Show HN: Eating Around, an iPhone app find restaurants nearby | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Eating Around, an iPhone app find restaurants nearby

eatingaround.com

17 pointsaarondf51 comments

"Text me a download link", to me, to see that displayed prominently instead of a link to the App Store (on mobile) strikes me as a creepy way to collect phone numbers.

That probably isn't how you want to come across (and you probably don't even care about the phone numbers), so I would suggest having a different version of that page for user agent: iPhone. Please don't interpret this critique as me calling you a creep!

You know what, that's a good point. I might just hide the text-to-download if on iPhone and put the big App Store badge up there. That seems to make more sense anyway!

Thanks for the feedback, ya creep.

Yeah, I wouldn't bother trying it for this reason.

What does this do that Yelp doesn't currently. (On mobile so lazy to click through is the site explains it).

I ask because I use Yelp for this a lot

Good question. I think if you click through you'll see the use case, but where Yelp is the Yellow Pages, Eating Around is a hotel concierge.

We give you two inputs: food type & distance. That's it. Then we show you pretty pictures.

In short: a better user experience.

Isn't finding a good restaurant the most important user experience here? And by that metric, Yelp seems better suited to my needs. Making a 'less Yelp, Yelp' doesn't automatically make it better.

Yeah, it totally is the most important use experience. I'm glad Yelp suits your needs here, it didn't suit our needs, so we built this. If Yelp is better for you, please feel free to continue using it!

I prefer reviews 95% of the time, but I can see just wanting to find something that looks good and going for it, in the sense of adventure, rather than shifting through reviews that are somewhat swayed by popular opinion (new, unknown restaurants may never get their time in the spotlight if you're surfing for the best reviews).

Though I liked how professionally you concluded the thread, I think his/her point is very valid. It would have been great proof to people like me if you could have listed your app strengths and why those are important comparing with yelp, whether he/she will use your app or not secondary. Selling to tough masters is the key part of business, isn't it? Good luck!

> Though I liked how professionally you concluded the thread

Thanks!

> Selling to tough masters is the key part of business, isn't it?

So they say.

I'm operating under the assumption that people will like it, or they won't. People will either want a fast, visual, dead simple way to find what's around them, or they'll want to read reviews and look at menus. This will not be great for everyone, guaranteed.

>This will not be great for everyone, guaranteed.

Good. As long as you are clear on your target market, that is good.

That's a pretty weak selling point. You probably have less data, and it's yet another application to sign up for and use.

Simplicity can be a virtue. Not that it's exactly analogous, but I think this is part of why apps like Tinder seem to be getting a lot more popular than significantly more complex apps like OkCupid, even if the latter offers far more information about matches and much more in-depth filters.

> You probably have less data

We have as much data as Yelp.

> yet another application to sign up

There's nothing to sign up for.

> We have as much data as Yelp.

Except reviews. For me, a star rating and menu suggestions are much more valuable choosing criteria than "pretty pictures". I'm having a hard time swallowing the minimalist design as a legitimate UIX decision and not an excuse for lack of content.

That was kind of a joke, since we're built on top of Yelp. We made a conscious decision to not show reviews. Seems like that may be polarizing. Hopefully there are people on the other side who like that decision...

I find Yelp reviews to be worse than useless [1] so I appreciate your decision anyway.

[1] If I wanted to hear the opinions of self-entitled whiners, I'd talk to my ex (heyo)

I'm pretty sure the whole point of this is to avoid the groupthink of reviews (and all the drama associated with Yelp supposedly suppressing some reviews) and just show you the food. If it looks good, good!

It's an iPhone app. I need an iPhone to use it. Your whole differentiation section is drivel.

> We give you choices visually.

Oh because Yelp doesn't have photos.

> Our format is ideal for people on the go.

Oh because Yelp doesn't have a mobile app or mobile website...

> Our app works best for people who like to make their own decisions.

How condescending.

Sorry. I don't see how you're unique.

