Should I Build It Should I Build It
08 May 2025
Android Dating

The user expresses a desire for a new app concept that helps people ...

...decide where to eat or drink by using a swiping mechanism similar to Tinder. They want to enhance this experience by allowing groups to coordinate and match on places to go together.

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Run Away

Multiple attempts have failed with clear negative feedback. Continuing down this path would likely waste your time and resources when better opportunities exist elsewhere.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

The idea of a "Tinder-like" app for deciding where to eat or drink, especially with group coordination, has been tried before. With 6 similar products identified, the market is competitive. The high average comment count (55) indicates strong engagement, suggesting interest in this space. However, based on the "Run Away" idea category, this concept has faced significant challenges and negative feedback in the past. Many of these prior attempts were criticized for limited value, unjustified costs (subscription models), and lack of essential features. It's important to carefully evaluate the reasons for past failures and consider whether a different approach or problem within the food/beverage decision-making space might be more fruitful.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly analyze the criticism from similar products, focusing on why users found them lacking. For example, the "Tinder, but to decide what to eat" app faced criticism regarding cost, missing features (recipes, sharing), and algorithm effectiveness. Understanding these pain points is crucial.
  2. Consider if your skills and passion could be applied to solve a related but different problem within the food and beverage industry. Perhaps, instead of focusing solely on the 'where to eat' decision, explore addressing dietary restrictions, personalized recommendations, or streamlining the ordering process.
  3. If you've already developed a portion of the app, assess whether the underlying technology can be repurposed for a different application. Could the matching algorithm be adapted for connecting people with similar dietary needs or preferences?
  4. Conduct user interviews with at least three people who have tried similar apps (like the ones mentioned) to understand their needs, frustrations, and unmet expectations. This direct feedback is invaluable for identifying opportunities for differentiation.
  5. Instead of replicating the swiping mechanism, focus on creating a more comprehensive and user-friendly experience that addresses the limitations of existing apps. Consider incorporating features like complete recipes, dietary filters, restaurant reviews, and integration with reservation systems.
  6. Explore alternative business models beyond subscriptions, such as partnerships with local restaurants, targeted advertising (with user consent), or premium features offered as one-time purchases.
  7. Create a prototype with your learnings and test with real users to gain more feedback. If users are deleting your app or never returning, try again!

Questions

  1. Given the criticisms of previous 'Tinder for food' apps, what specific, unique value proposition will your app offer that justifies its existence and encourages user adoption and retention?
  2. How will you address the common concerns about algorithm effectiveness and personalization, ensuring that your app provides relevant and satisfying recommendations for a diverse user base?
  3. What alternative business models have you considered beyond subscriptions, and how will you ensure the app's financial sustainability while providing a compelling user experience?

Your are here

The idea of a "Tinder-like" app for deciding where to eat or drink, especially with group coordination, has been tried before. With 6 similar products identified, the market is competitive. The high average comment count (55) indicates strong engagement, suggesting interest in this space. However, based on the "Run Away" idea category, this concept has faced significant challenges and negative feedback in the past. Many of these prior attempts were criticized for limited value, unjustified costs (subscription models), and lack of essential features. It's important to carefully evaluate the reasons for past failures and consider whether a different approach or problem within the food/beverage decision-making space might be more fruitful.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly analyze the criticism from similar products, focusing on why users found them lacking. For example, the "Tinder, but to decide what to eat" app faced criticism regarding cost, missing features (recipes, sharing), and algorithm effectiveness. Understanding these pain points is crucial.
  2. Consider if your skills and passion could be applied to solve a related but different problem within the food and beverage industry. Perhaps, instead of focusing solely on the 'where to eat' decision, explore addressing dietary restrictions, personalized recommendations, or streamlining the ordering process.
  3. If you've already developed a portion of the app, assess whether the underlying technology can be repurposed for a different application. Could the matching algorithm be adapted for connecting people with similar dietary needs or preferences?
  4. Conduct user interviews with at least three people who have tried similar apps (like the ones mentioned) to understand their needs, frustrations, and unmet expectations. This direct feedback is invaluable for identifying opportunities for differentiation.
  5. Instead of replicating the swiping mechanism, focus on creating a more comprehensive and user-friendly experience that addresses the limitations of existing apps. Consider incorporating features like complete recipes, dietary filters, restaurant reviews, and integration with reservation systems.
  6. Explore alternative business models beyond subscriptions, such as partnerships with local restaurants, targeted advertising (with user consent), or premium features offered as one-time purchases.
  7. Create a prototype with your learnings and test with real users to gain more feedback. If users are deleting your app or never returning, try again!

