Getting started with ForkMark

1. Signing in or signing up

ForkMark is in private beta, so we approve new accounts one by one. The flow is:

1. Open the app → tap Create an account.
2. Enter email + password. We send a confirmation email and create your account.
3. You land on the waitlist screen until an admin approves you.
4. When approved, we email you and your next app open drops you straight into the Journal tab.

2. Logging a restaurant in Journal

Your private record of every place you've eaten. Nobody else sees this unless you choose to share a specific visit as a recommendation.

1. Open the Journal tab (the fork icon, bottom-left).
2. Tap the + in the top-right corner.
3. Fill in the restaurant name (required), the date, and a rating from 1–5 stars.
4. Optional fields: cuisine, price range ($ to $$$$), what you ordered, what you liked or didn't, would-you-return toggle, tags, and notes.
5. Tap Add Photo to attach pictures — camera or library. Photos sync across your devices.
6. Tap Save Entry. The entry appears at the top of the list.

Tap any entry to view detail, edit, or share. From the detail page you can also Recommend to Friends, which posts the place to your friend feed without exposing the rest of your journal.

3. Saving places in Try List

For places you've heard about but haven't tried yet. Think of it as a bookmark folder for restaurants.

1. Open the Try List tab.
2. Tap Add Restaurant.
3. Enter a name and optional cuisine, location, priority, and notes ("why do I want to go here?").
4. Save. The item appears with a colored priority stripe.

Tap Navigate on any card to open driving directions in your maps app. Places you picked from search go straight to the exact spot; ones you typed by hand are looked up from the address you gave.

Once you've been, tap the green check on the card. ForkMark offers to convert the try-list item into a full journal entry so you don't have to type everything twice.

4. Spinning Discover for tonight's pick

Can't decide? Spin the wheel and ForkMark picks a real restaurant near you that's open right now.

1. Open the Discover tab.
2. Choose Use GPS (grant location once, then it's instant) or enter a ZIP code.
3. Optional: tap a food-type chip (Pizza, Sushi, Burger…). Adjust the distance slider, price cap, and the Open now only toggle (on by default).
4. Tap the orange Spin the wheel! button. The wheel animates while we search.
5. On the result card: Save to Try List, Open in Maps, or Spin Again to pick a different option without re-searching.

5. Adding friends & sharing recommendations

ForkMark is more fun with people. Friend connections are explicit and mutual — no public profiles, no follower-style following.

Three ways to friend someone

1. Username search. Open Profile → Friends icon (top-right) → Add Friend → type their @username.
2. Share Code. Generate a 6-character code from the Share Code tab, send it to a friend any way you like (text, AirDrop, IRL).
3. Redeem. If someone sent you a code, paste it into the Redeem tab to instantly become friends.

Top friends

Tap the star on a friend tile to mark them a Top Friend (up to 5). Their recommendations pin to the top of your feed.

Recommendations

From any journal entry, tap Recommend to Friends. The post includes the place, your photos and note, and is only visible to friends you had at the time of posting. Unfriending later removes the post from that person's feed automatically.

6. Hands-free: CarPlay & voice

The two moments ForkMark is most useful are the two moments you shouldn't be holding a phone: someone tells you about a place while you're driving, and you're in the car deciding where to eat. Both are covered without touching the screen.

Saving a place by voice

Say:

“Hey Siri, add a spot to my ForkMark try list”

Siri asks which restaurant, you say the name, and it confirms. The app never opens. Next time you do open ForkMark, the place is waiting on your Try List. On Android, ask Google Assistant the same way.

You have to say “ForkMark” in the phrase — that's an Apple rule, not ours. If you'd rather say something shorter, make your own phrase in the Shortcuts app and it can capture the restaurant name in one go.

Your Try List in CarPlay

Plug into a car that supports CarPlay and ForkMark appears on the car screen. It shows the places on your Try List — must-try ones first — and tapping one starts driving directions in Maps.

That's the whole CarPlay app, on purpose. There's no typing, no browsing and no photos on the car screen: pick a place, get directions, drive. Anything else is better done on your phone before you set off.

7. Profile, settings, & preferences

The Profile tab is your home base for everything that isn't a tab of its own.

• Edit Profile — display name, username, bio, home city, birthday, pronouns, dietary preferences, favorite cuisines, default privacy, social handles. Username is unique and required for friends to find you.
• Stats card — entry count, average rating, top cuisines.
• Language — English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese.
• Theme — System, Light, or Dark.
• Help & Support — in-app ticket flow (see below).
• Replay tutorial — brings back the on-app coach marks.
• Sign Out — clears your local cache so a second person on the same phone can't see your data.

8. Deleting your account

You can delete your ForkMark account yourself, from inside the app, at any time. You don't need to email us and there's no waiting period.

1. Open the Profile tab and scroll to the bottom.
2. Tap Delete Account.
3. Read what's about to be removed, then type DELETE to confirm.
4. If you sign in with an email and password, enter your password once more.

Just want to step away for a while? Sign Out (right above Delete Account) leaves everything intact and signs you back in later.

9. Getting help when stuck

Profile → Help & Support opens our ticket flow.

1. Tap New ticket.
2. Choose a category — Bug, Account, Feature request, or Other.
3. Type a one-line subject and a longer description.
4. Submit. The ticket lands in our queue and we email a reply when we have one.
5. Reply directly in the in-app thread — no email back-and-forth.

Prefer email? support@tournamentsense.com.

10. Permissions & privacy

• Location: only used inside Discover when you choose GPS. Never stored, never shared.
• Camera / Photos: only when you tap Add Photo on a journal entry.
• Notifications: friend request alerts and support replies. Optional.
• Recommendations: shared only with friends who were already on your list when you posted.
• Journal entries & try-list items: private. Only you see them.
• Account deletion: open a Help & Support ticket with category "Account" and we'll erase your data within 7 days.

Read the full Privacy Policy and Terms of Service any time.