Do you need to fix something? Now there’s an app for that

New application With a clear name that wants to make it easier for people to repair their items by helping them find trustworthy repair services near them.

The Repair app was launched today, on a day observed as World Repair Day. The app is currently available in beta form in the US and France, where co-founders Robert Lees and Caleb Farocki reside, respectively. If the app performs well, more countries should be added soon.

The application arrives during a period of renewed interest in the right to repair movement. Through lobbying efforts and consumer advocacy campaigns, Right to Repair people argue that when someone buys a piece of technology, they should have the legal right to fix it, replace broken parts, or upgrade it using services, tools, and parts that are accessible on the open market.

“You don’t really own anything if you don’t have the ability to fix it,” says Liz, the app’s co-founder.

This may seem like a low-key situation, but big companies like Apple, Samsung, and John Deere have resisted letting their customers tamper with their products.

Liz says the goal of the repair app is a platform for businesses and service providers that cover anything that can be repaired, from devices like phones and computers to bikes, clothes and perhaps eventually vehicles. To get started, reach out to verified repair companies that they can vet for inclusion in the application.

Matt Ziminski, vice president of Repair.org and vice president of partnerships at repair marketplace iFixit, has worked with Lise and others on the Repair App and says he supports the project. He says that if the app is used by enough people, it could make finding options to fix your stuff easier than it is now.

For example, if you search for repair options on Google, Ziminski says, local repair shops may not necessarily show up as one of the top results. Instead, you are offered large repair franchises or general service providers.

The app makes it easy to find independent stores near you.

Courtesy of Marine Relicate; Apply the fix

The repair app will instead show you the stores closest to you that have been checked by technical repair experts working in the app.

“I think that’s really cool,” Ziminski says. “It will level the playing field and allow everyone to find the services they need and then provide services to people who may not even know those services exist.”

Connecting customers to businesses is certainly not a new service. (Remember phone books?) Sites like Thumbtack or Angi (formerly Angie’s List) have long served as repositories for finding skilled people to hire on a variety of tasks. Places like Upwork and Fiverr put an economic spin on the same format. There are more specific service search sites like RepairPal, a resource for auto repair shops. (RepairPal was acquired by Yelp last year.)