Questions

  1. Given the criticisms of previous 'Tinder for food' apps, what specific, unique value proposition will your app offer that justifies its existence and encourages user adoption and retention?
  2. How will you address the common concerns about algorithm effectiveness and personalization, ensuring that your app provides relevant and satisfying recommendations for a diverse user base?
  3. What alternative business models have you considered beyond subscriptions, and how will you ensure the app's financial sustainability while providing a compelling user experience?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 6
  • Engagement: High
    • Average number of comments: 55
  • Net use signal: -6.4%
    • Positive use signal: 11.2%
    • Negative use signal: 17.6%
  • Net buy signal: -16.3%
    • Positive buy signal: 1.7%
    • Negative buy signal: 18.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

Tinder, but to decide what to eat

03 Nov 2024 Dating

Hello HN,My girlfriend and I waste too much energy to decide what to eat. Every day, we would text each other, "what do we eat tonight" messages, and go over options and many times spend too much time on deciding. I am an indie dev and created this app to solve my own problem: decide with my girlfriend what to eat for dinner.Initially, I created a simple app, in which we listed all the recipes we ever prepared, and it would propose randomly three of them. We would then choose together one of them. This app[0] turned into a tinder-like app, which would propose every day a set of recipes to my girlfriend and me - we would swipe and go for the first match.If have some time, give it a try and feedback is very appreciated!Cheers, Kiru[0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/meal-planner-dinner-ideas/id64...

The Show HN product has been criticized for limited added value, high cost, and a lack of features such as complete recipes, sharing options, and restaurant listings. Users find the subscription model unjustified and prefer a one-time purchase. The app is seen as basic, with a shallow experience that doesn't justify the price. There are concerns about the effectiveness of the algorithm, the practicality of the swipe feature, and the app's appeal to different demographics. Additionally, there are technical issues like crashes and a lack of cross-platform availability.

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266
227
-17.6%
-21.6%
227
266
5.3%
2.2%
Relevance

Hot Local Food – Like Tinder, but for food, & it already likes you back

26 Jan 2023 Tech

Hi HN community,Think Tinder, but for food, and it already likes you back. Say hello to Hot Local Food. Free, hot, and available on iOS 15 and newer.Want something to eat or drink but don’t know where to go? Want to explore the local scene nearby or far away? Just want to look at some good pictures of good food? Hot Local Food is there for you.With a photo-heavy, Tinder-style swipe interface, an extensive library of restaurants powered by Yelp, and slick features built on top, Hot Local Food will help you find exactly what you need.Hot Local Food helps you filter the noise and find the food you’re craving. You can filter the restaurants by category, price, and location, and then swipe through the options until you find exactly what you need. Once you’ve found the one, swipe right for details and for shortcuts to order.Features: - When you’re out, see restaurants nearby and swipe until you find your perfect match - Traveling somewhere? Get to know what’s good by swiping in the area you plan to visit - Filter by category, price, and location - Create custom lists to save places for later - Access quick shortcuts to make reservations, order delivery or pickup, and find directions I built Hot Local Food because I wanted it myself. My wife and I recently moved to Denver, Colorado. Before moving we used the app to check out fun bars and restaurants close to where we would be living and in the surrounding areas, then saved the options that looked the best to a list within the app. It was a fun exercise and we’ve repeated it when getting ready to travel for weddings, vacations, and other trips. We also often use it on an average weekday when we want to go out somewhere.You can use the following links to check it out: - Download the app on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hot-local-food/id1621818779 - Read the blog post: https://www.ryantoken.com/blog/hot-local-food - View the marketing site: https://www.hotlocalfood.app/ - Hot Local Food on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HotLocalFood - My personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/_ryantoken Please give it a try and let me know if you have any feedback - positive or negative.Cheers!

Avatar
1
1
Relevance

Dinners App - Tinder for recipes

28 Jun 2024 iOS Cooking Food & Drink

Dinners App answers the question "What's for dinner?" You & your family vote on recipes. When everyone likes a recipe, it’s a match! Think Tinder, but for your recipes. And more delicious.

The Dinners App launch on Product Hunt received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with users frequently congratulating the team and praising the app's innovative approach to solving the daily 'what's for dinner?' dilemma. The Tinder-like swiping mechanism for recipe selection was highlighted as fun and engaging, making meal planning collaborative and enjoyable for families. Users appreciated the app's potential to reduce dinner planning stress and cater to picky eaters, with some suggesting filters for dietary needs and grocery integration. Some users reported image loading and collaboration errors.

Users criticize the slow image loading (over 10 seconds) and report an error blocking collaboration invites. They request features such as recipes based on available ingredients, more dietary filters, and grocery list integration. A key usability issue is the inability to delete accidentally added food items, hindering user experience.

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305
58
39.7%
58
305
41.4%
Relevance

Meal Genius - AI Meals & Instructions, catered to your preferences

05 Apr 2024 Artificial Intelligence Cooking Health & Fitness

A dating app for food, MealGenius lets you swipe left to ignore or right to love an infinite supply of meals that are generated based on the preferences which you choose.

The Meal Genius launch on Product Hunt is receiving positive feedback, with users expressing excitement and describing it as an 'amazing product.' Several comments highlight the product's appeal, using terms like 'wow' and 'yummy.' Many comments, however, have been deleted.

Avatar
10
15
15
10
Relevance

Cielo – I built an app where you can get dinner with strangers(SF only)

19 Apr 2024 Tech

Heya HN! We built an app where you can set preferences for the kinds of people you want to meet and we make dinner reservations for you and 4 other people. doing a soft launch this week and just wanted to show off what we had built ;)How it works: sign up with google or apple answer a few quick questions about yourself. set your preferences(Industry, Interest, Age, etc) Click 'Join' for the day you are free. Show up to dinner and meet your people :)We are SF only for now! App is freeeeeeeeeee(for a short time)

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