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Android Recipe Reader

Adeering

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Ive read that you are working on a cloud for recipe storage, I am an amateur android programmer (work on apps in my free time).  I would be interested in making an android recipe reader/brewing buddy for brew days.  Something that can read the recipe files and display the information on the phone for brewing purposes.  I would include a few extra features like a timer for the boil that would send an alarm for additions as well as a notes/measurement record to save for updating the main file later. 

With your permission I would like to start working on this, but would need to know how you save the recipe files and what I would need to know to read them.

Let me know if you would be interested in me making this, other than the info on how to read the file (and where to get it once the online database is set up) you would not need to do anything.

You can email me at deeri638@gmail.com to talk more if you wish.  Thank You
 
So starting this as a project for my own personal use until I here from Brad on some specifics, but heres what Im planning, gonna keep it simple to start out and then expand it once features are available:

Four functions:
1.  Read/Display Recipe-will look similar to the build display with just a list in order that they are used in the process
2.  Brew Steps - Will give a brief brew step similar to Brewsheet but will have input for gravity readings and a notes section at bottom
3. Timer - two separate timers for mash and boil that will alert 1min before next step, as well as have a list of steps with times below timer, will have a pause button as well, automatically set to time based on recipe
4. Tools - will have refractometer converter, dilution tool, and Boil off tool

Other features:
Settings for unit selection (english/metric and maybe imperial)
Import for recipes (this will be in there to start, if the cloud service is released will work to implement that with updating recipes with gravity readings and notes automatically)

This is a simple brew day buddy assistant for beersmith, so features are limited to what is used on brew day, if i missed anything major let me know

Things not added on purpose:
- DME addition for gravity boosting after mashing-have to deal with the calculations for different types of DME and volume so a little above my knowledge and a lot of work for different DMEs would need database on the device to do this.  Now i might later make it to where you can put in the required info about the DME and then do it so no preselects, but you would need to know the info on the DME
- Any editing of the recipe - not needed as this is brew day assistant should have the ingredients and recipe finished by then- if something changes write it in notes
 
If you are looking for additional help with this, I would be glad to lend a hand. I've been developing Android apps for almost 2 years now and have experience in custom components in Java.

I was also thinking of cloud based features as well, such as the Shopping List. Once you have a recipe picked out, instead of printing (and losing) the printout on your way to your local HB store, it would be great to be able to access the list from your phone and also have the option on replacing hops (if they are currently out of a specific one you need).
 
So released a version of the app on the market today.  Currently it is only available for android 3.0+ but im working on making it available for 2.3 as well.  Here is a link to the forum App Thread

and here is the download page on the market

Brew Buddy

Donations should work to get rid of ads, but I have not been able to test them yet so use at your own risk for that
 
Version 2.0 released already, so I felt bad excluding the 2.3 devices so I put in some late night programming and put off some nasty masters homework to bring you Brew Buddy v2.0 now supporting most android devices.  Give it a go, still early and might have some bugs and will add more features but as of now it is functional (at least for my test devices)

Here is the link: Brew Buddy
 
I tried it on my Droid X and when I try to download a recipe from dropbox it force closes and if I try to load it from the sd card on the phone same thing.
 
Report all errors, im finding some errors with how people name their recipes, im working on figuring it out, should be fixed in next update though
 
Update Released v2.1:
Didnt like having parts not working so released it a little early without everything i wanted to have available but got some stuff in there:
-Updated the recipe handling so now it shouldnt crash with the recipes with special characters anymore, let me know if it does
-Brew Steps now has a note section at bottom along with Update Button- Update button updates file on dropbox or local folder, you can then import it to beersmith to see updated file.
-Fixed the tool layouts on the phone version, can see everything now
-Fixed a couple other little bugs that were happening
-Fixed a couple small layout problems
-Ad removal donation updates if you uninstall and reinstall you keep your purchase, if you already donated and it doesnt remove with update first try closing and reopening, then try uninstalling then reinstall, if that doesnt work post here and Ill try and figure it out but should work just fine.

Enjoy and continue to post bugs/suggestions as you use the app.
 
