Screenshot of Plata iOS app

Plata

Plata is an iOS app that displays Place Data for anywhere in the United States.

From population statistics to local sports teams, Plata provides you with a plethora of information about all sorts of places. Whether you’re traveling or researching from home, Plata will pique your curiosity.

Plata aggregates data from a variety of sources and displays it in a simple, clean, and easy-to-understand visual format.

Now open for beta testing

Inside Plata

The screenshots below demonstrate the information Plata shows for Seattle, Washington.

Ideas for Using Plata

How It Works

Based on either your current location (or a location that you search for), Plata determines the latitude and longitude then uses those coordinates and location information to query a variety of government APIs and other sources of interesting data. Everything you see in Plata is available elsewhere, but Plata combines everything in clean view.

Additional Features

  • Detailed data screens
  • Light and dark modes
  • Save favorite places
  • Random locations
  • First-run/welcome experience
  • No ads or tracking

Support

Disclaimer

The data in Plata comes from a variety of sources and is presented as-is and may have nuances. Plata should be used for general insights and curiosity.

Data issues

Email plata@thecompany.net with issues. Due to privacy concerns, there is not currently a way to report errors/bad information in the app.

Privacy Policy

Plata does not collect any personal data. It does not require registration or log-in. Since we do not collect personal data, there is no personal information to use, share, or sell. Plata does not integrate with third-party advertising or tracking services. The only data sent to third-parties is location information.

The Plata Story

Photo from 2022 road trip

I created Plata as a hobby project. During my two-week road trip honeymoon we traveled through a handful of Western, Southwestern, and Midwest states. Along the way, we’d be driving through small towns and areas and wonder, “What would it be like to live here?” From there, the idea of Plata was born.

I’ve dabbled in coding my entire life (starting with online text-only games called MUDs), but despite working in the tech industry (Microsoft, T-Mobile, Coinbase), I’ve never written/developed an application myself. During a break from work, I decided to teach myself Swift and SwiftUI to build most of the app. Then during another break from work I was able to make all of the final changes/fixes/improvements to make Plata ready for the App Store.

I learned tons while making Plata — both technical and about different places — and hope you learn a lot from using it, too.

– jason