New App Tells You When McDonald’s Ice Cream Machine is ‘Broken’

It's the joke that launched a thousand memes, and now McDonald's notoriously unreliable ice cream machines have inspired an app.

It always starts the same. "I'm sorry, our ice cream machine is down." Then comes the heartache. It's a vicious cycle that some of us are forced to repeat, like we're starring in a cable TV sequel to 'Groundhog Day.' Except for this time, you're Bill Murray and the McFlurry is Andie MacDowell... or is the McFlurry death? Either way, it seems to elude your grasp no matter what you do.

McDonald's ice cream machines have become notorious for being out-of-order, and are now the stuff that memes are made of. Whether the machines actually break, or the employees just clean them early and 86 the ice cream early to expedite the closing time -- the broken ice cream machine is probably the most common complaint from customers.

Rather than leaving all of us to unwillingly play this game of McFlurry roulette, one brave soul decided to give us a warning system for downed ice cream machines. According to TIME, Raina McLeod invented the "Ice Check" app to do just that.

The app, now available on iOs, lets users look up the status of the ice cream machine at nearby McDonald's. If one is down, a user can report it to the app. It's kind of like Waze for the McFlurry. It's not always going to be accurate, but it's better than nothing.

So download the app and find yourself some mediocre McIce cream. Just remember if you see something -- say something. Also, check out this video of a chick making a McFlurry. It's going to piss you off when you see how easy it is.