iPhone app to track food trucks

So I've been using the app and loving it, and then a few days ago it appears that the trucks stopped using it. I've checked it around noon three days this week and only one truck on one day has shown up. What's up?

[Robin Garr]

A cynical inner voice just guessed that the developer's free trial period just ended and they now have to pay to play, but I have absolutely nothing to go on but intuition here.

I, at least, have not be notified that any free trial period is over. For me, it's just too hard to remember to open and close it before and after service. It's uber easy to post on Facebook and Twitter though. And its what we're all accustomed to doing and how our followers are accustomed to finding us.

Hey everybody-

I'm part of the team that put this app together. I haven't ever posted here before so thank you to Leah for responding thus far.

@Mike There are more than 15 in Louisville, close to double that. We're working to add the others, but only if they actually intend to use it.

@Steve Android is in our future. As an Android guy I would've liked to have started there, but we began at Startup Weekend which is pretty ad hoc and the talent we had join the team dictated which platform.

Glad to see you guys checking it out. We'd love to hear any other feedback. I'll keep a better eye on this thread.

Will

If you don't have it yet you can get it here.

You have to make sure you get good information from the trucks, or this app won't take off. Clearly, at least one truck owner has admitted that remembering to open and close on the app is too hard. Either make it easier to open/close, or purge the trucks that send bad info/no info. Otherwise, the reliability of all the information is undermined.

For example: I'm at an event and I see the Louisville Dessert Truck is up and running. I look at the app and it reports that the Louisville Dessert Truck is closed because Leah forgot to report as "open."

The following night I'm craving a Grind burger, so I pull up wherethetrucks.at. It says Grind is open and is at Apocalypse, but I remembered that last night the app reported the Louisville Dessert Truck as closed when it was actually open, so I begin to doubt the information. As a result, I resort to my old method of figuring out if Grind is open and where they're located: Facebook.

Guess what I do next time I want to know where a food truck is? Yep, log in Facebook. Why? Because your app failed me and I don't have anyway of verifying its accuracy other than Facebook or calling the truck owner (like they have time to answer the phone).

This app has to be 100% accurate or it fails in what it's trying to do (which I assume is to make it quicker/easier to locate open food trucks). As soon as I have to appeal to another source of information after the app proves inaccurate or lacking, I have actually wasted time as opposed to saved time.

I love the idea and I really want this app to work, but you have to ensure your information is rock solid. Purge the bad info and ban the trucks that don't participate.

I can see how it could be a pain to update, but I'm not looking to follow just one truck, I'm looking to see what trucks might be open near my location. Last week I was driving from downtown toward Hurstbourne and thought I'd catch a truck I don't normally frequent, but no one was "open." I work near the Humana building (Washington and 1st), and there are often food trucks there, and I'd like to see who's open today.

I'm sure Twitter and Facebook work well for folks loyal to a particular truck, but not so much for those of us wanting info on as many trucks as possible.

I have this app, and just for curiosity opened it up while we were waiting for a concert to start at the fair. There were at least 4 food trucks just yards behind us, and the only one that came up on the app was the dessert truck.

It really has the potential to be a powerful tool if an easier way can be determined for the truck locations/status to be updated.

I have this app, and just for curiosity opened it up while we were waiting for a concert to start at the fair. There were at least 4 food trucks just yards behind us, and the only one that came up on the app was the dessert truck.

I'm tryin'!!

Speaking for us (Grind) it's really hard for me to send my customer base that follows us on Facebook and Twitter to depend on an app that I ultimately have no control over, to determine whether or not they come to the truck that day which in turn would determine those sales for us. I really like the idea of the app and Will is a friend of mine but imagine I have 20% of my customers who right now they're using Facebook and Twitter and they decide to start using the app instead. Once they switch and I forget to use it - which is very possible - I potentially lose those sales. It's a tough call. Get new customers or forget to check in and not reach customers I already have? I'd like to think that people would look for us, not see us listed and then look to other postings, but that's not realistic.

I've actually spoken to Will about being able to 'schedule' openings on Sunday for the rest of the week so I'm not obligated to remember to do it when we have a million things going to before service. I think if they could get that cracking and it would be a lot easier for trucks to use the app. I think the app is a great idea for people to see who is close and I love the idea of the push notifications they're working on, but with all our intense prep and other social media stuff I also have found it very hard to remember to check in and check out with the app.

Liz,

While it might not be an advantage for existing customers, I would think the app would help your truck or any truck using it in gaining new customers.

I agree the check in and out might not be the best way for truck owners to add themselves to the map. If owners could upload a week's schedule in advance it might help?

In case the folks who developed this are on this forum, the "all trucks" button on the app now exits one from the app. Maybe it's related to the iOS update that came out this week.