTW, Mapbox does give sponsorships to projects/apps for displaying how their product is being used so once you get to a certain level you could submit a form for it. I know this project was sponsored by them: https://gpx.studio/
Here is my project if you are interested to checking out. Feel free to take any feature you find in there for your app. https://github.com/walktalkmeditate/pilgrim-ios
I love the idea. Unfortunately, not available in my country. I hope it to be successful and see this app in my country in the future.
Thanks! Just out of curiosity, what country do you reside in? We're iOS only for now (planning to come to android in the near future) and the App Store availability is set up market-by-market, so it'd be useful for us to know where the demand is.
If you are releasing for every country you might need to do a special form on the App Store for the EU region before they are allowed to distribute your app. I had found this out when I first released mine.
Wow, this gives me such bittersweet feelings!
This is almost 1:1 with a project we worked on several years ago. Unfortunately it never launched - founder ran out of money. It was one of my favourite projects we’ve done and I genuinely believed in the concept, so I was sad we couldn’t see it come to fruition. But glad someone else is giving it another go!
Without giving away anything confidential, I can say your cold start plan is very similar. Can’t say it’s a good or bad plan because we never saw it executed in practice… but it’s not unreasonable!
I think distribution and stickiness will be a challenge. Even if you get enough content that users will have a great first experience, most people don’t travel that often, so getting them to come back regularly won’t be easy.
Best of luck - would love to see this succeed!
Alex, appreciate the warmhearted comment. Especially from someone who's been in a similar spot, means a lot. Curious what stuck with you from that project, good or bad, if you're willing to share (contact info in profile if you want to talk privately).
On distribution: agreed. Stickiness is the hard part for sure. Our angle is that the app should also work as a way for users to discover their own city through other people's POVs — not just for travel. We also built in a collaboration feature and private routes, so it doubles as a planning platform whether you're going solo or with a group.
We're hoping the creation side carries the retention we're looking for. Following a route is one side of the coin. Making the route, collaborating with friends, planning places you want to visit over weeks — that's where we're estimating (hoping lol) most of our retention will come from. Can't say for sure yet, not enough data. Thanks again for the comment!
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