> Sorry. I don't see how you're unique

That's ok! Isn't it fun how different peoples' opinions can be?

Nice, Tinder for Food.

Except Tinder is predicated on both parties having a decision whether to connect to each other or not. Restaurants will basically take anyone.

Bingo

Nice app for iOS. On my Nexus 5(Android), I use it like this: "Ok Google, show me [type] restaurants near me".

wats an android?

(kidding)

Congrats on shipping. I wanted to do something simple like this. I bought a domain for it, Radiyum.com (Radius + Food), but ended up shelving the idea for some of the reasons other folks have brought up. There's only so much time in the day!

Good luck with the app. Looks well designed.

I'll let you in on a little secret, I didn't design it! I hired a very talented fellow[1] to do the design for me, because I suck so bad at it

[1] http://thomweerd.com/

Is there some good reason why this is an iPhone app instead of using the seemingly widely supported Geolocation API in the browser?

http://caniuse.com/#feat=geolocation

I would think the redeployment time alone would make the browser a compelling platform (seconds versus whatever the current appstore lag is ... two weeks?)

This kind of thing always gets to me: apps that launch for iOS and then several years later realize there is this thing called "Android" and that it might catch on one day.

There's not a insanely good reason, but "the App Store" is definitely a reason. It's possible that we'll do a mobile web version in the future. Android is planned before that though.

Feedback:

When sent a text message about the app, some Android phones (inc. S4) resolve the URL as 'http://www.eatingaround.com/download.' - with a period at the end. I 404d when I clicked it. Worth addressing before you release Android.

Yeesh. Fixed! Thanks for the feedback.

Of course. Love the concept - here's hoping for Android soon!

We'll put it here first, check back often!

(Like you needed someone to tell you to check HN often)

>we believe, more than anything, that food is visual.

More than taste?

Well until you find a way to give samples for taste and smell to your mobile users (good luck with that), I think that the visual side is what's left of it. Even tho I agree with lots of other folks here about the fact that choosing a restaurant might require more data than just a couple nice pictures... as far as food itself go, a picture is what describes it best (worth a thousand words they say).

as far as food itself go, a picture is what describes it best (worth a thousand words they say).

Have you seen those food related adverts? And then you actually go buy the product and it never looks the same as the adverts?

A good photographer with low/mid range Photoshop skills can make a poor product into an appealing one.

I cringed when I read that phrase. What about smell? are you going to eat food that looks great but smells bad?

The visual aspect of food is highly overrated, it mostly stems from pretentious restaurants that emphasis the importance of presentation.

I agree that food is visual, but other senses such as smell, texture are equally, if not more important than the visual aspect.

The idea for this application is not new and it seems to be only available for iOS (I'm on Android) only so I don't have much to say about it. When I want to find a nice place to eat food, word of mouth from friends or colleagues is what I use.

Heh, probably not.

I have been thinking about building something similar for the past year. More so after I opened a dessert shop. Good job and good luck.

Hey guys, this is my first consumer app in the App Store, would love to hear what y'all think. Please feel free to ask any questions.

Is there a vegan category?

Ok, we'll be adding vegan in the next release! Your wish is my command

If you can do it as well as your other categories and market it as such you will definitely become a "must have". There is an app for happycow but it requires a lot of sorting to find a) businesses that are still open (as in both not shut down and currently open for business) and b) worth dining at!

Not yet, but I'll take this as a vote for it

Need this as well - it's the main reason I use Yelp.

seconding support for a vegan category

Gig 'Em! Awesome looking site!

hey, Gig 'em back! See you in College Station this weekend?

I have a wedding that I am in the wedding party for (and they're an Aggie couple - terrible planning) :(

Are you?

Random: We actually graduated in the same class! I think we bumped into each other a few times in college...and now on HN! haha

Bring it on!

Class of 2010, fyi. (PPA 2011)

2010 Biology/Genetics! Gig 'Em!

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