Trippy a social travel planner for web and mobile (and former TechCrunch Disrupt participant) is launching its first iPad application today to complement its current iPhone-only offering. The app, like many focused on content discovery, looks much more amazing on the iPad, where you can browse big, beautiful photos of places you want to go. You can see the photos laid out in the now-popular, Pinterest-inspired grid layout, or you can view them full screen or alongside a map view.
For those unfamiliar with the service, Trippy’s social travel planning application offers place discovery in a fashion that’s somewhat reminiscent of a Pinterest for travel. Where Pinterest has boards, Trippy offers “travel boards.” And instead of “pinning” or “liking” items, you can mark photos of places as “want” or “been.” You can also build your own boards for trips you want to take, making collections of things like local attractions, restaurants, or whatever it is you want to remember to do and see. Then Trippy’s trip planning tool will actually help you build an itinerary based on the places you’ve saved. That itinerary syncs to the Trippy iPhone app, providing access to travel plans on the go.
Another key piece to Trippy’s service are its social elements. As you build your boards, you can share items to your social networks to see what friends think. There’s also Facebook-style commenting on the site itself, and other social features that let you see what your friends on Trippy recommend, then incorporate those items into your travel plans with a click.
The new iPad app mirrors much of the online experience, and syncs all your boards to web and iPhone. It’s also handy for travelers to use during the trip, so they can view the map and search for more things to do nearby the place they’re currently visiting. The iPad also makes a handy after-the-trip companion, too, allowing you to show off the places you went during your travels to your friends.
Trippy joins quite a few other social travel planners in this space including Gogobot, Tripbirds, Gtrot, HipGeo, and Wanderfly, to name just a handful, but the iPad app’s functionality is more like that of Jetpac,which also features big photos which you can mark as “loved” or “I’ve been,” and find friends via Facebook to ask for travel tips. But Trippy’s itinerary builder and mapping functions give it a more utilitarian angle beyond simple inspiration. There’s a good chance Trippy gets used during and after the trip, too, which is something not all travel services can offer.
The startup has raised $1.75 million from Sequoia Capital, True Ventures and SV Angel, and has the support of some notable folks including Randy Zuckerberg, Jason Mraz, Rachel Zoe, Tim Ferriss, Anthony Bourdain, Gary Vaynerchuck, Soleil Moon Frye, Andrew Zimmern and more, who serve as Trippy’s advisors.
You can download Trippy for iPad in the iTunes App Store here.