Announcement:  It has come to my attention that I have not been entirely clear on the affiliation of this app.  I want to clarify it right now.  This app is by no means associated or supported by BeerSmith.  This is an independent app that I have made on my own to be compatible with the BeerSmith recipe files and that is all.  The owner of BeerSmith has spent a lot of time and money making BeerSmith a wonderful peice of software and my intent with this app is to allow people to view the results on their android devices on brewday.

"THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL BEERSMITH APP AND NOT DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH BEERSMITH"

Please direct all questions/comments/complaints to myself and not to BeerSmith.  Thank You
 
Let me weigh in and say I applaud all of the amazing work Adeering has done on this!  It looks like it is shaping up to be a very nice Android tool for brewing.

I only asked him to clarify because I was starting to get support questions on this app - and he is in a much better position to answer your questions about it than I am.  So if you have any questions or suggestions regarding his app, please direct them to Adeering.

Thanks,
Brad
 
I registered just to post a comment on this. I too am a software engineer and have worked with Java for a couple of years and would like to help out as well. Is there any way you could start a sourceforge type project so others can help with additional features and such? One that I found is that I sync my whole beersmith data folder to Dropbox, but from the app, it likes the recipes in individual beersmith files. It would be nice to load my entire recipes.bsmx file in and then pick which recipe I want to "look at"...
 
chalkdust41485 said:
Is there any way you could start a sourceforge type project so others can help with additional features and such? One that I found is that I sync my whole beersmith data folder to Dropbox, but from the app, it likes the recipes in individual beersmith files. It would be nice to load my entire recipes.bsmx file in and then pick which recipe I want to "look at"...

Probably not going to be able to put it up on sourceforge as the code requires some private data to make some features work, though im always open to suggestions for features to incorporate

On another note, version 2.2 is released new features include:
-Portrait mode support now allowed
-Timers reworked to better support multitasking and just already better working
-Few Bugs fixed
 
BrewAide is no longer BeerSmith only, now capable of reading BSMX files and BeerXML files

Newest Update just released and as always remember to contact myself for any questions/comments/concerns/complaints and not Brad.  Thank You

So pretty big update coming out in a little while (still have a good list of stuff to do though) but this should hold you all over for awhile:

New Features:
-No longer just BeerSmith compatible, BeerXML support now enabled
-Fixed BrewSteps display some (still working on sparge though  )
-Fixed some minor bugs
-Put in ability to move files to/from dropbox/local folder
-Fixed unit display
-Added equipment name in BrewSteps

Future Features/Updates:
-BrewAide default action for BSMX files and BeerXML files- this will allow ability to download files from the internet (say your local webpage/storage) and it will open and copy them to local folder
-Shopping List
-Update Graphics for color glasses
-Selectable ingredients-will give popup with more info about ingredient
-Style info button-will give popup with info on style
-Some cosmetic changes
 
New Version Released, Heres the update notes:
-Added Timer Check before opening new recipe
-Added Ability to read multiple recipe Files (see below for information)
-Added version popup to give description of updates
-Fixed crashes due to poorly formatted recipe files (mainly BeerXML from other programs, hopefully I finally covered all possible formation mishaps)
-Fixed displaying of updated Dropbox file on reopen, was updating the Dropbox but not the cache which is uses to reopen on launch when its the last recipe, so if you updated a recipe then closed and reopened app it would show the pre update version, if you closed again it would update back to pre update, so got that fixed


As for opening multiple files this is how it works, the larger the number of recipes the longer it will take to open. If you close with that file open it will have to reopen the file when you open the app. There is a dialog that pops up to let you know its working. Once open, going back into the folder and reclicking the file wont reload the file but bring up the selection again (this applies to single recipes as well, it wont reload the file but bring you directly to the recipe view). Updating only updates the current recipe and not the entire file, so if you switch recipes it wont update the previous recipe, however it should save the info until you close the app so if you switch back to it the info should still be there.

This does not change or effect any previous function with files, if you choose to still export your recipes in single files it will open them just as fast as before

As always hope you are enjoying the app and contact me with any questions/concerns/complaints
 
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