Menu, please! blog 
FEBRUARY UPDATE: WE WENT NATIVE! 📱
It’s been almost three months since the last update, and what a three months it’s been. Menu, please! went viral on TikTok, we doubled our user count, hit over 2,000 downloads on the App Store with an amazing 5.0 rating, and I completely rebuilt the app from the ground up. Let’s get into it.
TL;DR:
- 🔥 We Went Viral: Menu, please! blew up on TikTok, doubling our users and hitting 2,000+ App Store downloads with a 5.0 rating!
- 📱 Native App Launch: No more PWA limitations — Menu, please! is now a fully native app on iOS and Android with native camera, push notifications, and more.
- 📝 Fill-Out Menu: The AI now writes your order quantities directly onto the original menu image. Just show it to your waiter!
- 🇭🇰 Cantonese Support: Hong Kong menus? No problem. Full Cantonese support with Jyutping romanization.
- 🎧 Learning Mode: New audio pronunciation settings for language learners who want to practice while they eat.
… and that’s not all!
WE WENT VIRAL ON TIKTOK 🔥
I still can’t believe it. A TikTok video about Menu, please! took off, and suddenly we doubled our user count overnight. Over 2,000 new downloads from the App Store, and somehow we’re sitting at a perfect 5.0 rating. Thank you to everyone who downloaded, tried it out, and left a review — you made my month!
MENU, PLEASE! GOES NATIVE 📱
If you used Menu, please! before this update, you were using a PWA (Progressive Web App) wrapped with PWABuilder for the App Store and Play Store. It worked, but it had a lot of limitations — no native camera, no push notifications, and that “not quite a real app” feeling. That’s all gone now.
Menu, please! is now a fully native app built with Capacitor. You get the native camera for snapping menu photos, push notifications when your translations are ready, a proper splash screen on launch, and that buttery-smooth feel of a real app. Same great features, but now it actually feels like home on your phone.
FEATURE DROP 📦
📝 Fill-Out Menu This one’s a game changer. After you’ve picked your dishes, the AI takes your original menu photo and writes your order quantities right next to each item. No more pointing and gesturing — just show the filled-out menu to your waiter and you’re done. It’s the closest thing to ordering like a local.
🇭🇰 Cantonese Hong Kong is a foodie paradise, and now Menu, please! speaks the language. Full Cantonese support includes Jyutping romanization so you can actually read and pronounce what you’re ordering. Dim sum, here we come!
🎧 Learning Mode This feature was inspired by an endorsement from Rita Chinese, whose YouTube channel has been a huge part of my own Chinese learning journey. Her encouragement made me realize that many of you use Menu, please! not just to eat but to learn. The new audio pronunciation settings let you hear how each dish name is pronounced in the original language. Turn it on, practice a few words, and impress the staff next time you order.
📱 Quality-of-Life Improvements A bunch of smaller tweaks that add up to a much better everyday experience:
- Onboarding Carousel: New users now get a quick walkthrough of what Menu, please! can do, and returning users see a “What’s New” summary after updates.
- Vote on Features: You can now submit and vote on feature ideas directly from within the app.
- Pinch-to-Zoom: The image lightbox now supports pinch-to-zoom and panning, so you can inspect every detail of your menu photo.
- Smarter Loading: The old loading indicator was confusing and made it look like the translation had broken. The new progress bar adapts to the actual size of your menu so you always know what’s happening.
- Fresh Translator Page: The translate screen got a full redesign with a cleaner layout and smoother navigation.
- Translation History: Your past translations are now saved locally so you can revisit them anytime.
- New Landing Page: The website got a fresh coat of paint with a sample menu modal so new visitors can try before they sign up.
- All Languages Out of Beta: Every supported language is now fully released. No more beta tags!
JOIN THE COMMUNITY 🫸🫷 Your feedback has shaped every single feature in this update. If you want to be part of what comes next, come hang out with us!
Thank you for your support and feedback!