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Beersmith app

There is talk for this. I think Brad has more improvements waiting in the wings and that's one of them. I guess he just can't do it all at the same time. Have a Red Bull, Brad.  ;D
 
I think an App wouold be better than for my MAC. As much as I would love to have it on my machine, I think the portability of the IPOD would be even better.

 
Maybe on an iPad but I have used a few apps for the iPhone and Android and think the phone is too frickin small for my fat fingers to do anything.  There is a lot of scrolling and the letter are getting all small and blurry.  would it really be that useful to you?
 
ii bet an iphone app would be very useful, sure my eye-site isnt what it used to be and all this beer is giving my fingers little beer bellies to but this new generation is parcticly born knowing how to use an iphone, blackberry, android, or ipod.
 
I hacked my Nook Color to be an Android Tablet.  I think this is the minimum size I could use.

I have been mulling over the design of an iPhone app and have had some discussions with friends who use use Beersmith about what they would want it to do.  From my own ideas and those discussions, what we really want is the ability to access tools and recipe data on the iPhone/Android (phone) but still have the data on the PC (Apple/PC).  A two way sync to allow us to make changes on the phone that reflect on the PC.

So, what would we pay for it?  The reality is that the design on every platform is different and you have to have a full development effort on every platform.  They is pretty expensive.  There would have to be either a web based service to share your data amongst your devices or a very sophisticated and way to merge the devices via proximity (bluetooth?) or local network.  The web based is the most likely as it is the most typical and and readily available method.  That means more money because web services are not cheap, especially when it comes to dynamic services for thousands of users.  That kind of leans towards a subscription service.  Not so much for the developer to get rich but to support the service itself. So, I would imagine to have multiple applications with ubiquitous data exchange and anywhere/anytime access, I would imagine a $50 application suite and 5 to 10 bucks a month for an online service.  Of course this is me if I were the developer.
 
What Beersmith could do that I haven't seen elsewhere is a highly integrated app to the main PC.  What I've seen up to now are either standalone apps that try to be complete, or glorified calculators.  Here is my vision of the ultimate powerhouse:

Desktop application for recipe design, full ingredient inventory management, mash design, etc.

However an app specifically designed for the following use cases, and tightly integrated and synced with the desktop:

1)  Shopping list, Inventory Updates - take your handheld to the basement or the LHBS to buy or manage inventory.

2)  Brew day - Think specific activities -
  • Measuring and preparing ingredients (minor tweaks and substitutions to recipe for what was in stock, check box/to do list for what's been measured/added and what's left to do)
  • Brewing Process/Brewday Notes - Mark when HLT started, actual temps used for mashing in and resulting mash temps, timings for each step.  Essentially it should both prompt for when/what should happen, and allow for overrides to what actually happened.  For things like temp, it could even be integrated to a calibration facility to help dial in the specific heat assumptions and evaporation rates and things like that.
  • Fermentation - click a button to indicate racking dates, tapping dates, etc.
  • Tasting notes - comp feedback

The key thing being these would all be things you could do at your desktop, but by having a tool at your fingertips, quick updates and changes could be done on the fly while brewing.  I would expect the calibration adjustment stuff would happen on the hand held, just the data capture to provide the desktop app with the info needed to make useful suggestions. 

My current process includes a notebook and running back and forth to the PC in the house.  I've used apps, but frustrated the calcs aren't consistent and it's just even more double entry. 

BTW - I'm an android user, so I'd vote android over iOS.  :)

first post and really looking forward to 2.0!

Chris
 
I really like Chris's brew day idea for an App that syncs with the desktop.  I gather that iBrewMaster provides the brew day side, but it doesn't sync with pc, nor does it allow importing recipes outside its own platform.

Dudley
 
I have an iPod, Android phone(s) and a Nook that is rooted.  For this kind of stuff, only the Nook really works for me. 

I have written a couple API engines for desktop to Android apps.  Lots of grief.  I can't imagine the support requirements.  There are so many thing that happen.  Yikes!

I'll be looking closely for some exploitable API and will probably make some marginal android hack for me to use :)
 
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