{"id":33330,"date":"2017-09-18T13:38:54","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T20:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.xamarin.com\/?p=33330"},"modified":"2017-09-18T13:38:54","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T20:38:54","slug":"learn-lean-cook-uses-mobile-drive-revenue-promote-healthy-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/xamarin\/learn-lean-cook-uses-mobile-drive-revenue-promote-healthy-living\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn How The Lean Cook Uses Mobile to Drive Revenue and Promote Healthy Living"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe Lean Cook<\/a>,\u00a0a popular UK diet and fitness blog started\u00a0as a hobby\u00a0by a husband and wife\u00a0team, is a prime example of how to design apps for the\u00a0user. Instead of simply replicating web content on a smaller screen, the team crafted an interactive shopping and cooking experience.\u00a0They\u2019ve grown a loyal following, and their latest project (available on\u00a0Android<\/a>\u00a0and iOS<\/a>)\u00a0is already getting five-star reviews and overtaking established\u00a0food personalities.<\/p>\n

Today, Chris Foulds joins us to share how he, a first-time C# developer,\u00a0launched the Lean Cook in just six months using\u00a0Xamarin.Forms\u00a0to share\u00a090%+\u00a0code\u00a0across platforms, with\u00a0in-app upgrades, dynamic customization features, and more on the roadmap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tell us a little bit about your company and role. Who are your customers?<\/h3>\n

We\u2019re\u00a0a new startup focused\u00a0on the\u00a0\u201clean\u00a0revolution.\u201d\u00a0Popularized in the\u00a0UK by \u201cThe Body Coach\u201d Joe Wicks, the\u00a0lean revolution\u00a0focuses on\u00a0fresh,\u00a0healthy meals and smart exercise:\u00a0eating the right things at the right time\u00a0and changing your lifestyle.\u00a0Our customers are anyone, of any age,\u00a0looking\u00a0for lean, flavorful versions of\u00a0everyday recipes.<\/p>\n

During our\u00a0own\u00a0lean transformation,\u00a0my wife\u00a0starting\u00a0blogging\u00a0and\u00a0sharing\u00a0her\u00a0healthy\u00a0creations, \u00a0and in the first year her website saw\u00a0850K+ visitors without any paid promotion.\u00a0As a\u00a0long-time\u00a0software engineer,\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0spent the last four years as a\u00a0freelance mobile\u00a0developer,\u00a0and I\u00a0knew that a mobile app could take the website\u00a0to\u00a0the next level by creating\u00a0a unique, fully interactive cookbook\u00a0experience.<\/p>\n

How long have you been building apps?\u00a0<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve been\u00a0writing software since\u00a0I was\u00a0a teenager in the\u00a0early\u00a090\u2019s,\u00a0writing in 68k assembler for the Commodore Amiga. I\u00a0graduated university\u00a0with my\u00a0degree in\u00a0software engineering. Over the years, my\u00a0career path\u00a0took me into management.<\/p>\n

In 2010,\u00a0I decided to\u00a0go back to actively working on projects, and\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been writing mobile apps ever since.\u00a0I\u2019ve written Android and iOS apps with native languages and tools (Java and\u00a0Obj-C), and I\u2019ve also used other\u00a0frameworks,\u00a0like\u00a0Gideros\u00a0and Unity.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d\u00a0never programmed in C#\u00a0before building the Lean Cook,\u00a0but\u00a0since\u00a0I\u2019ve written in\u00a0various forms of C since the mid-90\u2019s,\u00a0there\u00a0wasn\u2019t much of a learning curve.<\/p>\n

How did you get up to speed with cross-platform mobile development?\u00a0\u00a0<\/h3>\n

After\u00a0creating the basic design and requirements,\u00a0I\u00a0reviewed the\u00a0Xamarin\u00a0samples and\u00a0just started writing, learning as I went along. I made\u00a0wrong turns along the way,\u00a0but that\u2019s\u00a0part of the learning process for me.<\/p>\n

\"Lean<\/p>\n

Walk us through your app\u00a0<\/b>and what prompted you to build it.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

We built the Lean Cook app to be\u00a0the best\u00a0interactive\u00a0cookbook\u00a0possible. With it,\u00a0users can\u00a0search and find our recipes, make them as-is or make\u00a0customizations\u00a0own\u00a0based on their needs and preferences, and upgrade to access more recipes and premium features.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s key for me to ensure that anyone can\u00a0benefit from the app\u00a0without<\/i> purchasing a subscription;\u00a0we include\u00a075 free recipes and give one\u00a0\u201cpremium\u00a0freebie,\u201d\u00a0allowing users to\u00a0try out\u00a0subscription features, such as customizing ingredients for their nutritional needs,\u00a0on one recipe before they commit to\u00a0buy.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0three\u00a0standout features that\u00a0make The Lean Cook\u00a0go beyond a\u00a0mere recreation of our website\u00a0to become\u00a0an interactive recipe book\u00a0are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Dynamic\u00a0recipe sizes and\u00a0nutritional information<\/strong>:\u00a0Not only do we allow users to change amounts of certain (or all) recipe ingredients, we automatically\u00a0recalculate the calories\u00a0and\u00a0macros for\u00a0any altered recipe. Our users can quickly customize our recipes, making the version that best\u00a0fits their\u00a0personal nutritional goals. I haven\u2019t seen any other app in our category\u00a0offer this capability.<\/li>\n
  2. Intelligent\u00a0shopping lists<\/strong>:\u00a0Most cooking apps\u00a0allow you to add a recipe\u00a0and its associated ingredients\u00a0to a shopping list,\u00a0but\u00a0our app takes this one step further. As you add multiple recipes\u00a0to your list, we\u00a0intelligently identify\u00a0ingredients from each recipe\u00a0and\u00a0allow you\u00a0to see a combined grocery list, grouping ingredients across all recipes\u00a0so you\u00a0can quickly see what you need to\u00a0buy to make all\u00a0your saved meals.\n