

Show HN: Places iOS App – Find beautiful destinations around the world - hobonumber1
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/places-discover-beautiful/id926161879

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k-mcgrady
Really nice design. Playing around with it now and want to offer some minor
feedback:

1\. Onboarding screens seem unnecessary. I've already read the description and
decided to download the app. Unless you're teaching me something I don't need
to be sold again.

2\. The images in the tables seem slow to load for me. Are these being fetched
from a server and if so would you not be able to keep the images for at least
the first screen local? Also you need to implement some sort of cache as when
I scroll and the cell is reused and I scroll back it has to reload the image
(slowly, I'm guessing from the server).

3\. When I click through to a category (e.g. South America) your table has an
activity indicator and loading text plus there is a HUD with activity
indicator. Only seems to happen when going form top level to next level.
Doesn't happen on the third level.

Overall really nicely designed app with some good information. I'll be keeping
it installed. Do you plan on making money from it?

~~~
hobonumber1
Thanks so much for the feedback. This is why I love HN <3

To reply to your thoughts: 1) Good point. I'll consider removing it for the
next release, but from my beta testing, some users felt that an onboarding
flow would be nicer. I figured making it short and sweet wouldn't hurt.

2) The images are fetched from the server, because the entire app is very API-
driven. You're right though - I could architect it so that the images for the
initial page are stored locally and I could use some special category-key to
fetch the right image.

3) Yeah, I realized that pretty late when Apple had already approved the app.
Fix coming in v1.0.1!

Thanks so much for giving it a try. I do plan on monetizing it later. I
replied below on how I plan to do that, but the most important thing for me is
to make a quality product that people like using. That's what I'm tracking
right now.

~~~
cloudwalking
Re #2: Subclass UIImageView, add a -setImageURL: method, hash the URL and use
it to lookup/store images in the documents directory.
[https://gist.github.com/cloudwalking/74a364e168b641e44482](https://gist.github.com/cloudwalking/74a364e168b641e44482)

[https://gist.github.com/cloudwalking/66990a244b249c57f443](https://gist.github.com/cloudwalking/66990a244b249c57f443)

~~~
hobonumber1
I'm using AFNetworking + UIImageView. I believe it does something similar,
doesn't it?
[https://github.com/AFNetworking/AFNetworking/blob/master/UIK...](https://github.com/AFNetworking/AFNetworking/blob/master/UIKit%2BAFNetworking/UIImageView%2BAFNetworking.h)

------
hobonumber1
This is the first iOS app that I've ever made, so I'm pretty proud of it!
Would love to hear what you guys think about it.

~~~
gdilla
Looks very pretty! Where do you get the images and content from? How are you
monetizing?

~~~
hobonumber1
Images and content are retrieved algorithmically from various places (Flickr,
Wikipedia, etc.). Planning to monetize later by letting people purchase
specific categories (like "romantic getaways"). Right now, all categories are
free.

~~~
spacefight
Well done.

I'm using the Flickr API myself for photo annotations - be careful to honor
the licensing of those images. Quite a few are copyrighted, e.g. those in the
Josha Tree section. Linking back is not enough, explicit permission is
requried.

Example:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/circleyq/8676353185/](https://www.flickr.com/photos/circleyq/8676353185/)

~~~
hobonumber1
You're right. I'm only using Creative Commons photos, and I include
attribution inside the detail pages.

~~~
spacefight
To be precise: The example was taken out of your app, I followed the link and
pasted it above, so not only CC is in use.

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coldcode
I wanted to build something like this when I was at Travelocity but it never
happened. I really wanted to do a calendar view, where you got a pretty
location spread each day plus the ability to book a trip there if you wanted
(of course). Or to allow you a little virtual vacation every day. Getting
photos was hard however due to licensing issues and of course sending
photographers is expensive.

Booking trips is a great way to monetize but then you start competing with
Tripadvisor.

------
Quasimoto3000
Nice work, very slick!

1\. I couldn't figure out how to like a place

2\. I was sort of expecting a bit more information when I clicked on a place.
I mean this particularly with respect to the attractions section. I was hoping
for more information on the attractions, like the ability click on it and
learn more.

~~~
hobonumber1
Yeah, the ability to click on attractions and view more information about them
is coming in a later version of the app. That's something that I want too.

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niles
Also check out Hitlist for a similar offering, recently featured in new and
noteworthy:

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hitlist-cheap-flights-
travel...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hitlist-cheap-flights-
travel/id900109792?mt=8)

------
executive
I got stuck on a weird screen that said No definition found with no buttons to
get back to the app.

Interface is nice but app feels too sales-y and light on content.

~~~
hobonumber1
Weird. I've never encountered that issue (and I've done a lot of beta
testing). Could you explain how you got to that page?

Sorry to hear that the app was too sales-y :( What gave off that impression?

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rounak
Good stuff. Explore the use of custom navigation controller transitions.
Tapping on a cell can expand into the new view rather than the default slide
in animation.

~~~
hobonumber1
That would look a lot slicker. I will explore that, thanks!

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sev
Very pretty app! Good work.

\- how do you like a place? I couldn't figure it out.

\- what UI element is the sort drop down?

~~~
hobonumber1
To like a place, you can click on the heart. The dropdown is from REMenu
([https://www.cocoacontrols.com/controls/remenu](https://www.cocoacontrols.com/controls/remenu))

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CGamesPlay
I like the app a lot. I couldn't figure out how to "like" a place, though.

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mathieutd
Very nice app! Have you thought of allowing users to comment on destinations?

~~~
hobonumber1
I have thought about it, but allowing for that would require some type of user
authentication system which would increase friction when it came to
onboarding. If I decide to go with user authentications, then I think adding
comments is a no-brainer.

~~~
k-mcgrady
Only require authentication when the user wants to make a comment. You could
also use Facebook/Twitter login systems built into the device so the user
presses login, selects their account from an action sheet, and they're in. No
username/password friction.

~~~
hobonumber1
Good thinking. Sounds like v1.1.0.

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mandeepj
Your app is not coming in results when I performed a search at app store

~~~
hobonumber1
I think it's because Apple's search index hasn't been updated yet. Hope that
happens soon.

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archagon
Nice icon!

~~~
hobonumber1
Thanks! Photoshop. :)

