Brooklynite creates Find My Cone app to bring ice cream trucks to you

We all scream for ice cream!

A new mobile application aims to bring the tasty treat to the digital age.

The app, Find My Cone, is attempting to become the Uber of ice cream, allowing users to receive a cone on their schedule, making the days of running after ice cream trucks through the streets of Brooklyn a thing of the past.

“What I want to do is change the way people order ice cream,” said app creator and Dyker Heights native, George Speranza. “The point of the app is never to miss the ice cream truck again.”

Speranza came up with the idea for the app, which is currently available for download on Android devices via Google Play and will soon be available on iOS devices, during his sleep under a different name.

“I fell asleep and this idea came in my head, wheresmrsoftee.com. So I woke up and wrote it on a piece of paper,” he explained. “Over time, I changed it. I was sitting at the beach with my daughter and she said ‘Find My Cone.’”

According to Speranza, who is currently CEO of a company called Rockstar Media, the app will display on your phone where the trucks are at all times within a certain radius of your location. A notification will alert you when they are near.

“You get to see where the truck is and you send the truck a message where you are and the truck has a tablet docked on the dashboard of the truck. The driver sees the orders that are coming and he knows where to go, and he can hit a button and you can see where the truck is as it’s moving,” he said.

To make the app successful, Speranza has purchased several tablets with the app pre-downloaded for participating trucks.

The app also has the potential to correct a long-standing complaint, when trucks stay in the same location for a long time, idling and spewing fumes into the air, sending nearby residents indoors even in nice weather.

“This (app) will keep the driver on the go, and he won’t waste gas driving around looking for people,” Speranza explained. “It helps everyone.”

According to Speranza, truck owners would be charged a small monthly fee to participate.

“From my business model, I can charge the truck per month. It’s peanuts,” he said.

A high volume of downloads is what Speranza hopes will make it successful.

Initially, the app will work with Mr. Softee trucks, but Speranza hopes to branch out to other vendors in the future.

“The game changer is that [before the app], the only time you’d order ice cream would be if you heard the jingle or saw the truck,” he said. “Once you know it’s in your phone, you can get it whenever you want it.”

The app also helps stave off disappointment. “When you miss the ice cream truck, and your kids are upset, you have to go to an ice cream store where sometimes it’s $6 instead of $2.50. That’s a lot, especially if you have a lot of kids,” he explained.

Although you can download the app now, expect the app to fully live up to its name once the weather warms up.

To learn more, download Find My Cone on your Android device or visit www.findmycone.com.