DishPal started with a small, familiar moment: Sunday market, oranges in a paper bag, a screenshot of a recipe from a friend. We stood by the spices, counting in our head—did we need cumin, or was it coriander? The list lived in three places at once. It felt noisy. We wanted quiet.
“Shopping should feel lighter—like someone tidied the list before you arrived.”
Designing for the Kitchen
We kept DishPal small on purpose. No accounts. No feeds. No streaks to protect. Everything stays on your device. It’s a companion that meets you in the aisle, not a dashboard that competes for attention.
Principles
Privacy by default. Calm over clever. Real‑world speed—one tap to add, one tap to check off.
Turning recipes into a flow
Paste a recipe or jot down “tomato soup and grilled cheese.” DishPal breaks it into ingredients and gently groups them the way you move through a store: greens with greens, pantry with pantry, dairy with dairy. You stop zig‑zagging. You just walk.
Human details
Thumb‑friendly checkboxes. A soft tick when you mark an item done. Calm type that stays out of the way. Spacing with room to breathe. These are small things, but they add up to a feeling: you’re moving, not managing.
Behind the scenes
Built with SwiftUI and modern Swift, DishPal is simple under the hood and respectful by design. It keeps your lists close, works quickly, and doesn’t ask for more than it needs.
What we decided to leave out
Early versions tried to do everything—meal plans, ratings, social sharing. The best version did less. Once we removed the extras, DishPal felt like someone quietly helping, not a system to manage.
Why it matters
Cooking is personal. Lists are practical. A good list respects both. DishPal helps you arrive prepared, move with focus, and leave with what you came for—without the mental clutter.
Want to try DishPal? See the app. Have feedback or a recipe that breaks parsing? Email us.