We’ve all been there before; your plumbing’s a bit wonky, the house is a mess, the wall next to the window needs a fresh coat of paint, but you’re incapable of fixing any of that. Instead, one calls upon the services of a plumber, a cleaner or a painter. Doing so often means spending a copious amount of time bent over the dining table scanning the classifieds for the cheapest and most reliable service. However, with Fixati, one just needs to bend over the dining table swiping away on their smartphone.
Fixati is the latest handyman app on the market, designed to provide you with a list of nearby services for your need, letting you select one after you compare prices and so forth. Opening up the app presents you with the login screen; yes, having an account is mandatory for this app. Once you’ve signed up, you’re ready to go. Much like Uber, and contrary to another great handyman app Swiffix, you’re instantly shown the map, with your current location pinged in. Swiping from the left opens up the side menu where you can view your history, call Fixati, check your payments or edit your profile. A big “How can we help you?” heading at the top doesn’t do anything when you tap on it (on Android), though it does emit a noise so the lack of use is probably a bug on my end. There’s a location icon at the top right, letting you choose either your current location or update your home address in your profile.
It’s at the bottom where the magic of the app lies. Tapping the “I need help in” heading at the bottom slides out a list of services, from laundry to pest control to masonry. It’s quite an extensive list. All one has to do next is tap as many services as they want help in before selecting “Find me a service provider” at the bottom. You’re then presented a list of different companies around the city that can cater to your needs. However, the best part is the fact that you can also view the pricing per hour, see their ratings, if they’re currently open and their location. Furthermore, nifty little icons also tell you what form of payment they accept.
If you’ve decided on one company, all you have to do is request their service and then choose if you want to pay with cash or credit card. The latter lets you track the service provider and get an invoice through Fixati, while the former only allows for direct calling (with the invoice given to you on paper). Once you’ve called them up, you just need to agree upon a time, confirm your location and just wait for them to arrive.
During my time using Fixati I’ve come to appreciate the fact that the app gives you a choice of different services, and more importantly lets you compare them (also my house has never been cleaner). However, the UI of the app still needs a tonne of work. Many of the pop-ups can’t be exited without choosing an option, the map displays icons that are clearly Fixati affiliated services, but you can’t see what service exactly. Furthermore, the list of businesses that can cater to your need isn’t as expansive as I’d like it to be, but that will probably change in the future.
You can download Fixati on the Apple App Store here and the Google Play Store here.
