UNTAPPD – Beer and Social Networking Combine
I was going to publish this earlier this morning but somehow the idea of sharing a review of an application which is based solely around the consumption of beer seemed like a difficult thing to digest for breakfast (well, at least it did this morning!).
Before we share what “UNTAPPD” is, let’s start by sharing what it’s not – namely, it is not a contest, competition or any sort of tool to glorify the mass consumption of beer. I’m sure that some could see it that way – just as others could see a bar as providing a similar opportunity.
What UNTAPPD is, in my estimation and use, is a tool where friends can use their mobile phone to log and share what beer they are drinking. Beyond simply sharing WHAT one is drinking, the application allows each to form their independent ranking, add a photo and share the location of where they’ve found it. The location is of particular use to me since our City (and Province) can be very limited in its selection of beer and seeing what’s around town is a great resource to help learn where to find interesting beer.
UNTAPPD works similar to Twitter (or a very, very light version of Facebook). You add people, they add you and you see each others activities. The two screenshots below share the welcome screen (on the left) and the list of recent beers I’ve consumed. My friends can see my list which allows them to compare their rating, see where I drank it or ask me what I thought of it (typically over a beer at a different time – it’s always nice to leave something to talk about!)
You can also save a wish list of beer you’ve seen that you want to try – there’s nothing worse than hearing about something that sounds fantastic and then forgetting what it was and who told you!
The screen on the left shows suggested beers based on my recent picks and the one on the right shows me local beers that strangers are drinking near me (note the two locations below are both in Toronto but one is about 10-15 minutes from here and the other is about 30 minutes but it’s easy to flip through the entire city like this). It gives me a chance to see what all of my friends may be missing across the city and is a neat way to find out-of-the-way-places that we wouldn’t have found otherwise.
Untappd also logs all of the beer I’ve had (I can easily access my own review of them) and lets me easily see what my friends are up to along the way. The picture on the right shows the ‘badges’ (similar to Four Square) which are awarded for specific achievements (like consuming a certain number of beer from different countries or trying X number of different styles of beer over time).
I use it on my iPhone (not sure if it’s available on other platforms). It’s a great way to share my beer experiences with the beer fanatics in my life as well as learn about the things that are happening around me to learn where to find things I haven’t tried.
I’m also very excited about travelling with UNTAPPD. I am certain it will help me find places I would never find on my own and open a world of tastes that just wouldn’t be possible without it.
Anyone else out here using it? What do you think of it?