You're in the middle of making pasta dough. Your hands are covered in flour. You need to check the next step. You try to tap your phone with your knuckle. It doesn't work. You wash your hands. You check the recipe. You dry your hands. You go back to cooking. Two minutes later, you need to check the recipe again.
Sound familiar?
This is why Cook Mode exists.
What Is Cook Mode?
Cook Mode is a hands-free recipe view designed for when you're actually cooking. It strips away everything you don't need—photos, notes, related recipes, ads—and shows you just the instructions, one step at a time, in a clean, readable format.
No scrolling. No hunting for your place. No touching your phone with messy hands.
How to Use It
Open any recipe in SimpleRecipe and tap "Start Cook Mode" at the top. Your phone switches into a distraction-free view with the ingredient list at the top and the instructions below.
Each instruction is numbered and separated. You can see the whole recipe at once, or you can tap to advance through the steps one by one.
The Stay-Awake Feature
Here's the problem Cook Mode solves: your phone keeps going to sleep while you're cooking. You're stirring the risotto, you glance at your phone, and the screen is black. You have to unlock it again. It's maddening.
In Cook Mode, your screen stays awake. You can glance at the instructions whenever you need them without unlocking your phone fifty times. It's a small thing that makes a huge difference.
Voice Control (If You Want It)
Some recipe apps force you to use voice commands. "Hey app, next step." Cool in theory, embarrassing in practice when you're yelling at your phone and it still doesn't understand you.
Cook Mode doesn't require voice control, but if you want it, you can use your phone's built-in voice assistant to navigate. Totally optional. We won't judge if you'd rather just tap.
The Ingredient List Stays Visible
One of the most annoying things about cooking from a phone is switching back and forth between ingredients and instructions. "Wait, how much garlic?" Scroll up. "Okay, now what's the next step?" Scroll down.
In Cook Mode, the ingredient list stays pinned at the top. Instructions are below. Everything is visible without scrolling. It's the digital equivalent of propping a cookbook open on the counter.
Adjustable Text Size
If you're cooking across the kitchen, squinting at your phone is not the vibe. Cook Mode lets you adjust the text size so you can actually read the instructions from a distance.
Big text. Across the room. No glasses needed. It's liberating.
Why This Matters
Most recipe apps are designed for browsing, not cooking. They're built to look pretty in screenshots, not to be functional when your hands are covered in raw chicken.
Cook Mode is the opposite. It's built for the actual act of cooking. It assumes your hands are busy. It assumes you don't want to unlock your phone every thirty seconds. It assumes you just want the recipe to stay out of your way and let you cook.
The Workflow
Here's how most people use Cook Mode:
- Browse recipes, pick one, and read through it.
- Gather your ingredients.
- Start Cook Mode.
- Prop your phone on the counter (or use a phone stand if you're fancy).
- Cook. Glance at the instructions when needed. Advance through steps as you go.
- Finish cooking without touching your phone once.
It's simple. It works. It makes cooking from your phone actually pleasant.
What Cook Mode Isn't
Cook Mode isn't trying to be your AI sous chef. It won't tell you when to stir. It won't adjust the recipe based on your skill level. It won't narrate the instructions in a soothing voice.
It's just a clean, readable, distraction-free recipe view. That's the whole point.
When to Use Cook Mode
You don't need Cook Mode for every recipe. If you're making something you've made a hundred times, you probably don't even need to look at the recipe.
But for new recipes, complicated techniques, or anything with more than five steps? Cook Mode is a game-changer.
It's especially useful for:
- Baking (where precision matters and you can't mess up the order)
- Multi-step recipes (braises, soups, anything with lots of components)
- New cuisines (when you're not familiar with the techniques)
- Recipes with specific timing (where you need to check the next step at a glance)
The Honest Take
Cook Mode won't make you a better cook. It won't make recipes easier. It won't do the dishes.
But it will make cooking from your phone less annoying. And sometimes, that's exactly what you need.
No more flour-covered phone screens. No more losing your place in the recipe. No more unlocking your phone every two minutes.
Just the recipe, clean and readable, ready when you need it.
How to Get Started
Open any recipe in SimpleRecipe. Tap "Start Cook Mode." That's it.
Try it once, and you'll wonder how you ever cooked without it.