The Gluten Free Blog

Janak Shah has created a gluten free recipes app for his dad. This is his story.

Gluten Free Recipes App

Growing up in a household that loves food, it’s tough to see someone close to you not being able to eat the things you love. That’s what it’s been like for me since childhood. My dad was diagnosed with celiac disease, and from that day wasn’t able to enjoy bread, cakes and many other meals that I could enjoy. From that day I made it my priority to help him enjoy life as much as he could despite being gluten intolerant.

My dad didn’t really use the internet until recently, and so I was the one who found him blogs, communities and ideas online designed for the gluten-free diet. Gluten-Free-Blog.com was one of these and it’s been such a great help.

Fast forward a few years, I’m 23 and just quit my job to try to make a living from building iPhone apps.

One of the first apps I designed and made was a gluten-free recipe app for my dad, to thank him for his support in quitting my job and chasing my dreams. Read the rest of this entry »

As you might have been able to tell from recent posts I love my iPhone. So I have created a little GFB iPhone icon. Also called a ‘web clip’. This appears (instead of a screenshot of the website) if you link to The Gluten Free Blog from your iPhone Home Screen.

To do this:

1. Browse to www.gluten-free-blog.com in the iPhone’s Safari browser.
2. Click the ‘+’ symbol on the toolbar at the bottom of the browser.
3. Select ‘Add to Home Screen’ from the options that appear.
4. If you prefer you can change the name of the web clip from the default ‘The Gluten Free Blog’. The name is often abbreviated on the Home Screen if it’s more than 10 characters. I just use ‘GFB’.
5. The GFB icon will be added to the first available free space on your iPhone screens.

Of course you can easily give this icon pride of place on your first Home Screen by dragging your icons around. You can do this on the iPhone itself or it’s even easier via the iTunes application when syncing. Watch this Apple video tutorial for information on rearranging your iPhone icons via iTunes (it’s about a minute and a half in).

Just what you’ve always wanted. Easy access to The Gluten Free Blog when on the move!

Following on from our review of gluten free iPhone apps available in the UK iTunes store I found this iPhone app that’s available to US users.

glutenScan™ provides information on over 30,00 products and has a database of over 10,00 manufacturers. That’s pretty impressive! And with over 500 products added or updated each week this looks like an extremely valuable iPhone addition for anyone following a gluten free lifestyle.

glutenScan™ is currently offered at an intial discounted rate of $1.99 for 30 days of use. Continue as necessary by extending your subscription for $1.99 for another 30 days, or $3.99 for 90 additional days. This may sound pricier than many iPhone apps but with a wealth of information on gluten free products at your fingertips one could argue it’s a real bargain!

Take a look at the glutenScan™ website for further features and up to date information.

Being in the UK I am unable to formally review this app. It looks great! Have you used it? Let us know what you think.

iPhone apps – don’t you just love ’em. Well as you might expect there are quite a few iPhone apps out there for gluten free living.

Below are a few gluten free iPhone apps that stood out for me. I haven’t included any recipe apps as there are so many gluten free recipes on the web already. The apps I have listed are ones that offer something a little different. These apps are available on the UK iTunes store. Some will be available on other iTunes stores I’m sure.

• Gluten Free Restaurant Cards from CeliacTravel.com (Free) – This little app provides information for restaurant staff about the restrictions for those on a gluten free diet. Not that impressive you might say. But this app offers this information in over 40 languages, making it far easier for you to dine out when abroad. The CeliacTravel.com website provides printable versions of the cards so they can be taken right into the kitchen, so avoiding possible corruption of your message on the way to the kitchen.
• CeliacFeed (Free) – This app is provided by CeliacFeed.com. It helps people with celiac disease find gluten free products and restaurants in their city. Users can share their recommendations directly from their iPhone and the app uses the iPhone’s GPS to locate restaurants near you. The app is very limited at the moment but I like the idea. All it needs is more users to download it and start recommending their favourite places for it to become a really useful addition to the global gluten free community.
• GlutenFreeNYC (£1.79) – Gluten free in NYC? Then this app is for you. Over a dozen restaurants with gluten free menus and over 40 restaurants that accommodate gluten free requests. Plus you can browse through different types of cuisine and meal types to discover their suitability. Not very useful you might think. Unless of course you’re in New York City. But visit the website and vote on where you want the app to focus on next. You never know. It might be your city!

Take a look at all the ‘gluten free’ iPhone apps available on the iTunes store. Let’s hope some more start appearing soon!