We've all suffered the sharp sting of betrayal whenever we've rocked up to Macca's, eager to purchase a thirst-quenching Frozen Coke or classic soft serve, only to be told the machine is broken — yet again.
It's a problem that has become synonymous with not only Australian McDonald's stores, but the rest of the world too.
When you drive all the way to maccas and the soft serve machine isn’t working. #TheBachelorAu
So, what do you do when you want to purchase a cold treat, but don't want to risk the trip of travelling all the way there?
You check McBroken — a website and app that was originally created by software engineer Rashiq Zahid. It basically tells you in real time if an ice-cream machine is working at a particular McDonald's or not.
The Australian version, which was inspired by Zahid's work and created by Dean Hullman, goes one step further, by adding Frozen Coke machines to the mix.
The way it works is that each McDonald's store is represented by either a green or red location pin. When you click on them, it'll tell you whether their soft serve and Frozen Coke machines are available or not.
But, how does the website figure out whether a store needs a green or red dot? Well, Zahid created a bot that tries to order a sundae every 30 minutes. If it succeeds, that store's machine will be marked as available.
HOW MUCH OF A BLOODY GAME CHANGER IS THIS?! THIS NEEDS TO WIN AN AWARD OR SOMETHING!!!
NEVER AGAIN WILL WE HAVE TO SUFFER WHEN BEING TOLD: "I'M SORRY, THE MACHINE IS BROKEN. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I CAN GET YOU?"
Shoutout to both creators for blessing us with the existence of McBroken, which will forever change all our lives.
Now give it a spin and go forth and order all the soft serves, ice creams and Frozen Cokes.