iOS Recipe App for Solo Founders

In Progress

A mobile app that helps solo founders and busy people cook quick meals under 1 minute using microwaved eggs, instant noodles, and other ultra-fast ingredients. Target: people who hate cooking but need to eat.

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Batch 1Medium6 questions

What types of cuisine will the app support at launch — just a few categories like Italian and Asian, or a broad open-ended library?

Starting with a curated library of about 500 recipes across 8 cuisine categories: Italian, Asian (split into Chinese, Japanese, Thai), Mexican, Mediterranean, American comfort food, and Indian. The categories will be browsable but also searchable. We'll expand to user-submitted recipes in v2.

Will users be able to create and save their own recipes, or is the content entirely curated by you?

V1 is entirely curated content — I'll be the sole content creator. User-generated recipes are planned for v2 once I understand the content moderation challenge. I want full quality control at launch.

How will ingredient quantities be handled — fixed servings, or will users be able to scale recipes up or down?

Scaling is a must-have for v1. The recipe detail view will have a serving size adjuster (1-12 servings) that recalculates all ingredients dynamically. This is one of the pain points I personally have with existing recipe apps.

What are the primary search filters you envision — dietary restrictions, ingredients on hand, cook time?

Core filters: dietary type (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free), total cook time (under 15 min, 15-30 min, 30-60 min, over an hour), difficulty (easy, medium, hard), and cuisine. Secondary filters: meal type (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert) and calorie range.

Will the app include a "what's in my fridge" feature where users input available ingredients and get matching recipes?

Yes, this is a v1 feature — it's actually a key differentiator. Users tap a "Cook from fridge" button, select ingredients they have from a categorised list, and get ranked recipe suggestions. Recipes they're missing fewer than 3 ingredients for are highlighted.

What does the core home screen look like — a recipe feed, a category browser, or something else entirely?

The home screen shows a personalised recipe feed with horizontal scroll sections: "Quick weeknight meals" (under 30 min), "Based on your favourites", and "Trending this week." Below that, a 4-column cuisine grid for browsing. The search bar is always pinned at the top.

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Curious what else HewnTree does? See the release notes