McDonald’s is testing a new mobile app that lets customers order their favorite McFoods on their phones.

The “McDonald’s Mobile Ordering“ app asks burger and fry aficionados to register with email addresses and credit or debit card information before they compose orders and drive to curbside check-in spots outside the store, or walk inside. The app is free to download on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems.

Customers can then scan a QR code generated by the app on their phones, which pays for the order, and McDonald’s workers prepare the food, according to an app tutorial.

Although the line customers wait in is separate from the queue of people who order at the store, the fast-food process is similar. McDonald’s workers either walk the food to the curbside or drop it on the counter inside. So the temperature of the fries is the same gamble it’s always been.

The major caveat for Chicago area McDonald’s lovers: The Oak Brook-based fast food company is only picking at the idea, with just 22 current participating locations in Georgia and Alabama.

Though using the app isn’t necessarily faster than rolling through a drive thru and exchanging a few words with a cashier, McDonald’s says on a registration confirmation webpage that the app is meant to increase convenience by allowing customers to save their favorite orders.

McDonald’s has been pushing its digital efforts to keep up with competitors, such as Virginia-based Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which has a similar mobile ordering app. The company hired its first chief digital officer, Atif Rafiq, in October. Rafiq previously ran Amazon.com’s Kindle Direct Publishing unit.

Late last year, the company also released the McD App, which offers coupons at more than 2,000 restaurants, McDonald’s spokeswoman Lisa McComb said.

McComb said it was too soon to say what digital ventures McDonald’s might have a taste for next.

“We are testing these technologies in a few markets, so it’s premature to speculate on the decisions we may make after the tests,” McComb said, “but we’re excited to bring a cutting-edge experience in the future to our customers.”



Bloomberg contributed.

ehirst@tribune.com

Follow @EllenJeanHirst Follow @chibreakingbiz

