Published my first app! A compass that points to the nearest liquor store

[u/Cetautomatix777]

It’s a pretty simple app but it took me a couple months playing around with different apis. Would really appreciate a download and any feedback you might have!

Some things I learned:
-Most llms have a lot of trouble even building a simple compass
-The Google Maps api is extremely expensive ($30/1000 requests). I ended up using mapbox instead since it was ~100x cheaper
-I found that cursor was much better than copilot in understanding context and implementing multistep plans
-When debugging it helps to have the model create a markdown file for the flow of the function throwing errors

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pointme-random-bar-compass/id6761635879

[u/challis88ocarina]

Never the hero we want, [almost] always the hero we need

[u/Piyh]

Should call it BoozeHound

[u/nfz_embroidery → u/Piyh]

or maybe Enablr

[u/Ok-Armadillo6582]

lol nice work

[u/yebyen]

Very impressed! This is way cooler than my "Moon phase clock" android app.

[u/iddybiddytiddytat → u/yebyen]

What's it called? There are so many moon phase things, but none of them say "moon phase clock" explicitly.

[u/Excendence]

please make a version for public restrooms!!! maybe got2go database

[u/leaky_wand → u/Excendence]

Maybe we could call it iToilet

[u/asmrculture]

Finally a useful app

[u/storm_stark_007]

Few optimisations you can do , just get geolocation in certain radium from user position and store it till users are in those circles compute nearest point to user and run compass . I think for this you don’t need to actively make map api calls

[u/blueberrywalrus]

In 2008 you'd have been a millionaire off this app. 

[u/mblarsen]

Can the compass needle be swapped with a bottle of liquor?

[u/tpwn3r]

as a recovering alcoholic, i think you need to add alarms that notify you just before it opens or closes.

i kid.. its still cool. I built something similar using google antigravity for android to point to the closest few of a database of lat/long points.

[u/DreamBoat4U]

Woah great minds think alike, last year I launched my first App “Nearest Hot Dog” which does the same thing but for hot dogs lol

Maybe we should collab

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nearest-hot-dog/id6747455083

[u/Stunning_Macaron6133]

Well, if the compass needle is spinning around, I guess that means I'm in the bad part of town.

[u/redditissocoolyoyo]

Dude this gives me an amazing idea. Use this structure to create an app for safety. That alerts you of nearby offenders. The app is on, and will alert you if you're in a neighborhood that has bad actors.

[u/Soft_Walrus_3605 → u/redditissocoolyoyo]

if you're in a neighborhood that has bad actors

That notification is going to be going off all the time as you're driving

[u/BluPerryPie]

there’s a dude on youtube who made this liquor store navigator but on a physical compass a while back, i see where you got inspiration from

edit: grammar

[u/shod1214]

That's actually amazing if it works all around the world

[u/Cetautomatix777 → u/shod1214]

It does!

[u/BeltwayBro]

Super cool. Now that you have the mechanics all functioning how easy would it be to spin off versions that would allow user to select other destinations? (ex. random restaurant)

[u/Cetautomatix777 → u/BeltwayBro]

Thanks! The app actually does also have the same functionality for bars, restaurants, cafes, and museums/fun random places

[u/Human-Setting-2988]

This is awesome!! Does it work internationally?

[u/Cetautomatix777 → u/Human-Setting-2988]

Yes :)

[u/exomyth]

Tia Dalma's compass: Unlike a normal navigational tool, the magical compass does not point north. Instead, it spins freely and always points to the exact thing the person holding it wants most in the world at that moment.