I built an Android app to solve my own “what should I cook?” problem

Adem İŞLER — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:59:48 +0000

I just launched Chefrise on Android.

The original problem was simple: I would look at the ingredients I already had and still not know what to cook.

So I built a small product around that moment.

Chefrise lets you:

add or scan pantry items
ask an AI chef for recipe ideas based on your pantry
save recipes
turn missing ingredients into a shopping list
complete recipes and build cooking streaks
see XP and league progress

The interesting part was not just the AI.

The harder product question was retention.

A recipe app can easily become something people open once, generate a recipe, and forget. I wanted the loop to feel more like Duolingo: small progress, streaks, XP, leagues, and a reason to come back tomorrow.

The stack is Expo React Native, Supabase, Edge Functions, and AI recipe generation. Codex helped me move quickly on implementation, but the product psychology took the most thought.

A few things I learned:

AI is only useful when it starts from real user context.
Pantry state matters more than a generic recipe prompt.
Streaks should reward meaningful action, not just opening the app.
Mobile UX details like haptics, keyboard behavior, push routing, and fast session restore matter a lot.
“Generate recipe” is not the product; the habit loop around cooking is the product.

Android is live now:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chefrise.mobile

The landing page is here:

https://chefrise.app

I’m still improving the loop and would value feedback from people who cook at home or build consumer apps.

DEV Community: Adem İŞLER

I built an Android app to solve my own “what should I cook?” problem