‘Appy Monday once again.  Today I’m going to talk about the official Pizza Hut mobile ordering application for the iPhone/iPod Touch.  The Pizza Hut folks call it “a revolution in mobile ordering” that’s “easy, fast and fun” and “a killer app for your appetite.”  Is it all that and a box of breadsticks?

Premise

The main purpose of the Pizza Hut app is to place your order for pick-up or delivery electronically from your iPhone/iPod Touch.  The order gets placed with your local Pizza Hut location.

Presentation

Pizza Hut obviously put a lot of thought into this app, and it looks pretty slick.  On the main menu, you are given a wheel of options such as pizza, pasta, wings, and deals.  In the pizza section, the app clearly leads you through the process of building a pizza, from size to crust to toppings, with graphics that show what you’ve selected through each step.  When you order wings, you select your type, and then add your sauce and shake the device to add how much you want.  You can save stuff to an iFaves list for future ordering.  There are also a few sound effects.  Nothing obnoxious, but nothing memorable either.

Interface

I had two major issues with the app.  First, the app didn’t have everything available to order from Pizza Hut in the app.  If you compare the food choices listed online versus the app, you’ll notice that the app is missing at least 25% of what you can get via the website.  Why do an app if everything you sell isn’t in it?

The biggest issue I had, however, was that it just didn’t work.  I was able to make selections and add them to a shopping cart with no problem, but when it came to placing the order, I got an esoteric error message about invalid code.  I ended up ordering through the website and it went through just fine that way.

Freshness

While it’s probably faster to call your order in from your iPhone or other phone, there is some use for an app like this which essentially lets you browse the menu and select items to order as you browse.  There’s a mini-game where you guide a delivery car past obstacles to deliver your order, but by the time I ordered (through the website, not the app) I was frustrated enough with the app to not even give the mini-game a try.

Value

The app is free, so you can’t argue that.  And they offer 20% off your order by ordering through the app.  But given the issues I had above, this is definitely a case of getting what you paid for. If you can get it to work, and want basic food choices without the full menu selection, then you might like the app. In my case, this Pizza Hut app just didn’t deliver.

Summary

Premise:  Sufficient
Presentation:  Good
Interface:  Dreadful
Freshness:  Mediocre
Value:  Subpar
Overall:  Poor App