Immediate paywall
After installing, it recommended some specific recipes in the main page. I opened just one and it’s already paywalled past listing ingredients. I understand developers need income, but if I can look up recipes online or browse YouTube/TikTok/Social Media for free and get more or less the same things, why would I use this app?
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Designed for Whole Food Plant-Based Lifestyle
I’m a whole food plant-based consumer. Seeds layout is designed to offer simple, complete and nutrient-dense meals. The variety of the ingredients will match most plant-based lifestyles. The nutritional value and portion control is well thought out. I thought I knew every combination of food ingredients to enhance the nutritional value in each meal. This app opened my pallet to many new, savory and nutritious options.
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Useless without paid version
There are max 30 recipes and you have to pay 9.99/year to access the full instructions for any of them. Very few features beyond a search function.
Response from developer
Thanks for the review! There are actually over 100 original recipes in Seeds (you can swipe through some sections horizontally to browse them), and we have several that are available totally free without a subscription. There’s also a free one week trial for the subscription, so you can check everything out before paying.
Love the Simplicity & Concept
I’ll admit I haven’t actually made one of the recipes specifically from this app just yet but I have eaten a whole lot of them before. The Buddhist Chef and Feasting at Home both have these. I’ve also had some from Hello Fresh so I can honestly say that there are some very tasty meals in Seeds. They aren’t too complicated or hard to follow. I like that you can have it follow along and you can check off your ingredients when you purchase the ingredients and/or when you make the meal. I don’t use Siri so I can’t speak for the effectiveness or use of Siri in the app.
I love the concept of keeping it simple. Some may not like that you cannot filter out food preferences but I almost love that you can’t because there isn’t any label on food as good or bad for you. Sure, if you have food allergies you take the chance of choosing a recipe with your allergen but let’s be honest, you’re the one buying the ingredients and cooking the food. You can choose to skip it or sub something in.
I also really love the learning section. It too is beautifully done, educational and informative without being wordy. The photographs are beautiful and the small touches make it even better. I really love that they include a reference section for us nerds out here, but I would have liked to see more recent references within the last five years. Perhaps they are working on an update or planning one that will include updates. I look forward to it.
Overall, if you’re looking for another app that’s also eager to help the planet by educating without pushing an agenda or judging anyone for their food preferences, this one is for you. Plus, if you get sick of weeding through far too many meals on other apps or websites and want something that has everything, isn’t hard to make, and encourages sustainability…Seeds is for you. Enjoy!
I love the concept of keeping it simple. Some may not like that you cannot filter out food preferences but I almost love that you can’t because there isn’t any label on food as good or bad for you. Sure, if you have food allergies you take the chance of choosing a recipe with your allergen but let’s be honest, you’re the one buying the ingredients and cooking the food. You can choose to skip it or sub something in.
I also really love the learning section. It too is beautifully done, educational and informative without being wordy. The photographs are beautiful and the small touches make it even better. I really love that they include a reference section for us nerds out here, but I would have liked to see more recent references within the last five years. Perhaps they are working on an update or planning one that will include updates. I look forward to it.
Overall, if you’re looking for another app that’s also eager to help the planet by educating without pushing an agenda or judging anyone for their food preferences, this one is for you. Plus, if you get sick of weeding through far too many meals on other apps or websites and want something that has everything, isn’t hard to make, and encourages sustainability…Seeds is for you. Enjoy!
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Yummy, Yummy!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this app for several years now with its gorgeous UI, and simple UX. The only thing I would love to see added is a one-time payment option (~$30-$40) which I would HAPPILY pay for.
Hopefully, this is something that will be taken into consideration, and implemented in an upcoming update.
Hopefully, this is something that will be taken into consideration, and implemented in an upcoming update.
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Review
Good
Cooking oils ≠ healthy 🍶👎
Was excited to see another plant based app until I found out they used cooking oils (saturated fat) for the majority of recipes. I’ll stick to Dr. McDougall’s recipes.
Pretty - Unimpressive - Requires SUBSCRIPTION
TLDR:
Sleek looking, but overall unimpressive and awkward. Only 67 recipes. Requires a subscription.
FULL UPDATED REVIEW:
This app is mostly an instagram-style scroll page of only 67 recipes (with subpages of details) and a rather basic search function. Plus a hard to exit information dynamic 'book' about the benefits of the plant based diet. Overall, the interface is very pretty in a very modern style, with gorgeous photos. However, despite being sleek it is actually not perfectly intuitive and not all functions are explained or easy to find. I love a strong minimalistic design, but I also want to find things easily and quickly. I do not want to click/swipe things multiple times when it could be as easy to design access to them with one tap only and with better visual cues.
