Looking for AndyShopper testers

[WebEtToile]

Hello,

I've just released an alpha version of AndyShopper for Android. I'm not affiliated in any way with previous or current development of any of the original HandyShopper versions, and I simply felt there is a need to have a HandyShopper like application for Android.

I've been using HandyShopper extensively in the past on my Treo 270, 600, 650 and 680. For the Android version, I don't plan on making exactly the same application: I may decide to leave out certain features, and I will certainly add features that don't exist in the official HandyShopper versions. But the overall concepts will remain the same (at least I currently intend to), and I certainly would very much like to know what features you deem to be essential.

I want to be open about the fact that eventually I may add ads to the application (oh the horror), as I develop for a living and I taught myself Android just to be able to build this application.

So, having said all that, if you want to take the current alpha for a spin, go ahead and download it. Be aware that it's rough stuff at this point, but the main features are there:

* create your shopping list using the built-in catalog of items (tap on the items in the list to select), or by adding your own
* long press on an item to edit it
* go to Shopping Mode once you're in the grocery store, then tap items to check them off the list
* Check Out to reset the list (future versions will allow you to store lists for re-use/templates), currently not calculating total amount.
* Editable lists of Categories and Stores to filter on
* Attributes include Category, Store, Quantity, Price, Unit, Aisle (yes), Priority, and Notes.
* You can sort on any of these attributes, and include up to three attributes for sorting.
* You can choose any of these attributes to be displayed in your list view.

The app is ready for localization, I will release French and Dutch versions in the near future and will make the externalized strings available to whoever wants to provide other translations.

I don't know what's the common policy on AndroidForums for discussing alpha and beta apps. This forum, or a dedicated thread somewhere else on the site?

Oh, I almost forgot, the builds can be downloaded here:

AndyShopper for Android

@+,
Feico

 

[andymand]

Hi Feico- I've been using HandyShopper pretty much since version 1.x and was wondering how I would survive without it. (The closest I could find was SplashShopper, but I can't buy an iPhone because my wife needs the Google Voice app and a Blackberry is out of the question. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic...)

I was led to your post via a Google Alert I'd set up for android handyshopper and was prepared to find yet another false hit, but I was ecstatic to see that my expectation was wrong!

While I don't currently have my HTC EVO 4G, once I do, I will be pleased to be part of the test team.

Additionally, is there a way that those of us who want to can donate money to you/this project? (I don't want to be so Amero-centric as to assume that PayPal is good for you...)

On behalf of the many, many long-time HandyShopper fans who have been biting their respective fingernails, hoping that someone would port HS to Android, thank you!!!

Kind regards,
-Andy
(and I certainly have no issue with the name of your new app! )

 

[Falcon31]

Agree that a HandyShopper-type app would be most welcome. I still keep my Palm Tungsten 3 just for HandyShopper. Don't yet have an Android device, but will in a few months and absolutely want to help test. If you're thinking about ad-ware, please consider also developing an ad-free version for purchase. I would much rather pay a bit more for an ad-free app.
Thanks,
David

 

[hood420]

Being able to scan items to add them to the list would be a great feature.

 

[WebEtToile]

While I don't currently have my HTC EVO 4G, once I do, I will be pleased to be part of the test team.

Excellent, let us know when your EVO has arrived and you will be able to start testing. Of course, you can grab the builds from my site any time you want.

Additionally, is there a way that those of us who want to can donate money to you/this project? (I don't want to be so Amero-centric as to assume that PayPal is good for you...)

That's very kind, but I'm hoping the ads will generate sufficient revenue. I will release an ad-free paid version, I need to work out a reasonable price...

On behalf of the many, many long-time HandyShopper fans who have been biting their respective fingernails, hoping that someone would port HS to Android, thank you!!!

