Wutzwhat is a brand new app that is available for iOS and Android that provides curated content about the best hotels, restaurants, shops, services and nightlife that big cities have to offer. So unlike Yelp for example, you are only seeing the best of the best rather than a whole host of listings where you have to figure out what the best of the bunch are. Currently Wutzwhat covers Toronto, New York and L.A. with more cities to come.
The first thing that stands out is the design of the app:
The app uses the current location of your smartphone to find and display what’s around you. The user interface is simple, easy to navigate and has lots of high quality photos.
A handy feature is the Trending category. Feedback from other Wutzwhat users will help you find the really cool places to eat and hang out. But if that’s not your thing, how about professional reviews of each establishment?:
The reviews are well written and the photos really illustrate the establishment that is being reviewed. Not only that, the reviews are of high quality which makes them extremely useful for users of the app. You can thank the full time team of curators, editors, photographers, videographers, brand ambassadors and developers for that. This was a focus of Aaron Tench who is the President of Wutzwhat. In a conversation with him it became clear that he really wanted to raise the bar when it comes to apps of this type. So far, it appears to me that he’s succeeding on that front.
Now being a start-up app developer in Canada has pluses and minuses. In the case of Tench and Wutzwhat, a lot of the funding is found south of the border. But the good part is that a lot of mentoring is available north of the border. The former clearly hasn’t impacted the end product. Not only that, no matter how the app develops, he would still like to remain a Canadian company which is really nice to hear.
The future of Wutzwhat beyond expanding to other cities is to have users receive perks and gifts, such as discounts from your local barber or florist with the free app. Not to mention multiple language support. That way someone from Toronto who only speaks English could go to Beijing and figure out where all the cool places are.
I’ve been using Wutzwhat for a couple of days and I have to admit that I really like it and it has earned a permanent place on my iPhone. I believe that if you try it (which you should if you live in Toronto, New York, or L.A.) that it will find a permanent place on your smartphone as well.