Fine, fine. I’ll tell you why Untappd is super sexy. First of all, if you have been leaving under the rock for the past year or so. Untappd is new way to socially share and explore the world of beer with your friends and the world. Curious what your friends are drinking or where they’re hanging out? Just check their profile where you can toast and comment on their beers. Untappd will offer you beer recommendations based on what you and your friends have been enjoying, so you’ll have no reason to not try something new. As additional encouragement, Untappd allows you to earn a number of cool badges for completing a variety of different criteria. If that doesn’t sell you, here are three reasons why Untappd rocks.
One, Greg Avola. I went to college with Greg. Back in 2004, he was fondly referred to as “Peg Leg Greg” and was the go to guy when your laptop had to Blue Screen of Death. Now he is apparently living in the craft beer haven of NYC. He’s the backend developer for Untappd. While other people are reading books or watching movies, Greg is coding. His friend, Tim and him came up with Untappd and Greg started working on a protoype the next day. His passion of development and craft beer allowed Untappd to be born. Seriously, awesome-sauce.
Two, social media and beer. Greg managed to combine his two passions to create something that combined my two passions, social media and beer. I love that I can share with my friends, where I am at, what I am currently drinking and what I think of it. I like that I can put notes in to keep track of my thoughts on the beers and hashtags to remind myself of where I tried the beer. I’ve turned Untappd into a game with my friends, since I’m the girl who is always on her phone, I have my friends tell me what they would rate the beer AND why. Then save the note! Definitely encourages people to explain why they love or hate something.
Three, BADGES! I’m obsessed with badges. I’m competitive naturally. So being rewarded to check in beers always inspires me to find and create MIA beers on Untappd, making it a better experience. Plus, the badges are wicked funny. Take it easy, Heffenista, Playing the field and I believe in IPA (Level 6). How fun are those? Using Untappd badges you can find friends that have similar tastes and talk about the beers you love. Plus, you can send a “Cheers” to your friends that don’t live nearby. It’s a great way to stay connected.
Have you tried Untappd? What did you think? Want to be friends?
Additional information. Did you know, Untappd has merged with Next Glass? See below.
Since we first released Untappd, over five years ago, it’s been a project of passion and it’s been our desire to bring our users the best possible beer based social platform available. From private beta to nearly 3,000,000 users worldwide, watching Untappd grow has been an amazing rollercoaster of ups, downs, late nights, and of course great beers.
We strive to build the best features with a great focus on our community and their desires. This has become increasingly difficult to accomplish due to time constraints. As you may not know, for the last five years we have been building Untappd on a part time basis, maintaining full time jobs outside of Untappd to support ourselves and our families. This has lead to slower than desired feature releases and as Untappd continues to grow in popularity, the variety of hats our two man team has to wear has become more difficult.
Over the years, we have explored a variety of options to allow us to transition to full time on Untappd, but there was never a viable solution. After many discussions and exploring many different directions, we are excited to announce a strategic merger between Untappd and Next Glass, a fellow alcohol based start up. It was evident very early on in our discussions that we shared similar goals and ideals for our respective apps and together we could achieve great things. Unlike other mergers happening in the beer world recently, this merger brings together two like-minded start ups set on disrupting the beer industry for the better.
So, the big question is, what does this mean for Untappd? It’s simple – nothing but good things. Untappd will remain an independent entity (albeit a subsidiary of Next Glass), with Tim Mather (CEO) and Greg Avola (CTO) continuing to steer the vision of the product. With the resources provided by Next Glass, we will be able to transition into full time roles within Untappd as well as hire on more staff to speed up our feature development and make the platform even better for the community. This means you will get new updates, cool features, and even more badges, faster. There will be no rebranding, name changing, or abrupt pivots. We will continue just as we have, building a world class social community for beer drinkers – only at a much quicker pace.
Being a community driven platform that has relied heavily on word of mouth to grow, we owe everything to you. Without the dedication of beer lovers around the world checking in as they enjoy a brew, we wouldn’t be where we are today. That said, it is our goal to continue to build the best possible products for you. Thank you for your support over the years and for your continued support as we take the next, exciting step into the future of Untappd.
Cheers,
Tim & Greg
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Here are some potential answers to some questions you may have. If you have quesions not listed below, please feel free to reach out to us on Twitter or Facebook.
Will Untappd be rebranded under Next Glass?
No, Untappd will remain it’s own company with the brand you’ve come to know and love.
Who will be in charge of Untappd?
The original founders, Tim & Greg, will continue to lead the vision of Untappd, as well as continue to directly design and develop it.
Can I work for Untappd?
We will be hiring a couple new team members in the near future, but have no determined exactly what we will be hiring for. Once we do, we will be sure to let everyone know.
What happens to supporter accounts?
Untappd Supporter accounts will remain and function just as they have, but now that our team will be working full time on the product, we will be able to add even better features and benefits to the supporter accounts.
Will this affect 3rd party developers using the Untappd API?
There are currently no plans to changes, limit, or restrict access to the Untappd API.
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