It's safe to say that the best nights out usually start with your text message keyboard. What restaurant should we go to? Any good movies out? Which bar should we hit up later?
But after brainstorming plans with your friends over text, you have to go to Yelp or your phone's browser to do any real research on the best ways to spend your evening. But a new iOS keyboard built by two University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign engineering students wants to give you dining and movie suggestions right from your messaging screen, and based on the texts you've already sent.
PorterKey, designed by UIUC senior Faris Toqan and 2013 graduate Robert Pieta, launched in the app store last week and provides nearby dining, nightlife, and movie recommendations based on your current conversation. The intelligent iOS keyboard allows users to touch the "Porter Icon," and the app's advanced natural language processing algorithm gives movie and restaurant information based on what you've recently texted.
After typing a phrase like, Do you want to get dinner tonight? PorterKey generates a list of popular restaurants that are nearby. Users can then quickly copy and paste the restaurant's website link and address in the text message.
Toqan and Pieta began working on the app this summer and realized they were on to something when their friends who were beta testing the app couldn't put it down, Pieta said.
"When you're trying to get information on food, you have to switch to Yelp," said Pieta, who is now based in Chicago. "We thought, 'Why doesn't your keyboard give you content you’re looking for?'"
For now, PorterKey is focused on delivering restaurant and movie information, but Pieta said down the road he expects the app to show things like sports scores, news, and local events. And while there are a handful of competitors that allow you to search for things from your messaging keyboard, PorterKey's advantage is its ability to understand what you need based on your conversation, rather than needing search additional keywords.
"We want it to be like magic," Pieta said.
Pieta said a potential revenue stream for PorterKey, which is free in the app store, could be integrating restaurant reservations or ticket buying in the keyboard--allowing you to plan and pay for your evening right from your text conversation. But for now, the duo is just focused on adding users and improving the platform.
Check out a video demo here to see how the app works.
