How it works
Been There Done That is a travel recommendation app that shows one thing only: what your actual friends wrote.
The problem
When planning a trip, the first thing everyone does is ask friends. The answers arrive in private messages and group chats, and that is where they vanish. Nobody finds them two days later, and a year on, when someone else flies to the same place, the recommendation is buried under a thousand messages.
Circles
A circle is a real group of friends: family, people from work, the crew that travels together every year. Everything written in a circle is visible only to its members. You join by personal invitation only: there is no user search, no friend suggestions and no friends-of-friends. You can be in several circles at once, and they cannot see each other.
Postcards
A postcard is one short recommendation about a place you have been: pick a country, find the place, write a sentence about what you loved, and attach up to two photos. Every postcard carries a category stamp: food, lodging, attraction or local tip. You can also save a postcard without sending it to any circle, and that becomes your own private tip bank.
Finding things before a trip
Type a destination into the search line and see everything your friends wrote about it, on one map and in numbered cards. A postcard you save moves to "My saved", grouped by country, and that is what you take with you.
What is deliberately missing
- No ratings and no stars.
- No comments, likes, points or leaderboards.
- No ads and nothing sponsored.
- No in-app chat and no phone numbers.
- No discovery: content never leaves your circles.
The boundary is enforced on the server
The rule that a circle's content is visible only to that circle is enforced by the database permission layer, not by app code. An app can be taken apart and a screen can be bypassed, but a query arriving at the server simply does not receive rows that do not belong to whoever asked. An automated test suite covers it after every change, including the case where you personally know every member of a circle you are not part of.
How this is paid for
The app is completely free. Some postcards carry a link to a booking site, and booking through it covers part of what the app costs to run, through a small commission from the site. It does not affect what you pay, the commission comes from the provider only, and nothing here is sponsored.
Questions and answers
What is Been There Done That?
A travel recommendation app that shows only what your own friends wrote. You open a circle of real friends, everyone writes short postcards about places they have been, and when someone travels they search the destination and see exactly what their friends recommended there.
Who can see my recommendations?
Only the members of the circles you sent the postcard to. The rule is enforced in the database itself rather than in the app, so even someone bypassing the screen cannot read content from a circle they do not belong to. You can also save a postcard without sending it to any circle, and then only you can see it.
How do I join a circle?
Only by a personal invitation from someone already in it. There is no user search, no friend suggestions and no friends-of-friends.
Why are there no ratings, stars or comments?
Because five stars from a stranger mean nothing, and one sentence from a friend about a place they loved means everything. The moment there is a score, people write to collect points instead of to help. For the same reason there are no likes and no leaderboards.
Can I use it on a computer?
Yes. The same app runs in a browser at btdt.pro/app, with the same account and the same circles. A computer is easier for writing and uploading photos; the phone carries what you need while travelling.
What does it cost, and how does it sustain itself?
The app is completely free and carries no ads. Some postcards show a link to a booking site, and a small commission from it covers part of what the app costs to run. The link does not affect what you pay, and nothing here is sponsored.
Which devices is it available on?
Android on Google Play, and in a browser on any computer or tablet. An iPhone version is on the way.