Cookstarter, a brand new app created by Tucson resident, Ben Butterworth, and developed by Y Media Labs, is an interactive cooking experience that has simple-to-read instructions, macro size photos and videos, audio instructions of what you are making and categories that make recipes easy to find. Butterworth credits the inception of the app to his busy schedule and being too tired to read the fine print of recipes on an iPad screen.
“I kept picking up the iPad and squinting and then going over the directions again because my brain was mush at the end of the day. I had a desire to learn to cook and didn’t want to go out all the time,” Butterworth said.
Butterworth wanted to utilize smart technology to help people from all walks of life and cooking backgrounds to have a better cooking experience. The app includes audio recordings of recipes that incorporate written directions, as well as hyper closeup pictures. The app will also email an ingredient list directly to you.
“I thought ‘What if the app told you exactly what to do, like it was holding your hand throughout the whole cooking process?’ This way, you can just come home, select an ingredient or cuisine type you want to cook and just do it without having to really think about it too much,” he said.
Butterworth also designed it to be useful for the hearing- and visually-impaired. “The step-by-step pictures are [large and] well illustrated, and individuals who are hearing impaired can easily follow the written instructions.”
Butterworth also says Cookstarter has little competition for its genre and has been streamlined to maximize time and efficiency. “Honestly, I thought there would be competition since it is a simple idea and I am just some dude from Arizona who didn’t go to college to make ‘Apps’ – but no one has the format that we do in terms of recipe breakdown or the unique user interface. I really just wanted to create this app to help people cook easier at home.”
Recipes currently on the site are fairly basic, but they are branching out into more complex ones soon. The platform also offers gluten-free and vegan selections. “We do have a couple of sinful dishes, such as the Krodonut (a great Cronut clone) and the New York-style cheesecake which is so good it should be illegal!” Butterworth exclaimed.
Download the app by clicking here. The first five recipes are free, with the rest of them in an in-app purchase of $3.99.
Watch the awesome demo here.
