Devin Davies, a software engineer based in New Zealand, didn’t set out to win an Apple Design Award. He simply wanted a better way to manage his recipes. What began as a personal project to replace a chaotic collection of notes, cookbooks and online clippings has blossomed into Crouton, a sophisticated cooking aid that recently earned Davies the 2024 Apple Design Award for Interaction. The app, built using Swift, is a testament to the power of solving a personal problem with elegant, well-considered software design.
Crouton distinguishes itself from other recipe apps by focusing on streamlining the cooking process itself. Davies recognized that much of the frustration with cooking doesn’t stem from the recipes themselves, but from the friction of constantly switching between apps – searching for ingredients, converting measurements, setting timers, and navigating lengthy instructions. “The key for me is: How quickly can I get you back to preparing the meal, rather than reading?” Davies explained in an interview with Apple. The app addresses this by presenting only the current step, ingredients, and measurements, handling conversions automatically, and integrating timers directly within the interface.
The app’s import capabilities are also noteworthy. Crouton leverages “tasty ML models” to extract and organize recipes from a variety of sources. Users can share recipes directly from websites, or simply snap a photo of a handwritten recipe or cookbook page. The app’s text recognition and machine learning algorithms then work to decipher the ingredients and instructions, categorizing them for easy access. Davies notes that the ability to import recipes from diverse sources is crucial. “It’s a safe place for your recipes from wherever you find them, websites, cookbooks, your grandma’s scribbled note,” he said.
Davies’s journey into app development wasn’t a traditional one. He initially pursued programming as a means to an end – a way to build a tool that would genuinely improve his daily life. “Programming was never my strong suit,” Davies admitted, “but once I started building something that solved a problem, I started thinking of programming as a means to an end, and that helped.” His father is also a developer, suggesting a familial inclination towards problem-solving through code. He found Swift particularly appealing, noting that “It still took me a while to get my head into it, but I found pretty early on that Swift worked the way I wanted a language to work.”
The technical foundation of Crouton relies heavily on Apple’s platform features. Davies utilized platform conventions like lists and collection views, along with the Camera API and VisionKit for text recognition. Core ML models are employed to identify and categorize ingredients, even handling nuances like distinguishing between “roughly chopped onion” and a “regular onion.” Davies acknowledges his limited background in machine learning, highlighting the accessibility of Apple’s tools. “It’s amazing how someone like me can build a model to detect ingredients when I really have zero understanding of how it works.”
The app’s design philosophy centers on simplicity and intentionality. Davies emphasized the importance of carefully considering what to *remove* from the interface, rather than simply adding features. “I spent a lot of time figuring out what to leave out rather than bring in,” he stated. This focus on essential functionality contributes to Crouton’s streamlined user experience.
Initially, Crouton was primarily used by Davies and his mother for over a year before gaining wider traction. This period of personal use was critical for refining the app and ensuring it met a genuine need. The app’s success culminated in the Apple Design Award, recognizing its innovative approach to interaction design. The award is particularly significant given that Davies is a solo developer, highlighting his ability to deliver a polished and impactful product independently.
Looking ahead, Davies plans to integrate Apple Intelligence into Crouton, potentially enhancing its recipe understanding and personalization capabilities. He’s also exploring the use of Live Activities on Apple Watch to provide real-time cooking updates and notifications. He also developed a separate app for Apple Vision Pro called Plate Smash, offering a playful outlet for cooking-related stress.
Davies’s approach to development is rooted in a commitment to core intentions. “I’m a big believer in starting out with core intentions and holding true to them,” he says. “I don’t think that the interface, over time, has to be completely different.” This dedication to a consistent vision underscores the app’s enduring appeal.
Crouton’s success lies in its ability to connect with users on a personal level. It’s an app that’s present during a meaningful daily activity – preparing meals for loved ones – and aims to make that experience more enjoyable and efficient. Davies even recounts receiving feedback from users who, despite encountering bugs, still expressed their appreciation for the app’s positive impact on their cooking. “Sometimes I’ll hear from people who discover a bug…but they’re always very kind about it,” Davies laughs. “They’ll tell me, ‘Oh, I was baking a cake for my daughter’s birthday, and I put in way too much cream cheese and I ruined it. But, great app!’”
Crouton is available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, and Apple Watch, and can be downloaded from the App Store. Download Crouton from the App Store.
