Our mission at Hoop is to help families everywhere entertain their kids.

To do this we believe families should have access to the full range of things happening around them. From local stay and plays, story time and fétes to big budget pantomimes, museum sleepovers, baby raves and superhero cooking classes!

Right now there are over 9,000 events on Hoop, far too many for time-scarce families to trawl through. Our challenge then is to make discovering these great activities as easy as possible.

Hoop helps by allowing families to “Pick a Date” and browse categories. You can filter to find stuff close to home and tell us when in the day suits your child. But what if you don’t know what you’re looking for? What if you’re just after some inspiration? For Hoop to pick out some of the gems from all of the ideas it has has nestled inside?

To solve this we’re introducing Hoop Picks. A list of twenty ideas, updated every day, and chosen just for your family.

Hoop Picks are chosen for your family by our in-house algorithm which we’re calling Rubix. Rubix looks at all the events happening on Hoop and decides which will most interest you; taking into account things such as the event’s popularity, how far away it is from home and the ages you have set. We’ll continue to improve both Hoop Picks and Rubix over the coming months, but in the meantime you’ll find your picks on the redesigned “What’s On” screen. Remember to save the ones you like — it will update every day!

Hoop 2.0

As well as Hoop Picks we’ve added quite a few new features in version two — in fact it’s the biggest update since we first launched the app!

• We’ve updated our “onboarding” to help new and existing users make the most out of Hoop.
• Moved “Saved Events” into a new tab bar at the bottom of the app so you have access to your saved events from anywhere.
• Redesigned the event screen to provide a clearer layout and easier access to directions.

The new tab bar

Today’s Saved Events

For those of you who use Hoop on an iPhone we also have a special addition. From now on you’ll be able to access your saved events from your phone’s “Today” screen — the one you access by swiping down from the top of your iPhone.

Open your Today screen, tap “Edit” at the bottom and finally tap the plus symbol next to “Saved Events.” From then on, when you access your Today screen, you’ll see all the events you’ve saved which are also happening today!

Your Today screen can now include your saved events

What’s next?

We’ve spoken to hundreds of families since launching Hoop to get an idea of the things they like and the things we could do better. In fact, everything you see on Hoop is the direct result of feedback from real people.

These conversations have given us countless ideas, so expect to see even more changes to the app in coming weeks — we’re not finished yet! In the meantime feel free to send your ideas and feedback to [email protected], we love receiving your emails.