Reasons to Love Toronto Now: because there’s a Toronto app for everything
In the past year, local developers have created dozens of new smartphone apps that help make life in the city just a little bit easier. Here, our favourite techy time savers.
What it is: A restaurant app named after the Gaelic word for “main dish.” Diners can use Maegan to browse menus, order meals, call up the bill and make payment. It’s currently used in more than 40 Toronto restaurants, including Grand Electric, Pai and Gusto 101.
Coolest feature: Users can split cheques and pay with multiple credit cards, eliminating the dreaded portable debit machine.
What it is: A sartorial Tinder that matches users with clothes and accessories. The app shows street-style fashion inspiration; if the user swipes right, it generates a list of similar items and where to find them nearby. Blynk gets more than five million swipes a month.
Coolest feature: Every week, the app features a trend (polka dots, for example), and offers more than 50 ways to wear it.
What it is: An odd-job app where users post chores they need done—mowing the lawn, shovelling snow, driving to the airport—and a network of vetted “taskers” bid to complete them. A Yelp-like system of starred reviews keep the taskers on task.
Coolest feature: An algorithm matches askers with taskers based on proximity and weeds out anyone with less than a 3.5-star rating.
What it is: The self-described “Uber of dry cleaning.” A driver picks up your laundry and drops off the clothes once they’ve been cleaned and pressed. All charges go through an on-file credit card, eliminating any messy cash exchange.
Coolest feature: The app offers advance quotes on specialty projects like wedding dresses, leather garments and stain removal.
What it is: A Baby-Sitters Club for the digital age. The app recommends sitters to parents based on proximity and preferences—a sitter might request no dogs; a parent might only want certified ECEs.
Coolest feature: Parents can pre-program a list of the sitters they like. If their first choice is unavailable, the app automatically contacts the second, then the third, and so on, until one accepts.
, and offers more than 50 ways to wear it.
AskforTask
What it is: An odd-job app where users post chores they need done—mowing the lawn, shovelling snow, driving to the airport—and a network of vetted “taskers” bid to complete them. A Yelp-like system of starred reviews keep the taskers on task.
Coolest feature: An algorithm matches askers with taskers based on proximity and weeds out anyone with less than a 3.5-star rating.
Exclusive
What it is: The self-described “Uber of dry cleaning.” A driver picks up your laundry and drops off the clothes once they’ve been cleaned and pressed. All charges go through an on-file credit card, eliminating any messy cash exchange.
Coolest feature: The app offers advance quotes on specialty projects like wedding dresses, leather garments and stain removal.
DateNight
What it is: A Baby-Sitters Club for the digital age. The app recommends sitters to parents based on proximity and preferences—a sitter might request no dogs; a parent might only want certified ECEs.
Coolest feature: Parents can pre-program a list of the sitters they like. If their first choice is unavailable, the app automatically contacts the second, then the third, and so on, until one accepts.){kind=link}
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