Rodeo is an app for making plans with friends you already have

There are plenty of dating apps and apps that turn your chaos of work obligations into easily actionable lists. There are also a growing number of apps that help you make new friends. Rodeo’s pitch is a little different in that it uses AI to help you plan activities with your existing friends.

The company was started by two former Hinge executives who felt it was harder than it should be to make plans with friends. Parenting, working, 37 different group chats – it can all lead to letting go of things like maintaining your relationships.

Rodeo can take social media posts for events or restaurants, or even just screenshots of group chats, and streamline turning them into real projects with friends. For example, if you upload a screenshot of an Instagram ad for a movie, it will show the theaters where it is showing and showtimes and allow you to purchase tickets. There is also a shortcut to send an invitation to a friend you want to include in your plans.

Activities can also be categorized into lists of things you might want to save for later, like great restaurants for a date, or things to do with your old college buddies, like a local paintball spot. These lists can also be collaborative, so you can invite all your former fraternity brothers to a specific list to make suggestions.

Surprisingly, founders Sam Levy and Tim MacGougan aren’t loudly advertising the AI ​​component of their app. As LLMs and other AI-adjacent technologies become all the rage in Silicon Valley, it seems these two have gotten the message that Americans want AI to stay out of their personal lives. However, he East the AI ​​element that sets Rodeo apart. Sharing collaborative lists, adding restaurants to your favorites, and sending event invitations to friends is something anyone can do with a simple Gmail account. Rodeo saves you from having to manually enter all the details of events or locations and turn them into invitations and actions.

The company doesn’t completely avoid buzzwords. According to Business Insider, Levy describes the app as a “second brain” for planning activities with friends and family. So Rodeo is clearly hoping that the obsession with organization that led to the success of tools like Notion, Obsidian, and My Mind will work for its newest social app.

Rodeo is available as an invite-only beta at the moment, but you can download the iOS app to get on the waitlist.