Soft-serve ice cream is the perfect nostalgia food, evoking memories of summers spent on boardwalks and beaches. It's also a dessert that, in my current city of Los Angeles, is particularly difficult to acquire. I can tell you exactly where to purchase black charcoal-flavored ice cream, but a basic vanilla cone? That's a little trickier. Sure, McDonald's has soft-serve on the menu, but good luck finding one with a working ice cream machine.
Except now it's not luck you need — just an app. Enter Ice Check, an app that tells you which ice cream machines are broken at your local McDonald's.
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Per Buzzfeed, the app saves you the emotional turmoil of dreaming of a McFlurry, only to be crushingly disappointed by an employee pointing to the "Out of Order" sign above their soft-serve machine. (Yes, there are worse problems in the world — but as far as ice cream-related ones go, this one is particularly painful.)
The heartache-saving app was created by Raina McLeod, who I already feel like really gets me — especially in the ice cream department. (She's already informed the world via her Instagram that these GoodHumor birthday cake ice cream bars exist, which means I'm eternally grateful for two reasons.) McLeod told Buzzfeed that the idea for the app came to her in the most relatable way ever: by not being able to satisfy an Oreo McFlurry craving.
The app is super simple, yet effective. When you open Ice Check, you'll see a map that lets you know where your nearest McDonald's are, as well as the status of their ice cream machines. The app also lets you help your fellow ice cream lover by updating the status of said machine should an Out of Order sign ruin your own night.
Honestly, I don't know why we say anything negative about technology. Clearly, it's helping us live our sweetest life.