Dinner Pass, an iPhone and iPad app that plans a week of dinners and builds the shopping list for you, is free on the App Store right now. The tip site New Mobile Life reports that the app normally costs US $0.99, and the App Store listing we checked, including the Canadian one, shows it as free at the time of writing.
What the app does
Dinner Pass is aimed at households that are tired of deciding what to cook every night. You choose how many dinners you need for the week, set your food preferences, and the app puts a menu together. Don’t like one of the suggestions? Swap that single meal for another, or pick a different week altogether.
According to the App Store listing, the main features are:
- A choice of 3 to 7 dinners for the week
- Portions that can be adjusted for adults and for children
- Filters for chicken, beef, pork and fish, plus a vegetarian only option
- Optional easy sides to add to a meal
- Simple ingredient lists and step by step cooking instructions
- An automatically generated shopping list, with room for your own extra items
- Tick boxes to check items off while you shop, and a way to mark dinners as cooked
The developer sums it up as “Plan it. Shop it. Cook it.”
Recipe library and updates
Version 1.0 arrived on September 22, and version 1.1 followed on October 15. The latest update added 12 new chicken and beef dinners, which brings the collection to 65 easy, family friendly meals, according to the developer’s release notes. That is a modest library, so people who cook very varied menus may run out of fresh ideas sooner than they would with a larger recipe service.
Privacy and compatibility
The listing says the developer, Brian Lance Iwikau, does not collect any data from the app. Apple notes that this privacy information comes from the developer and has not been verified by Apple. The app is 6.3 MB and requires iOS 17.6 or later on iPhone, or iPadOS 17.6 or later on iPad. English is the only language listed, and the age rating is 4+. The app has not yet received enough ratings to show a score.
How to get it
- Open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.
- Search for Dinner Pass by Brian Lance Iwikau, or open the official App Store listing.
- Check that the button says Get and not a price. If it shows a price, the free window has ended.
- Tap Get and confirm with your Apple account.
What it means for readers in Canada and the US
The Canadian App Store listing showed a price of zero in Canadian dollars when we looked, and the original price quoted by New Mobile Life is in US dollars. No end date for the free offer has been published, so it can change at any time. If you plan meals for a family, it is a low risk way to try a simple planner: there is nothing to pay, and the developer says no data is collected.
