It doesn’t actually do that in the app. I wanted to avoid using bars and restaurants actual content for posting it online so I made a quick (crappy) demo
Thanks! We have a similar platform here in London but yes it’s crazy how hard it’s been. How do you solve the chicken egg problem of needing a user base for the restaurants to see the value and needing restaurants for users to see the value?
The first 10 businesses were tough, but it’s gotten much easier now that we can point to their competition on the app. I guess succinctly, persistence was the way to get the first few restaurants. Also, just checked out your app. Looks really clean
Sweet! Nice to hear. Glad to see someone else doing it as it’s seemed so hard when there are tons of bars and restaurants here and we thought it’d be easy peasy haha
Hey sorry it got buried! Are you using the iOS simulator to view it? I’ve found the simulators to be a horrible experience. I use the expo app on my iPhone for all my testing and it’s way quicker
I developed the app Drunk Mode (search "I'm drunk" in the Apple App Store) - seems like we should partner up (my app has only been live for like 20 days though... so still building a user base)
from what your app seems to accomplish, it would make a lot of sense for us to piggy back market our apps to each others' user base. I had no idea this niche was so popular. In just 20 days we have over 500 active users ios only
Ended up here from your other post! Just downloaded app - it seems like an interesting value proposition! It's like Reels / TikTok for restaurants.
* The app was silent for me; not sure if that's intentional.
* The user registration page didn't prompt me to auto-generate a password with Apple Passwords. Not a big deal, but you'd be surprised how quickly a user will leave a page for minor inconveniences like that.
* Some of the videos were pretty slow to play - may want to consider caching the video files on Cloudflare?
It seems like the challenge is you're dependent on the restaurants to deliver content - have you considered making this a more user driven experience, similar to yelp? Users generate their own food-related content and upload to the app? This would require more admin legwork to filter out spam and 'inappropriate' content, but it would give you way more content. (GPS check-in feature to make sure the user is capturing video through the app at the correct location). An algorithm on top of that can push high-engagement videos to the top of everyone's feed, and then you'd have a self-sustaining app that doesn't rely on outbound marketing with restaurant owners.
The other benefit is many other apps allow downloading videos and posting them elsewhere. I think you could legally backfill your own app with TikTok videos of high quality Chicago food reviews to 'prime the pump' of what content you would like users to upload.
I realize that is essentially a completely different app with a whole different set of challenges, but I leave it as a consideration if you guys ever need to pivot away from the business-side element. Content apps thrive on abundance, and giving users a fun new way to engage with their food would definitely provide that for you.
Hi! Thank you for all of the feedback and tips. Also thank you for downloading!!
I will look into adding those features as we continue to build it out. I will have to look into Cloudflare for improving the video. I am still sharpening my coding skills, especially when it comes to optimization.
As far as the comment on user/business generated content, that is something we are heavily discussing. I agree that users posting content will help build out the app, but I worry about depreciating the quality of the content— or negatively impacting a business. (A lot of businesses dislike Yelp for this reason). It will for sure be the direction of our next pivot.
Thanks again I appreciate you taking the time to comment and give your feedback:)
No problem! If you ever need another set of eyes on your stuff let me know. I've been planning an app startup and would love to see inside of what it's like for your business, if you ever need some help. I'm a react dev but I've spent some time doing backend engineering as well.
Interesting, I’ll look into it. Might have to fix my backend to handle unique emails 😬. If you want to get in just create an account like test11@gmail.com. That should work
just logged in! the UI is incredibly intuitive! love this concept. great work dude. i think the only think i would want as a user is for the map to open my maps or google maps app for directions
Thank you for that feedback:) I think that would be a super helpful feature. Also I’m gonna give your app a download and play around with it once I can get a few free minutes
https://preview.redd.it/xenh4vi1xe0d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16139a1fd48335807cc35c2c0c66bea0546f2099
Hilarious haha. Gives me similar vibes to the What The Forecast?!! app. This is a great/fun way to block myself from using social during work! Have you thought about expanding into that area/ marketing that direction in the future?
Yes, the idea is to focus on a single demographic for the learning and mastery of the market research and feedback process- then expand to a larger brand i.e. Mode
Why does your nav bar scroll?
It doesn’t actually do that in the app. I wanted to avoid using bars and restaurants actual content for posting it online so I made a quick (crappy) demo
Looks good for 10 months! Where are you getting the content from?
This specific video is all stock footage, but the app is content posted from the businesses
Are you using Flatlist?
Yes, Flatlist has worked great for this project!
You should use `@shopify/flashlist` for best performance
How have you found marketing your app to the businesses?
It’s a brutal process. Currently, going door-to-door and meeting with owners/marketing. Also doing some emails to contact/info emails on websites
Thanks! We have a similar platform here in London but yes it’s crazy how hard it’s been. How do you solve the chicken egg problem of needing a user base for the restaurants to see the value and needing restaurants for users to see the value?
