Show HN: Waywise – an iOS travel guide for any* city
waywi.se
About a year ago I was travelling to Mexico for a trip and forgot to cancel my Duolingo trial (because of course I did), so accidentally committed myself to learning Spanish badly. My Spanish-speaking partner noticed that I'd been learning a slightly more latin version so it was a good thing I was going to Mexico, but it got me thinking: most translation apps/phrasebooks are one language-to-another language without much consideration for local dialects.
I'd been wanting to mess about and build a little side project so made an early prototype of a city-specific translation app using the GPT-4 API. After poking around the App Store I realised that the travel category was so saturated with AI-generated itinerary planners or tour guide resellers.
So one thing led to another and I decided to start from scratch and build an AI-augmented city guide app: Waywise. The idea being that I don't really want to "recommend" anything as such; I just want to surface useful information for travellers that will allow them to explore a city in their own way.
Some of the features:
Transport information - Detailed guides on airports and how to get into the city centre. Train and bus station and local public transit information.
Local language: Translations, colloquialisms, and a comprehensive phrasebook for all major spoken languages in the city.
Currency tips: Information on cash, cashless payments, stored value cards, tipping etiquette and a currency conversion tool.
Neighbourhood insights: Find the best places to stay, shop, party and explore the sights.
*Currently there are a handful of cities that I've verified the information for which are purchasable and downloadable for a one-off fee (all future updates included too), and the remainder are AI-generated. If there isn't a city guide available, subscribers can generate one for almost any city with a population of over 100,000.
There's scope to do lots more and I've been squeezing this in between client work so it's taken me the best part of a year to finally get out the door but any feedback would be super useful!
Cheers :)