How PlateMatch works

Press Match and start a session. You get a short code. Read it out to the group, or send the link to the chat. Anyone with the code joins from their own phone. They don't need an account or an app to install.

In the lobby, the host chooses what you're deciding between. That can be recipes, from your own cookbooks or from a search, or restaurants near you or in a city you name. A recipe search can be narrowed by diet and by how long you have to cook. Everyone marks themselves ready, and the host starts.

Each person sees the same options, a batch at a time, and answers each one with yes, no or love, on their own phone and at their own pace. Nobody has to argue for their choice out loud, and a quiet “no” counts as much as a loud “yes”.

When every person has said yes or love to the same dish, that's a match. Everyone still finishes the batch they're on, so a favourite near the end isn't missed, and then the session ends and shows every match. If there are several, the one with the most loves is marked, and Help me pick will choose between them for you.

If a batch goes by with no agreement, the next one arrives and you keep going. A host with an account can also ask for more than one match, for example to plan several dinners at once.

A swiping session on your own works too. Swipe until something jumps out at you.

The match comes with the recipe. With a free account, you can also keep what you matched and do something about it:

• Cookbooks. Create unlimited cookbooks to organize your recipes. In addition to matches, you can save a recipe from a link, screenshots, or type one in yourself. Share a cookbook with someone by sending them a link.
• Meal plan. Drop recipes onto a weekly calendar to plan meals in advance.
• Grocery lists. Build a list from a week of meals or from a single recipe. Ingredients are added up and sorted by aisle. Share the list with your household and tick things off together while you shop, or order online.