I built Provato to keep track of things worth trying again

I recently shipped a new project called Provato, a local-first iPhone app for tracking restaurants and cafes you tried or want to try.

I built it because I kept having the same small problem: I would try a new coffee shop, order something I liked, and then forget the useful details a few weeks later.

Sometimes it was the place itself. Sometimes it was the specific drink. I wanted to remember which coffee shops were actually worth going back to, what I ordered there, and whether it was good enough to repeat. Notes apps were too messy for that. Spreadsheets were too much friction. Most tracking apps were built for one narrow use case and broke down as soon as I wanted something more flexible.

The idea behind Provato is straightforward. Save the experience first, add details only when they matter, and let the history become useful over time.

Why I built it

What I wanted was one place where I could:

• log something I tried in a few taps
• keep repeat visits connected to the same place
• save wishlist ideas for later
• add notes, ratings, dates, prices, photos, tags, and locations when useful

That combination turned out to be the important part. I mainly wanted something for coffee shops and repeat orders, but I also wanted it to work for restaurants and similar places without forcing me into a rigid format.

What is in the app

Provato is built around a log-first workflow.

Instead of making you build a detailed library upfront, the app starts from the thing you want to remember right now. From there it builds a timeline that gets more useful every time you come back to it.

• Logs: save the real experience first
• Library: keep all tracked items in one place
• Wishlist: store things you want to try later
• Stats and filters: review patterns once your history grows

In practice, that makes it work for the kinds of places I actually wanted to remember.

• restaurants and coffee shops
• casual places I want to revisit
• specific drinks or dishes I want to order again

Built around repeat experiences

One of the useful things about keeping a history is that the second or third visit is often more interesting than the first.

If you go back to the same cafe or restaurant, Provato keeps those entries together instead of scattering them across unrelated notes.

That makes it easier to compare what changed, what was worth repeating, and what probably was not. A one-off note can remind you that something happened. A timeline can show you a pattern.

Built around privacy

Provato is local-first by design.

You do not need a Provato account, there are no ads, and there are no third-party analytics SDKs in the app. Your library stays on your device and can sync through iCloud when available.

Photos, camera access, and location are optional, so you only enable the extra context you actually want.

Availability

Provato is currently available on iPhone:

• Download on the App Store

The app starts free with up to five items, and there is a one-time upgrade for unlimited items instead of a subscription. That felt like the right pricing model for this kind of tool.

If you want to explore the project in more detail, screenshots, feature breakdown, and FAQ are here:

• provato.montalesi.dev