There isn’t much you can’t do on a smartphone these days. Shopping, banking, dating and job hunting – there are apps for all of that. If you’d like help finding the nearest public washroom, a bottle of wine to go with dinner tonight, or even people in your area to cuddle with, there are apps for all of those things too.
Then, there are apps that enable you to hire strangers to do certain jobs for you. Uber’s a good example. The ride-hail app, which has been available in Toronto since 2014, connects riders with local drivers – not unlike taxis. (You can read more about that here.)
While the city is still trying to find a way to regulate the tech-transportation company, a bunch of businesses have followed in Uber’s footsteps, allowing users to get food delivered and dry-cleaning done with the click of a button. We’ve rounded up a few of these Uber-like apps, all available to Toronto residents, below.
Food delivery
In the dark ages, food delivery was limited to pizza joints and Chinese restaurants. Now, you can get a party tray of sushi and a single butter chicken roti delivered to your door any night of the week.
UberEATS has access to over 100 restaurant menus, and a shortlist of dishes that can be delivered in less than 10 minutes – for times when you’re hangry. Delivery is available everyday from 10 am to 10 pm, and prices start around $8. Similarly, Just Eat has restaurants on its roster spanning all types of cuisine, with around 500 restaurants in the downtown core and over 1,000 in the GTA. Some restaurants require a minimum order of around $15, and delivery costs up to $4.
Two Toronto-based apps take a different approach. Ritual is a concierge-style service that lets users order and pay for items from restaurants and coffee shops before picking them up, thus saving time. So far, it’s available at 400 businesses in downtown Toronto during the daytime. Foodora (previously known as Hurrier) employs bike couriers, so it can be a more environmentally friendly option. Over 240 restaurants are available from 10 am to 10 pm on Mondays to Wednesdays and 10 am to 12 am the rest of the week. A flat $3.50 delivery fee is charged to every order, which must cost a minimum of $15.
Home repairs and maintenance
There’s more to home maintenance than changing burnt-out light bulbs, and if the thought of that makes you break into hives, you may want to try one of these apps.
Toronto-based Jiffy connects homeowners to service professionals in over 20 categories, including appliance repair, carpet and upholstery cleaning, plumbing, widow washing, pest control, snow removal and lawn maintenance. Services can be booked immediately or for a later date and pre-set rates means there’s no surprises when it comes to paying the bill. Speaking of which, credit card info can be stored on the app to pay for everything.
Ask for Task is a similar service that connects app users with people for hire to complete a range of work. Find people in the area able to help with cleaning, moving, dog walking, flyer distribution and more. Payment is done by credit card and customers can rate “taskers” after the service has been completed.
House dwellers can use Eden to get their driveways shovelled in the winter and gardens landscaped in the summer. The app provides a quote and then contractors in the area can offer up their services. Before and after photos of the yard or driveway allow you to track the job’s progress, and payment is done with online credit card.
Dry cleaning
Back are the days when someone else did your laundry.
Alfred is basically the online butler you always wanted, washing your laundry, hemming your trousers and repairing shoes into tiptop shape. The service is available 24-hours a day at public and private locations that have Alfred lockers. Users drop off clothing they need laundered and items are washed, folded and returned within 48 hours. Pricing starts at $1.39 for wash-and-fold laundry and around $3 for dry cleaning. Shoe care starts at $12.
Exclusive Dry Cleaners offers a similar service, except that app users don’t need to find a drop-off bin. Customers can designate the pick-up and drop-off locations and drivers come to your door. Price quotes can be requested before a job begins and pricing starts at just over $3 for a laundered shirt.
Babysitting
Every parent deserves a night off.
DateNight is a Toronto app that connects parents with local babysitters. Babysitters are screened for previous experience and most are post-secondary students, and parents can conduct Skype interviews before hiring. Babysitters charge $10 to $15 per hour depending on experience, and there is a $7 additional charge for transportation.
Transportation
While the war on road space between taxis and UberX drivers continues, more options that make getting around a bit easier have cropped up.
Last year, Uber launched UberHop, a shuttle service to and from the downtown core and six locations – Liberty Village, Fort York, CityPlace, The Distillery, Queen West at Gladstone and Jarvis at Charles. The service is available on weekdays during rush hour and starts at a $3.50 flat rate. Carpooling can be a cheap option if you need a ride and have some time to spare – and don’t mind the company of strangers. UberPool launched in January and enables riders travelling in the same direction to pick up other app users en route. The cost savings is 30 per cent less than hiring an UberX alone.
The Beck Taxi app enables users to request a taxi without having to call the brokerage company directly. Similar to the other apps, riders can use the GPS tracker to input a pickup location and know when a taxi is on its way. Credit card information can also be stored in the app so that customers don’t have to pay with cash. The Ride is a Canadian app that compares travel times and costs of multiple transit options including taxis and public transit. Taxis from various companies can be hailed using the app and credit card information can be stored for cashless payment.
michelled@nowtoronto.com | @michdas
