Starbucks for iPhone Is a Lifestyle App

Come on, you have a line, and if you don’t, the person behind you likely wishes you did.

As an avid Starbucks coffee drinker, and supreme embracer of the company’s mobile features, I was in position to review Starbuck’s new mobile app last week given its launch on March 19, but the NCAA games lured me away.

Starbucks by Starbucks Coffee Company

Price: Free

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. "Starbucks expects to introduce a complete update to the Starbucks for Android™ app, including a digital tipping feature, later this year."

Should you get it? The perks associated with the Starbucks Rewards program, bevy of promotions and the convenience this app brings to my everyday routine, place it in my top 5 most used apps.

Recently Starbucks redesigned its mobile app, serving up digital tipping and shake to pay options. However the primary function of the app remains, the ability to pay using your mobile device, though only at participating Starbucks locations. I’ve been caught off guard at a Target store or two, which is a bummer given the app’s scan feature earns users free food and drink through the Starbucks Rewards program.

In addition to still being able to track these rewards, check balances, reload your card and even consolidate all those stocking-stuffer gift cards into one place, the new app now allows you to thank your baristas without having to scavenger hunt through your car console or pat down your back pockets.

The digital tipping feature is the biggest addition to the new Starbucks app. After paying you can select $.50, $1.00 or $2.00. If you forget, and now you’re on the train heading to work, you have up to two hours before the transaction closes out. Though I wonder if this window will become a security concern?

The only other negative I have to report is, even while the new Starbucks app still connects to Passbook, has the ability to email gift cards and notifies me of the free iTunes music download each week, the actual “content” on this app has been removed.

In a major effort to streamline this edition the entire menu is no longer. No more descriptions or favorites lists, not even a single nutrition fact.

Oh well. I bet the marketers at Starbucks have calculated that the customers religiously using the app already have their line down.

If the changes to the Starbucks app aren’t your cup of tea, New England favorite Dunkin’ Donuts of course has a mobile app. Similar to the Starbucks’ Rewards Plan, the app can be used with the DD Perks plan, which allows customers to earn points for every dollar spent.

Or if you like to brew at home, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has an app called K-Cup Finder, used to find hundreds of K-Cups including Tully’s and Barista Prima. Plus, when you share reviews with other K-Cup Finder users, you’ll receive promotions and discounts.