prep

Shop smarter, cook better

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Inspiration

Watching Eitan describe the gap between saving recipes and actually cooking them hit home. I'm guilty of the same thing — bookmarking recipes from blogs, Instagram, and TikTok, only to never cook them because I'm missing ingredients or can't be bothered to switch between apps mid-cook. That friction between "this looks amazing" and "let's actually make it" is what Prep was built to eliminate.

What it does

Prep turns recipe hoarding into actual cooking. Share a recipe from any platform — Instagram, TikTok, food blogs — directly into the app using iOS Share Sheet. Prep parses the content, extracts the recipe, and lets you add ingredients to a smart grocery list in one tap. When it's time to cook, a guided cooking mode walks you through each step so you never have to scrub back through a video again.

How we built it

Started with Rork for rapid prototyping to validate the core flow. Built the production app with React Native (Expo + EAS) for builds and deployment. Claude Code was my primary coding tool throughout development. RevenueCat handles the paywall and subscription management.

Challenges we ran into

I didn't want users to manually paste URLs — that felt like friction from day one. So I went all-in on implementing iOS Share Sheet (Apple's Activity View) so you can share directly from Instagram, TikTok, or Safari into Prep. The real challenge was video parsing: every platform structures video content differently, and each comes with its own security restrictions and embed limitations.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Recipe parsing works at near 99% accuracy across Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, and food blog URLs. Getting that reliability across platforms with wildly different content structures is something I'm genuinely proud of — it's what makes the "save and cook" flow feel seamless.

What we learned

How to configure and integrate paywalls with RevenueCat, how to build production-quality iOS experiences in React Native, and how to bridge native iOS patterns (like Share Sheet) into a cross-platform codebase. Building in public throughout the process also taught me a lot about validating ideas while shipping.

What's next for prep

Publishing to the App Store, building out pantry tracking with kitchen photo scanning, and adding regional ingredient substitutions for the local market.

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