(CLOSED) Mobile App - Desired Features

[LarryBrewer]

Wanted to start a discussion about a mobile app for Brewer's Friend. What do fellow brewers want to see included?

First of all, the site is 100% mobile enabled. A lot of sites are designed at a fixed resolution, but this site is designed to handle a wide range of screen sizes. It is not a native experience, but it does let you get in and do everything, from pretty much any device.

Here are some general ideas for the mobile app:

Stand alone calculators
To me, it makes sense to have these quick calculators available anywhere, even when you don't have internet.

Offline capabilities
How important is this? Pretty much wherever I go with my phone, it has a connection to the internet (via wifi, or 4G).

Quick links to my recipes/brews, etc...
An integrated menu would make navigation better.

Features that would fit well with a phone size device
For example - a quick dialog for adding an entry in the brew log

What is lacking in the current experience?
(please tell us)

 

[BrewHop]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

Hey Larry,

Great idea. I totally agree with the quick link to calculators. I usually forget to look at how much priming sugar and/or what PSI I am supposed to set my kegs at.

I like all the other suggestions too, not sure about the offline aspect but i don't think it would hurt.

 

[kblankenship11]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

I use it on my phone every time I brew. I have a few grievances but in general it's pretty good.

- First off it would be nice if it was an actual "app". I added it to my homepage as a icon on my iPhone, the problem with that is every time I click the button it opens a new session of the page. So if I was working in a brew session or something I have to open safari and find the tab where I was working.

- All the main pages seem formatted for iPhone pretty nicely, except the Brew sessions page. The original formatting is there so everything is microscopic. Not a huge deal but it would be nice if it formatted in a way for a phone.

- When I enter log entries for my brew sessions and click on the "date" the keyboard and calendar pop up. Not sure if there's a way to make only the calendar pop up? But maybe this is just an iphone issue.

- Offline brew sessions would be nice but it isnt mandatory.

- The "Brew" feature is nice, but the timer portion on bottom doesnt work that well and I have never trusted it on my phone to use it on a brew day. The part I use most is the "Mash Calculator" but that is so small its pretty hard to use on my phone. Usually I just use my desktop in the house and run back and forth.

 

[LarryBrewer]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

The Brewer's Friend Free Android App is now in the Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... d.activity

Fellow home brewers, please enjoy our free mobile app which contains 15 stand alone brewing calculators, a summary of our blog, and links to our cloud based brewing solution. Now you can keep Brewer’s Friend on your home screen and quickly get to the brewing tools you love!
Note: this free app does not contain a full beer recipe designer. However, the cloud tab contains a link to our online recipe designer, which is designed to work on mobile phones and tablets.
The Brewer’s Friend free mobile app contains the following brewing calculators:
ABV Calculator - Alcohol
IBU Calculator - Bitterness
SRM Calculator - Color
All Grain OG/FG
Brewhouse Efficiency
Mash Calculator
Quick Infusion Calculator
Extract OG/FG
Dilution and Boil Off
Hydrometer Temperature
Bottling Calculator
Priming Sugar Calculator
Keg PSI Calculator
Wine Brix and SG Calculator
Wine Chaptalization Calculator

Full support for metric units!

A free iOS app is also underway, but we don't have a release date set yet.

 

[Lee Tucker]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

As to the question of offline capabilities, personally I would love to have it. It would be great to be able to view and edit my recipes offline with the ability to sync later to my profile. Also, I would like to be able to use it during a brew session out in my garage or at a buddies house without worrying about being out of range of my router.

Also, I mainly use my ipad when brewing and would like to have my full recipes, steps, calculators and timers available as a standalone app. While the mobile compatibility of this site is great, nothing beats a standalone app. Especially on brew day.

 

[MrBIP]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

A full blown apple app would be great .... but, I was pretty surprised to see how nice the website actually works on the phone. Haven't tried using the brew session from there, but will when I next brew.

 

[scottvin]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

I too would like a full blown app. I am really happy with the website and while I appreciate a free ios app - I understand this takes time and money. I would be willing to pay a one-time nominal fee (under $5) to get a full blown app.

Thanks!

 

[Lee Tucker]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

I too would like a full blown app. I am really happy with the website and while I appreciate a free ios app - I understand this takes time and money. I would be willing to pay a one-time nominal fee (under $5) to get a full blown app.

Thanks!

I second that!

 

[Lee Tucker]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

No further discussion on this?

 

[Lee Tucker]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

Larry,
Quick question, I know you've said an iPhone app is in the works. Is your plan for this to be a universal app (works natively on iPad's as well) or just designed for the iPhone? I ask cause my iPad is my main device used during a brew session.
Thanks!

 

[LarryBrewer]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

iPhone for starters.

On iPad the website renders great in Safari, so I'm not sure what a native app on iPad would really give besides more local storage options. I'd like to hear your input about that.

 

[Lee Tucker]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

Hmm...
For me its the offline access (I dont have a wifi connection in my brewing area) as well as the the look and feel a native app provides.
Also, one of the big things I would like to see and I dont know if its possible in a web app is the ability to have alarms along with the timers. I am not always paying as close attention as I should to the timers so audible alarms would help.

 

[Lee Tucker]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

Also,
I know you're active on HomebrewTalk forums. Have you ever used the iPad app for it? It's much snappier and easier to use than the site on the iPad.

 

[JamisonS]

Re: Mobile App - Desired Features

The thing that I like about "apps" is that they can be focused on giving the best UI experience for a touch screen. Not to say you should copy anyone, but take a look at how iBrewmaster structures their UI. It's a beautiful touch based UI and is beautiful to work with. Granted iBrew has other issues (hence the reason I just bought a sub to BF ) but their UI is not one of them.

 

[LarryBrewer]

Good tip on making it easier to use with touch surfaces!

 

[LarryBrewer]

1.0 of our iPhone app is available on the App Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brewers ... mpt=uo%3D4

This is a paid app, but it reflects the effort that goes into re-implementing all the site logic in iOS.

There will be way more features to come. If you buy now you'll have it locked in at the introductory price. We do not plan to do in-app purchases to unlock additional features (it is less work for us that way). We plan to increase the price a little after cloud sync and additional features are implemented. Version 1.0 is stand alone, but does have full recipe capabilities, and a basic brew log feature.

 

[Lee Tucker]

Congrats on the app release!
In my excitement I ran over to purchase it, not realizing it didnt sync yet with my BrewersFriend account. Really looking forward to that being implemented. Also, I noticed it is not optimized for the iPhone 5.
No pressure, but any thoughts on when these might be implemented? Lastly, any plans to make this a universal app? Cant wait! Great work!