On building Places

A web app to keep track of places I’ve been and places I want to go

Latest Update 7/13/2024 at 2:34pm

Places is a web app I’m building to keep track of places I’ve been and places I want to go. You can search for places (restaurants, breweries, museums, venues, or anything else that interests you), save them, and add notes — like why you are saving it or a recommendation from a friend who’s been there. I’m posting updates and things I learn as I go. This page collects those updates.

If you are interested in trying Places, sign up for the waitlist and be among the first to know when it’s ready.

Places Diary #5: Check-ins and Instant Image Previews for Image Uploads

UI screenshot showing list of checkin-ins on a place

Check-ins on places and instant image previews using web APIs.


Added an option in Places to sort by date places were saved. This is useful when you can’t remember the name of a place you saved recently or want to try somewhere new to you. Sorting still defaults to places nearest you.


Added sections to collections in Places. I find them handy for organizing places in a collection by days when planning a trip, but they can be used for anything — like grouping places by category (e.g. food spots, entertainment, sights, etc.). Places can be moved into a section using drag and drop and reordered the same way. Still need to implement optimistic UI to avoid the visual jump that occurs when an item is dropped and the update is handled over the network.


Places Diary #4: MapKit Tokens

Creating a short-lived JSON Web Token (JWT) for MapKit JS using Remix


Places Diary #3: Side Quests

Type-safe SQL queries, migrations, and updating from Remix v1 to v2 (plus ESM and Vite).


Places Diary #2: Removing Prisma

Replacing an ORM and interacting directly with the database for improved productivity and greater flexibility.


Places Diary #1: An Introduction

Keep track of places you’ve been and places you want to go.

On building Places, a web app to keep track of places I’ve been and places I want to go.