Introducing Likewise, the new app that makes it easy for friends to confidently share recommendations with the people they trust

Seattle company emerges from stealth mode to deliver the new Likewise app. A fun, social and incredibly useful way for people to discover, curate and share recommendations on dining, travel, movies, TV shows, books and more

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Likewise

Oct 03, 2018, 09:00 ET

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Likewise Inc. today announced the availability of the new Likewise app to help people quickly find great restaurants, movies, TV shows, books and more based on recommendations from their friends, family, and others they trust and admire.

"When it comes to finding great experiences, people don't want to settle for ratings from anonymous strangers — they want recommendations from friends, family and other experts. Whether they are looking for a perfect spot for a first date, a great beach read, or their next binge-worthy thriller, Likewise provides people with a fun and easy way to get recommendations from the people they trust," said Ian Morris, chief executive officer of Likewise. "Given the rapidly growing distrust of crowdsourced ratings, we believe the time is right for Likewise."

The idea for Likewise was born out of Bill Gates' private office. The office's managing partner, Larry Cohen, noticed how often his own friends and family were talking about recommendations for TV shows to stream, restaurants to try and books to read, as well as the challenges of getting and keeping track of good, reliable recommendations. The conversation grew into a deeper exploration of the problems that anonymous recommendations pose. The team discussed the opportunity to build something unique to help people find and share recommendations more easily. As someone who loves to give and receive recommendations for great books, TV shows, movies and restaurants himself, Gates was excited by the idea and decided to fund a team to pursue the opportunity. These efforts resulted in the creation of Likewise Inc., an independent startup led by Ian Morris.

"Our team is incredibly grateful to have Bill's involvement both as an investor and as the ultimate beta tester," said Morris. "He's excited about Likewise and our dedication to helping people quickly find the best recommendations while connecting with others who share their passions."

According to Nielsen, 83 percent of people trust the recommendations of friends and family over other channels. At the same time, consumer skepticism of crowdsourced rating sites is reaching a fever pitch, fueled by a steady stream of headlines about questionable ratings from anonymous, unverified and biased sources. To address these problems, Likewise has taken a very different approach; focusing on recommendations from trusted sources rather than ratings from the crowd.

Likewise is designed to be a fun, social and incredibly useful way to quickly find great recommendations for restaurants, movies, TV shows, books, travel and more. The app is available on both iOS and Android platforms, and people are using it to:

Share recommendations and insider tips with friends on restaurants, TV shows, movies, books and places to explore.
Create themed lists like "New restaurants to try," "Seattle favorites for my visiting friends," "Favorite boozy brunch spots for eggs benedict," "Binge-worthy TV shows to watch next," and "Best hikes to take a date."
Quickly save recommendations so they can be retrieved instantly.
See what restaurants and hot spots your friends and foodies are drooling over, and view favorites on a map anytime to see what's nearby.
Get custom picks for movies and TV shows, and where you can stream them.
Ask friends and experts for specific recommendations and retrieve or share them anytime.
View a friend's shared profile to see what they like and make plans to try something new.

SOURCE Likewise