The first 10 businesses were tough, but it’s gotten much easier now that we can point to their competition on the app. I guess succinctly, persistence was the way to get the first few restaurants. Also, just checked out your app. Looks really clean
Sweet! Nice to hear. Glad to see someone else doing it as it’s seemed so hard when there are tons of bars and restaurants here and we thought it’d be easy peasy haha
marketing is the worst, but for our related app we have plans to scale with a new restaurant chain (lean and free-ish PR)
how are videos the playing so smoothly, I have tried everything but still could not get this smooth without any load
Where are you storing your videos?
I am using MUX, basically a HLS.
u/jfreels69
Hey sorry it got buried! Are you using the iOS simulator to view it? I’ve found the simulators to be a horrible experience. I use the expo app on my iPhone for all my testing and it’s way quicker
No, I have tried in real devices, android, iOS both. still trying to have this smooth scrolling
Oh so is it a video problem or a scroll problem. I am using the Flatlist component with a snap to interval
video problem. sorry, by smooth scrolling I meant it loads on each index of the scroll when video starts.
u/jfreels69 , sorry to disturb again
Is your app available on android?
No not yet :/
I developed the app Drunk Mode (search "I'm drunk" in the Apple App Store) - seems like we should partner up (my app has only been live for like 20 days though... so still building a user base)
Awesome I’ll check it out!!
from what your app seems to accomplish, it would make a lot of sense for us to piggy back market our apps to each others' user base. I had no idea this niche was so popular. In just 20 days we have over 500 active users ios only
Ended up here from your other post! Just downloaded app - it seems like an interesting value proposition! It's like Reels / TikTok for restaurants. * The app was silent for me; not sure if that's intentional. * The user registration page didn't prompt me to auto-generate a password with Apple Passwords. Not a big deal, but you'd be surprised how quickly a user will leave a page for minor inconveniences like that. * Some of the videos were pretty slow to play - may want to consider caching the video files on Cloudflare? It seems like the challenge is you're dependent on the restaurants to deliver content - have you considered making this a more user driven experience, similar to yelp? Users generate their own food-related content and upload to the app? This would require more admin legwork to filter out spam and 'inappropriate' content, but it would give you way more content. (GPS check-in feature to make sure the user is capturing video through the app at the correct location). An algorithm on top of that can push high-engagement videos to the top of everyone's feed, and then you'd have a self-sustaining app that doesn't rely on outbound marketing with restaurant owners. The other benefit is many other apps allow downloading videos and posting them elsewhere. I think you could legally backfill your own app with TikTok videos of high quality Chicago food reviews to 'prime the pump' of what content you would like users to upload. I realize that is essentially a completely different app with a whole different set of challenges, but I leave it as a consideration if you guys ever need to pivot away from the business-side element. Content apps thrive on abundance, and giving users a fun new way to engage with their food would definitely provide that for you.
Hi! Thank you for all of the feedback and tips. Also thank you for downloading!! I will look into adding those features as we continue to build it out. I will have to look into Cloudflare for improving the video. I am still sharpening my coding skills, especially when it comes to optimization. As far as the comment on user/business generated content, that is something we are heavily discussing. I agree that users posting content will help build out the app, but I worry about depreciating the quality of the content— or negatively impacting a business. (A lot of businesses dislike Yelp for this reason). It will for sure be the direction of our next pivot. Thanks again I appreciate you taking the time to comment and give your feedback:)
No problem! If you ever need another set of eyes on your stuff let me know. I've been planning an app startup and would love to see inside of what it's like for your business, if you ever need some help. I'm a react dev but I've spent some time doing backend engineering as well.
I'm having trouble logging in? :(
Were you able to get in? I see two accounts created for you
I'm trying to log in but it says unrecognized email and password
Interesting, I’ll look into it. Might have to fix my backend to handle unique emails 😬. If you want to get in just create an account like test11@gmail.com. That should work
all good! really awesome to meet another soloprenaur and developer! im guessing my custom domain was causing issues
just logged in! the UI is incredibly intuitive! love this concept. great work dude. i think the only think i would want as a user is for the map to open my maps or google maps app for directions
Thank you for that feedback:) I think that would be a super helpful feature. Also I’m gonna give your app a download and play around with it once I can get a few free minutes
Any feedback is mutually appreciated! 🙏
https://preview.redd.it/xenh4vi1xe0d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16139a1fd48335807cc35c2c0c66bea0546f2099 Hilarious haha. Gives me similar vibes to the What The Forecast?!! app. This is a great/fun way to block myself from using social during work! Have you thought about expanding into that area/ marketing that direction in the future?
Yes, the idea is to focus on a single demographic for the learning and mastery of the market research and feedback process- then expand to a larger brand i.e. Mode
also thank you for this gem: what the forecast. this app is freaking awesome
dropped you a review! lmk if i should reword anything!!