Thanks for the kind words! FYI, I'm not allowed to post on the HandyShopper Yahoo mailing list until I've made AndyShopper compatible with the HS databases (which I will do eventually, at least for importing data), so if you know of another way of reaching to other former Palm or WM HandyShopper users, please let me know.

Kind regards,
-Andy
(and I certainly have no issue with the name of your new app! )

Here in France people don't pronounce the H, so removing the leading H was only a natural thing to do

 

[WebEtToile]

Agree that a HandyShopper-type app would be most welcome. I still keep my Palm Tungsten 3 just for HandyShopper. Don't yet have an Android device, but will in a few months and absolutely want to help test. If you're thinking about ad-ware, please consider also developing an ad-free version for purchase. I would much rather pay a bit more for an ad-free app.
Thanks,
David

Yes, I will do a paid ad-free version as well.

Just to be clear, for the time I'm releasing alpha versions there are no ads at all (obviously, I guess )

 

[WebEtToile]

Being able to scan items to add them to the list would be a great feature.

Great idea! I've just released build 5 that includes a Scan Barcode option in the menu. It's using the zxing Barcode Scanner, if you don't have it already installed on your phone it will propose you to grab it from the Android Market.

Once a code has been read, I'm doing a lookup in an online database that has more than 1 million entries, and if a matching item is found it's automatically added to your AndyShopper database.

If it's working as expected then I may add an option to scan barcodes and temporarily store the raw results, without doing the on-line lookup which can take some time depending on your internet connection. Once you're done scanning you can then submit all scanned codes in a batch for lookup.

 

[madnlooney]

ill give it a try now on my desire. Im still looking for a shopping list app which works in UK.
Seems all ive tried in market when scaning an item never founds it in the data base, even the most common items like sugar and cola.

 

[WebEtToile]

I'm based in Paris and only scanned a few items for testing purposes, so I don't know how many european products are available from the database I'm currently using. I'd be happy to add more sources to the lookup function, so if you know of an on-line source of UK barcodes I will definitely give it a try.

 

[madnlooney]

Just a quick few things while having a play around while at work.
Im unable to rename a category.
Go Shopping writing on button not clear.

When i edited an item and confirmed it, it disappeared from database.

the good point is
Scanner barcode is picking up items although im limited what i can scan a wista bar and cd-r's discs where found and added. i thought it might of put them in 'scanned' category but then i found them.

 

[hood420]

Not sure if it fits with what your doing, but ShopSavvy has a barcode SDK available.

Big in Japan | Developers

 

[WebEtToile]

Im unable to rename a category.

Yes that needs fixing. Same for not being able to rename stores.

Go Shopping writing on button not clear.

I agree, I need to include a better looking/better readable button. I'm wondering how clear it is to new users that there's actually a shopping mode, i.e. they need to hit that button at some point, and what it will do for them.

When i edited an item and confirmed it, it disappeared from database.

Thx for reporting, I wasn't aware of that. I can reproduce it and will fix it in the next build.

the good point is
Scanner barcode is picking up items although im limited what i can scan a wista bar and cd-r's discs where found and added. i thought it might of put them in 'scanned' category but then i found them.

It's adding the item to the category that you're currently working in, which isn't very obvious because currently the view reverts to "All Categories" after completing a scan. And if you started scanning in "All Categories" view, the item is added to "Unfiled".

 

[WebEtToile]

Not sure if it fits with what your doing, but ShopSavvy has a barcode SDK available.

Big in Japan | Developers

Thx, I'll have a look. They claim they're scanner works better with certain cameras than the open source ZXing scanner AndyShopper is currently using, which if true would of course be a huge plus. But it would lock me into their ad framework which isn't something I'm looking forward to.

I will check if they would allow letting AndyShopper users choose themselves, that would be best of both worlds I think.

 

[madnlooney]

Just another thing I did was delete the unfiled store which has all items in. I wasn't aware this was the database. Losing it all. This also caused constant forced close and I had to install then install again. Maybe a 'are you sure' popup when deleting big things like that?

