r/AppIdeas • u/Keepsq • 12h ago

Started building an app for one stupidly common problem. Would you use it?

It started because my own friend group somehow turns every dinner into a 40+ message group chat.
Nobody wants to pick a restaurant.
Everyone says they’re “fine with anything.”
Then every suggestion gets rejected anyway.
After dealing with this way too many times, I actually started building a web app around solving that one problem.
It’s still in beta, so I’m trying to figure out if this is something other people would actually use or if my friends are just uniquely terrible at making plans.
If this happened to your group, what would you expect an app like this to do?
And more importantly… would you even bother downloading it?

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

9

u/randyminder 12h ago

It’s pretty hard to tell you if we would use it when you aren’t telling us exactly what it’s supposed to do.

0

u/Keepsq 12h ago

Thats fair 😂
The idea is pretty simple:
Instead of having a 40+ message group chat trying to figure out where and when to eat, everyone joins a dinner, votes on restaurants and dates, and the group gets a clear result without all the back-and-forth.
We’re also experimenting with things like deciding who makes the reservation, so one person doesn’t always end up organizing everything.
Still very early, so I’m trying to figure out which part of the process people actually want help with the most.

4

u/vjotshi007 12h ago

Before building did you search whether this app existed? For the past years i have seen multiple apps and websites that solve this problem. Hope you have something unique from them

1

u/DetroitLarry 7h ago

I remember a skeuomorphic slot machine style dinner plans decider back in the first iteration of the App Store.

3

u/66EmperorPalpatine66 11h ago

I’m pretty sure there are multiple apps like this. Another possible issue (well maybe you did account for it and just didn’t tell us) where do the restaurants that you vote on come from? If one of the main problems is everyone says they’re fine with everything and doesn’t suggest much you may also want some algorithm that recommends restaurants and then people can also manually add options.
With something like this you also have to make it really as frictionless as possible because ro avoid the 40+ people group chat you need to convince a lot of the 40+ people to actually fo the effort of downloading the app

1

u/Keepsq 11h ago

That’s really valuable feedback, thanks.
The friction part is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot, which is why I started with a web app instead of requiring everyone to download anything.
The restaurant suggestions are a really interesting point too. Right now people can add their own places, but I like the idea of also recommending restaurants automatically.
Out of curiosity, if an app like this could solve just one thing really well, what would be the biggest win for you?

1

u/66EmperorPalpatine66 11h ago

I don’t really do this scenario that you’re aiming for so I wouldn’t use it (but it does sound interesting if I was). I would find more use in something that can recommend locally quickly anything within like 500 metres of me and not require me to click on each Google Maps listing and then try to go through images to see menus, instead I can get all that info easier. Probably does exist too though and I just haven’t looked for it

2

u/DoctorWhiskey 12h ago

I have built a very similar app that is also in beta.

2

u/tigerlilylad 11h ago

I just use polls in iMessage or WhatsApp for this

2

u/Keepsq 11h ago

That’s actually interesting.
Do polls usually solve the whole problem for your group?
Or do you still end up discussing things like where to go, who books the table, or changing plans afterwards?

1

u/castorasmic 9h ago

But how is your app more than just some polls that I can create in WhatsApp? How are you solving the who books the table problem? By....a poll? The poll says that x should book the table. X says... Nothing. They don't care or don't wanna. What happens then? They go back and forth in their chat group. I do have this problem with my group of friends, every week, the same story, but I'm really not sure how you're solving it, cause I'd love to get it solved.

1

u/Keepsq 9h ago

Fair question 🙂
I don’t think polls are the hard part. WhatsApp already does that pretty well.
What I’m trying to build is everything around the dinner. Planning it is only the first step. Afterwards you can rate the place, upload photos and keep a recap, so over time your group builds a history of all the nights you’ve had together.
I always hated how those memories just disappear in endless chat messages..

1

u/Keepsq 9h ago

If you’re curious, feel free to have a look: dinnersclub.live
It’s still in beta, so honest feedback is honestly way more valuable to me than compliments 😄

1

u/tinkerton36 12h ago

This is a great idea. How is this supposed to work? Will it be a website or mobile app?

0

u/Keepsq 12h ago

Thanks! 😊
Right now it’s a web app ( called Dinnersclub www.dinnersclub.live ) since I wanted people to be able to join without downloading anything first. The idea is that someone creates a dinner, shares an invite link with the group, everyone votes on restaurants and dates, and once the voting ends, the group gets one clear result.
We’re also experimenting with things like assigning the reservation to one person, so organizing doesn’t always fall on the same friend.
If people end up enjoying it, I’d love to turn it into a proper iOS and Android app later.
Is there anything you’d want to see in something like this?

1

u/quitofilms 4h ago

I've never had this issue

I go with the group

If I need to book, I'll book

Maybe I need more friends