How to Use
Fork Yeah!

📱 Create Your Account

Open the app and tap Create Account. Enter your email, choose a password (at least 8 characters with a number and uppercase letter), and pick a display name. That's it — you're in.

Already have an account? Tap Sign In instead. You can toggle Remember Email so you don't have to type it every time.

📍 Enable Location

During onboarding, Fork Yeah! will ask for location access — this is how we find restaurants near you. Tap Enable Location to allow it. If you'd rather not, you can always set a custom location later in the Search and Voting tabs.

👤 Your Profile

Tap the profile icon in the top-left corner of any screen to view and edit your profile. You can update your display name and add a profile photo that other Fork Yeah! users will see in groups and reviews.

👆 How Swiping Works

Swipe right on a restaurant to save it to your Fork List. Swipe left to skip it. Cards rotate and show green or red overlays as you drag, so you always know which way you're going. You'll feel a gentle haptic tap when your swipe registers.

Want more info before deciding? Tap the card to open the restaurant's full detail page.

🎛️ Filters

Use the filter chips at the top of the Discover screen to narrow your results. You can filter by:

Available cuisines include Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Korean, American, Mediterranean, Vietnamese, Café, Breakfast, Bakery, Steak House, Seafood, and European. Tap Clear All to reset your filters.

⭐ The Three-Tier Rating System

Fork Yeah! uses an opinionated rating system that forces you to have an actual opinion. No wishy-washy 3.5 stars here.

Rate restaurants from the Fork List (long-press for the context menu) or from the restaurant detail page. Tap a rating again to clear it back to unrated. Your Fork List is organized into sections by rating so your favorites are always at the top.

🔍 How to Search

Type your query and results appear as you go. Each result shows the restaurant photo, name, cuisine, distance, price level, and whether it's currently open or closed. Tap any result to view the full details and save it to your Fork List.

By default, Search uses your current location. Tap the location row at the top to search near a different city or area — type a city and state, and Fork Yeah! will re-center your search there. Tap Use My Location to switch back.

📍 Pin Colors

Pins are color-coded by your rating:

Tap any pin to see a mini info card with the restaurant photo, name, cuisine, and distance. From there you can open the full details or get driving directions in Apple Maps.

When lots of pins are close together, they'll cluster into a numbered badge. Tap the cluster to zoom in and see individual restaurants.

👥 Create or Join a Group

Head to the Groups tab and tap Create Group. Give it a name (your friend group, roommates, coworkers — you name it). You'll get a unique invite code to share.

To join someone else's group, tap Join Group and enter the invite code they sent you. You can also tap a shared invite link to join directly.

🗳️ Start a Vote

1. Open your group and tap Start Vote.
2. Set your filters — cuisine, price, distance, and whether restaurants should be open now.
3. Optionally, tap the location picker to search for a city or area if you're not voting for restaurants near your current location.
4. You'll see a live count of how many restaurants match. You need at least 5 to start.
5. Tap Start Voting and everyone in the group gets a list of matching restaurants to pick from.

🏆 How Voting Works

Each group member browses the restaurant list and picks one restaurant. Tap to select, then confirm your choice. Once everyone has voted, the winner is revealed with a confetti celebration.

In case of a tie: Fork Yeah! first checks Google ratings — if one tied restaurant is rated higher, it wins automatically. If ratings are also tied, the vote creator gets to break the tie by picking the winner.

📜 Vote History

Every completed vote is saved in your group. The most recent result shows at the top as Current Vote, and all past sessions are listed below. Tap any past vote to see the results again. Swipe left to delete old sessions you no longer need.

📄 What You'll See

The detail page shows a hero photo, the restaurant name, open/closed status (updated in real time based on current hours), city, distance, Google star rating, and cuisine badges. Quick-action buttons let you Call, get Directions, or open the restaurant's Website in one tap. Below the hero photo, you can save the restaurant and rate it with the Fork Yeah / Meh / Fork No buttons.

📶 Offline Mode

Fork Yeah! works offline. If you lose your connection, you'll see an "Offline" banner at the top of the screen. Your Fork List is fully available offline, and any votes or saves you make will sync automatically when you reconnect. Discovery shows cached restaurants while you're offline.

🔄 Synced Across Devices

Your Fork List, groups, votes, reviews, and photos are all synced to the cloud. Sign in on a new device and everything will be right where you left it.

♿ Accessibility

Fork Yeah! supports VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, and Reduce Motion. If you have Reduce Motion enabled, animations are simplified throughout the app for a more comfortable experience.

🙋 Quick Reference

Swipe right = Save · Swipe left = Skip · Long-press a Fork List row = Rate · Tap a pin = Mini card · Profile icon (top-left) = Your profile on any screen