If you are like me, you cannot go on a road trip without stopping for those Golden Arches. And it's for one thing and one thing only: ice cream. Soft and creamy, vanilla soft serve ice cream has become a staple of the McDonald's Franchise. From sundaes topped with chocolate, a basic soft serve cone, to the infamous McFlurry, McDonalds serves a wide array of ice cream treats. So you make your way off the highway and into the driveway to hear the four dreaded words: "Our machine is broken."
You are not alone. There are hundreds of tweets and even a video of a woman in New Zealand having a melt-down (no pun intended) about her ice cream. That late night Oreo McFlurry craving is real. However, it seems as if the McDonald's ice cream machines are broken more than they are fixed.
Are they really "broken"? Well, when they say a "broken ice cream machine" they really mean its going through the cleaning cycle. The soft serve machine takes a while for McDonald's employees to take apart and together to clean every day. The functionality of it is "McBroken" when getting cleaned. Which means no McSundaes, milkshakes, or ice cream sweet treats.
https://twitter.com/ciqual_ciqual/status/927313345077829632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/GetsNoPlay69/status/926837708403589128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Leila_silent_i/status/928633652329811969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
However, times have changed and you no longer have to question whether or not the ice cream machine is broken. Welcome to my cluttered iPhone: Ice Check.
The concept the Ice Check App is simple: a crowd-based app with the ability to update users on the status of McDonald's ice cream machines. At first glance the new app is bubbly, pink and user-friendly. A list dotted with vanilla swirl cones are shown with addresses neatly beside them. Clean and simple.
The new app has take social media by storm and people are positive about the app. It is currently available on Apple IOS devices in the App Store.
My girl would love this app. One night i drove to 3 different McDonald's just to see how many we could make it to before one didnt have a "broken" ice cream machine. https://t.co/s3JIU2jMHX
— Wes (@TreyDubb) November 9, 2017
Thank you to the person who made the ice check app. Literally every time I go to @McDonalds their Ice cream machine is broken
— Kaitlyn Surkin (@kaitlynsurkin13) November 7, 2017
The Real Test
I click on an address and see that the ice cream machine is up and running in real-time. Upon further inspection, I realize that I have no idea where the address is located. I click the first one, "1004 W Sheridan Ave" and find out the store is a whopping 14 hours away in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Too far, but it's nice to know their ice cream machine is working. I open the map tap and look at my city. None. My local McDonald's doesn't show up. I zoom out of the map. The closest one to me is still an hour away. Now, this app is starting to show some of its flaws.
How do I find out if ice cream machines near me are open? Well... I can't. In fact, you can't even add a store unless you go to the website and enter your email, name, and zip code. Plus you have to rely on other users to update the app with the status of the ice machine. One store in Los Angeles hasn't been updated in over two days, essentially making the information unreliable.
Does this app have a purpose?
For a problem that always seems to arise: yes. However, the unreliability of the app along with the small number of stores it keeps track of, this app is just wasted space on my phone. My advice-wing it and hope for the best or skip the drive-thru and make your own McFlurry at home.
But there's always a silver lining. Munchies reported earlier this year that McDonalds will be pushing out brand spankin' new ice cream machines in US and Europe restaurants. These machines are said to be easier to maintain meaning the machines are less likely to break.
