Treat yourself to an evening of organized spontaneity [App of the Week]

Have you ever wanted to go for a night on the town, only to spend half of the evening just deciding where to go?

If this incredibly specific scenario applies to you (and you’re a resident of Toronto, the only supported city as of the moment), then you’re in luck! As the old trademarked slogan goes, “there’s an app for that.”

The Jukebox App (henceforth referred to as ‘Jukebox‘) touts itself as “a one-stop shop social platform” designed to make planning your evening in ‘The 6ix’ as easy and painless as possible, while also exposing you to a host of new locations and events that you might not have otherwise heard of.

The first thing you’ll see upon booting up Jukebox is a ‘deck’ of virtual information cards for various nearby events, venues, eateries, et al. Each of these cards gives a photograph of the location and informs you of the genre, vibe, and type of crowd you can expect (for example, an indie bar might be listed as “Hip-Hop/Social/Trendsters”). If what you see doesn’t fit your fancy, simply flick in any direction to shuffle to the next card, or tap the image on the card to view more in-depth information on your selection.

Jukebox‘s information pages are surprisingly detailed; a far cry from the sparse, minimalist data featured on most aggregate websites. You can freely view the food and drink menus, business hours, price range, contact info, reviews, and promo photos all on the same page; if it looks like your jam, then placing a reservation, buying tickets or simply RSVPing can be done at the touch of a button.

The app also has a cool function called ‘My Playlist,’ which creates a curated lists of events, activities, and venues that you might like based on your browsing habits and which sites you’ve engaged with in-app. It’s a great way of discovering esoteric outings that fly under the radar, and in my experience at least, the degree to which the app manages to adapt to your tastes and interests is astounding.

Ultimately, the greatest issue with Jukebox is merely its geocentricity; if you live outside of the Greater Toronto Area, you’re unlikely to find any use for this app unless you fancy wistfully flicking through listings beyond your reach. Perhaps The Jukebox App will one day expand its purview beyond The Big Smoke, but until then, it’s a fun and useful organizer for the social-minded Torontonian.

You can download The Jukebox App for free on iTunes.