The half hidden search function (swipe down to see it) is lacklustre and not super useful. It is combined with a simple list of the names of the favourites. There is no better way to access and see all the favourites at a glance. To add a favourite - press the main image of the meal (sometimes there is a plus sign to indicate this hidden function - but not on all the dishes), then tap on the heart. This way to mark favourites is not immediately obvious, and is definitely an over complication for no good reason. A clear icon next to the recipe name would be much better. Or one under the main image, together with the details of the cooking time and the author. You will not see if something is already marked as a favourite at a glance. This app really needs a quick button to access all the favourites as its own feed or something alike - with images for quick reference. Perhaps the learning link can be moved elsewhere and replaced for a favourites link, or both can exist side by side as icons. Although i wish i could just remove the learning page altogether. It's too easy to press in error, hard to exit, and adds no value after the first read.
With some tweaking the design can be nearly perfect, if you don't mind the scrolling style of browsing.
The app does have controls for changing the measurement systems and calculating amounts for multiple portions, which is absolutely a must for any cooking app. Additional smart features may be useful to some cooks. No customisation options for dietary restrictions are inconvenient, but typical.
Only 67 recipes in total, 7 of which are not immediately noticeable (they are accessed by scrolling sideways on some recipes - very awkward) and many are half hidden behind the $9.99/yr paywall. The subscription did not show up clearly when i downloaded the app originally, but appears to be visible now on my other devices. I wish there was an option for a one-time purchase instead.
The recipes themselves do look nice and tasty. Which is great. If you don't mind the low selection or happened to like most of them - you will likely be happy with them. Otherwise you will want another app/source, limiting the usefulness of this app, especially as a subscription.
CONCLUSION:
The idea behind this app is brilliant, but the execution favours dynamic looks over functionally and could be annoying to many users. The low number of recipes makes is quite useless for me personally. The subscription only model kill it completely for me. I do appreciate what the app tries to do, so I might try it again in the future if more recipes are added and my other concerns are addressed. But not as a subscription. However, it might be right for you.
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UPDATE FOR DEVELOPERS:
Thank you for your response. It is good of you to follow up.
I have originally tried the app on my older iphone and there was no 'in-apps purchases' line near the 'get' button. I have just looked at it again on a different device and see that line now. I'm not sure what went wrong originally as I specifically avoid subscription based apps and prefer to buy them outright. (Although i understand that, at times, subscription is the only reasonable model for the developers. This is simply a personal choice.) And since your mention of this factor is buried deep at the bottom of the description and is not visible easily in the app itself - I clearly missed it. As such, I have changed my rating and review to reflect this information. Thank you for pointing this out.
Do you have any plans of offering a one time purchase option for your app as an alternative? At a high enough price to make it reasonable for you, of course. I'd rather spend more money and get a good app with 200-300 recipes right away.
As for the 67 recipes, if the 7 of them are half hidden - they will be missed by others as well. And thus be of little use. I urge you to fix this design flaw and make your design clearer, or include a better tutorial to all the functions. I do appreciate your focus on quality over quantity. However I find such a low number of recipes not useful for me. With only 67 recipes added in a full year, I fear it will take you another few years before I personally could find it better than just browsing ideas online or using other apps. Even if I love 20 of your meals (and keeping the dietary restrictions in mind this might be unrealistic), I would need another source to complement the app for variety. Having multiple apps for the same purpose gets cumbersome. Clearly I'm simply not your target audience, and a person happy to eat the same few things over and over again would be more pleased with your selection.
Again, thank you for the response. I will keep an eye out to see if you improve your navigation (I am especially hoping for a separate easy to read page of favourites), and reach a more useful number of recipes. If you do that and add a one-time purchase option to unlock all, I'm sure I'll be happy to get it again. Thank you for promoting ethical food consumption! And best of luck.
Sleek looking, but overall unimpressive and awkward. Only 67 recipes. Requires a subscription.
FULL UPDATED REVIEW:
This app is mostly an instagram-style scroll page of only 67 recipes (with subpages of details) and a rather basic search function. Plus a hard to exit information dynamic 'book' about the benefits of the plant based diet. Overall, the interface is very pretty in a very modern style, with gorgeous photos. However, despite being sleek it is actually not perfectly intuitive and not all functions are explained or easy to find. I love a strong minimalistic design, but I also want to find things easily and quickly. I do not want to click/swipe things multiple times when it could be as easy to design access to them with one tap only and with better visual cues.