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

 

[TheRobCatRF]

Thank you for creating AndyShopper!! I've been using a Palm for 12 years, and have stuck with it, in part due to the HandyShopper application. My Treo 755p has been crashing almost daily, so I've decided to move on. I'm hoping to pick up my HTC Evo today.

I look forward to testing AndyShopper.

I have a request...will it be able to sync the list with another AndyShopper user?
I'm getting my wife an Evo too, and some of the other shopper programs (GroceryIQ for one) will allow me to share my list with her, so that if she happens to get to the store before me, she'll not only have the list, but if she modifies the list, I'll get those changes.

(GroceryIQ lacks the ability to have multi-store aisle settings for items...ie. Butter at S&S is in aisle 32, while butter at BJ's is in aisle 15. A feature I hope is in AndyShopper)

Also, will it be able to read my HandyShopper lists/data?

Thanks again for taking this on....there are litterally thousands of Palm users holding onto outdated technology...waiting for you to release this...you just need to let them know you're out there).

 

[kokiangel]

Just downloaded AndyShopper. The only problem I see is initial set up to personalize the app. I would like to see a desktop companion that could be edited from your original database to change the categories, stores, items, prices, etc. and then saved back to the SD card and back into AndyShopper. It is a lot quicker to edit in excel on your computer than one by one on your phone.
Or, even better, be able to use my old HandyShopper database. Can AndyShopper handle a .pdb file?

Also, there is no backup option. I know Titanium Backup will take care of it for me but there should be a local backup of the database. Or am I missing it?

I must say though, it brings tears to my eyes to see something so close to HandyShopper on my Droid at last.

 

[WebEtToile]

I'm busy with other stuff right now, but the next thing I want to add to AndyShopper is the ability to edit your lists on-line, i.e. on a web site, and allow you to sync over the air. Once I have that going, I can probably think about adding an option to upload lists to the site from Excel and other formats.

 

[Naos]

cant wait to try this out

 

[shawnmcf]

Just downloaded. Will start testing on my HTC Incredible.

Thanks for tackling the development!

 

[witchypoo_beck]

Just installed Andy shopper & was thrilled to realise that a handyshopper-lover was making a droid version. Well done. Glitches so far...

1. Can't change the aisle without the whole item being deleted from the database

2. when I am in the 'edit' screen I can't scroll down the page to see the boxes that don't fit on my current screen

3. will the barcode scanner data base include items sold in Australia?

I agree with the need for a desk-top or online version for rapid editing. Looking forward to version 6

Beck

 

[pup154]

I too had been using HandyShopper on my Pocket PC for several years. I really relied on it as my shopping list. I recently got a Droid and was really pleased to find that you are developing this app for the Droid. Thanks for doing this. I also just installed it and I have been working with it some. Looks good so far. It did crash the first time I scanned a barcode, but was ok after that.

 

[ajj]

Installed on my HTC Incredible.

Bar code scanner force closes every time I try to use it.

Prices are shown as whole numbers. Example: Item that costs $1.99 cost is shown as simply '1'.

Would like to see a tax rate and list total cost (including tax). Each item should be marked if it's taxable or not.

For more advanced, would like to see coupons able to be added. Or just continue to allow negative prices to allow us to add our own discounts. A line item for a coupon would work for me quite well. So just continue to allow negative prices and include those in the totaling.

Nice start. I'll be watching this program for updates.

Thanks,
aj

 

[baerchenland]

Hi,
this is just what I was looking for. I would be happy to do the localization for germany, if you send me the texts...
Regards,
Martina

 

[kokiangel]

Last build was in May? Has dev given up on it? It has so much potential!

 

[WebEtToile]

Last build was in May? Has dev given up on it? It has so much potential!

No no, I certainly haven't given up on it. However, as much as I want to work on it, my new job is taking up all of my time. I promis to release new builds at some point in August.

Stay tuned!