Closed beta

Help make Gratin the recipe app you'd keep

It already runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. Before it goes into the stores, I want it in a few dozen real kitchens, finding the things I can't.

What you get

  • The whole app, free, on every platform you tick. It stays free after launch too; the beta gets you in first, while your opinion still shapes it.
  • Hosted sync, free, for life. Testers never pay for sync, for as long as Gratin exists. Everyone else does after launch.
  • A direct line to me. There is one person behind Gratin. I read every email, and I'm the one who fixes it.

What I'm asking

  • Use it for real, for a couple of weeks. Import what you have (a whole Paprika account comes across, photos and folders included), clip a few recipes, cook from it, build a grocery list.
  • Tell me what's wrong, bluntly. Gratin keeps no analytics and sends no crash reports, so your email and a screenshot are the only telemetry it will ever have. That is the whole reason for a closed beta.
  • No NDA, no survey, no calls unless you'd like one.

How it works

  1. Fill in the form.
  2. You get an email with the links for your platforms: a download for Mac or Windows, a TestFlight link for iPhone and iPad, a Google Play link for Android. And an invite to the testers' group, where the other testers and I talk.
  3. Cook. Complain. Repeat.
  4. At launch nothing changes for you: same app, same recipes. On iPhone you swap the TestFlight build for the App Store one and your recipes stay put.

Before you sign up

Is it safe to put my real recipes in?

Yes, with the usual beta caveat. Your recipes live on your own device, and you can export the lot at any time, as JSON-LD or as the whole SQLite database. Keep the originals where they are until you trust it, the way you would with any new app.

Do I need an account?

No. The app works without one. Only sync needs an account, and testers get hosted sync free for as long as Gratin exists, so make one when you want your recipes on a second device.

I use Paprika. Will my recipes come across?

Yes. Gratin signs in to your Paprika account and imports everything: recipes, photos and the folders, nested as you had them. It only reads, so Paprika is untouched. Paprika is the only importer so far. From any other app, a recipe that came from the web can be saved again from its link or clipped with the browser extension, and if you'd like your app to be next, say so on the form.

What do Android testers need?

A real phone or tablet, and the Google account its Play Store is signed in with. Give us that address, because Google only opens the test to accounts on its list.

What happens when the beta ends?

Nothing, for you. The app stays free for everyone, and testers keep hosted sync free for as long as Gratin exists. After launch, other people pay for hosted sync or run the small relay themselves. Either way your recipes never leave your device unless you send them somewhere.