The half hidden search function (swipe down to see it) is lacklustre and not super useful. It is combined with a simple list of the names of the favourites. There is no better way to access and see all the favourites at a glance. To add a favourite - press the main image of the meal (sometimes there is a plus sign to indicate this hidden function - but not on all the dishes), then tap on the heart. This way to mark favourites is not immediately obvious, and is definitely an over complication for no good reason. A clear icon next to the recipe name would be much better. Or one under the main image, together with the details of the cooking time and the author. You will not see if something is already marked as a favourite at a glance. This app really needs a quick button to access all the favourites as its own feed or something alike - with images for quick reference. Perhaps the learning link can be moved elsewhere and replaced for a favourites link, or both can exist side by side as icons. Although i wish i could just remove the learning page altogether. It's too easy to press in error, hard to exit, and adds no value after the first read.
With some tweaking the design can be nearly perfect, if you don't mind the scrolling style of browsing.
The app does have controls for changing the measurement systems and calculating amounts for multiple portions, which is absolutely a must for any cooking app. Additional smart features may be useful to some cooks. No customisation options for dietary restrictions are inconvenient, but typical.
Only 67 recipes in total, 7 of which are not immediately noticeable (they are accessed by scrolling sideways on some recipes - very awkward) and many are half hidden behind the $9.99/yr paywall. The subscription did not show up clearly when i downloaded the app originally, but appears to be visible now on my other devices. I wish there was an option for a one-time purchase instead.
The recipes themselves do look nice and tasty. Which is great. If you don't mind the low selection or happened to like most of them - you will likely be happy with them. Otherwise you will want another app/source, limiting the usefulness of this app, especially as a subscription.
CONCLUSION:
The idea behind this app is brilliant, but the execution favours dynamic looks over functionally and could be annoying to many users. The low number of recipes makes is quite useless for me personally. The subscription only model kill it completely for me. I do appreciate what the app tries to do, so I might try it again in the future if more recipes are added and my other concerns are addressed. But not as a subscription. However, it might be right for you.
-----
UPDATE FOR DEVELOPERS:
Thank you for your response. It is good of you to follow up.
I have originally tried the app on my older iphone and there was no 'in-apps purchases' line near the 'get' button. I have just looked at it again on a different device and see that line now. I'm not sure what went wrong originally as I specifically avoid subscription based apps and prefer to buy them outright. (Although i understand that, at times, subscription is the only reasonable model for the developers. This is simply a personal choice.) And since your mention of this factor is buried deep at the bottom of the description and is not visible easily in the app itself - I clearly missed it. As such, I have changed my rating and review to reflect this information. Thank you for pointing this out.
Do you have any plans of offering a one time purchase option for your app as an alternative? At a high enough price to make it reasonable for you, of course. I'd rather spend more money and get a good app with 200-300 recipes right away.
As for the 67 recipes, if the 7 of them are half hidden - they will be missed by others as well. And thus be of little use. I urge you to fix this design flaw and make your design clearer, or include a better tutorial to all the functions. I do appreciate your focus on quality over quantity. However I find such a low number of recipes not useful for me. With only 67 recipes added in a full year, I fear it will take you another few years before I personally could find it better than just browsing ideas online or using other apps. Even if I love 20 of your meals (and keeping the dietary restrictions in mind this might be unrealistic), I would need another source to complement the app for variety. Having multiple apps for the same purpose gets cumbersome. Clearly I'm simply not your target audience, and a person happy to eat the same few things over and over again would be more pleased with your selection.
Again, thank you for the response. I will keep an eye out to see if you improve your navigation (I am especially hoping for a separate easy to read page of favourites), and reach a more useful number of recipes. If you do that and add a one-time purchase option to unlock all, I'm sure I'll be happy to get it again. Thank you for promoting ethical food consumption! And best of luck.
Show less
Response from developer
Thanks for the review — we actually currently have 67 recipes in Seeds at the time of this review (note that some sections scroll sideways), and we’re adding more every month. Seeds is about quality over quantity, so we take the time to carefully craft each recipe specifically for the app to provide a unique experience. We’re also fairly upfront about subscriptions. Every recipe that requires a subscription is marked with a special icon, and you won’t be able to start cooking any subscription-only recipes until you’re subscribed (you can take a look at the ingredients and first couple of steps). You can also try out a subscription free for 7 days. We’re always making improvements and adding new recipes, so feel free to take a look again any time!
Nutrition
This is a great app. I’d love to see nutritional info and perhaps a place to make notes on modifications. If not a notes section, then a share button so that I can share it to my notes on my iPad.
Nice App
Cool app. Love how interactive it is and the recipes are easy to follow. I wish there was a nutrition section where the calories and macros are calculated per serving.
