Home/r/SideProject/2025-08-02/#app-finds-restaurants-equally-far-from-friends
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I built an app that tries to find restaurants almost equally far from all your friends — no more ‘where do we meet?’ debates!

r/SideProject
8/1/2025

Content Summary

The post describes an app built to solve the common problem of deciding where to meet friends. The author shares their project on Reddit, seeking advice and feedback. Users suggest additional features such as payment splitting and filtering by price or preferences. The app currently integrates Apple Maps to show restaurant details. Some users prefer a web-based version instead of a mobile app.

Opinion Analysis

Mainstream opinion suggests that the app solves a real-world problem but needs more features to be truly useful. Many users agree that it’s a great side project idea. However, some are skeptical about its necessity, noting that people might not want an app for such a small issue. There is also a debate about whether a mobile app or a web app would be more effective. Overall, the discussion highlights the importance of user feedback and iteration in building a successful SaaS product.

SAAS TOOLS

SaaSURLCategoryFeatures/Notes
Apple Mapshttps://www.apple.com/maps/Mapping & Location ServicesIntegrated to show restaurant details, including website links and maps
Google Mapshttps://www.google.com/maps/Mapping & Location ServicesMentioned as a potential data source for expanding the app's features

USER NEEDS

Pain Points:

  • Difficulty in deciding where to meet friends due to varying distances
  • Inconvenience of manually selecting a meeting point

Problems to Solve:

  • Finding a fair location that is equally accessible to all participants
  • Reducing conflict over meeting places

Potential Solutions:

  • A tool that automatically finds a central meeting point based on user locations
  • Integration with mapping services to provide detailed restaurant information

GROWTH FACTORS

Effective Strategies:

  • Listening to user feedback and iterating on product improvements
  • Leveraging existing mapping services (like Apple Maps) to enhance functionality

Marketing & Acquisition:

  • Sharing the project on platforms like Reddit to gain early adopters and feedback
  • Re-posting after updates to maintain visibility and engagement

Monetization & Product:

  • Focusing on solving a specific, relatable problem to build a loyal user base
  • Expanding features based on user suggestions (e.g., filtering by price or preferences)

User Engagement:

  • Encouraging community interaction through comments and feedback
  • Demonstrating the app's value through continuous improvement and transparency