Beta testers wanted for the Prep & Pantry iPhone app.

GiantFrog · May 19, 2011

Free copy for all that participate!

You might have seen my earlier thread asking "What smartphone do you have?". If you haven't seen it, please check it out and let me know. Here

Today I finished what I would consider Release Candidate 1 (RC1) of my iPhone app, Prep & Pantry, and I would really like it to be tested by some other folks on a few different devices. Any volunteers??

How the testing works in a nut shell:

1) If you're interested, PM me your email address along with what device you are willing to test the app on.
2) If you're selected, I will send you an invite that gets you into the testing group and registers your device with the app.
3) After you join I will send you the app to test.
4) It's a one-click install. No computer or iTunes required.
5) The most important step. Try it out!
6) Give me your feedback, comments, and suggestions. Do all of the features work? Is there anything that could be improved upon? Tell me about your experience.

The testing shouldn't take more than a half hour at most, but feel free to play! I do not expect that there will be many problems, but that is why we do testing.

Everyone that helps with the testing will be upgraded to the final release at no cost.

The devices that I am interested in for testing: iPod Touch 4G (camera), iPad 2 (camera), iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. I am also interested in iPhone 2G & 3G, iPad 1st Gen, iPod Touch w/o camera though these devices do not support the barcode recognition feature.

If you're interested in being a beta tester, send me a PM and we'll go from there! :s0155:

As always, questions and comments are welcome.
Thanks everyone!
Doug

Here is the iTunes description:

Prep & Pantry is your tracking solution for long-term food storage and preparedness supplies! Track stored item locations, quantities, and expiration dates.

Simply keeping an inventory of your pantry can be a cumbersome task, especially if all you have is a pad of paper. Items are shelved without being recorded. Pull an item off of the shelf. Oops! "Gotta go! Dinner's on the stove. I'll look it up and mark it off the list later." If this happens just a few times you'll have to start over and re-inventory everything. Who knows how far off the inventory list is?

What about that first aid kit or the food in your bug out bag. It can be mind-boggling how quickly those items seem to expire. "Wasn't it just last month I added those protein bars to my bag?" No, it was a year ago last month and they just expired.

Prep & Pantry is designed to be dead simple. Quick and easy to use. Clean. Uncluttered. Add a full shelf of items in minutes. Check an item out in seconds. Find what has expired or is about to along with where it is, right now.

Feature list:
• Barcode scanning for fast addition and removal of inventory.
• Manual item entry and lookup.
• Optional automatic online UPC/EAN lookup through UPCdatabase.com.
• Item photos. A visual guide to your inventory.
• Customizable keyword tagging.
• Sort items by name, expiration, or location.
• Search items by name or tag.
• Automatically add an item to your shopping list when used.
• Email the shopping list to someone else.
• Track inventory by location. Home pantry, Cabin pantry, Freezer, Cellar, Car first aid kit, etc.
• Optional use of your phone's GPS to lookup and save location information. Great for caches.

Prep & Pantry does more than track item expiration. It is useful for keeping supply inventories by location and quantity. For example, tracking the number of canisters of stove fuel and where they are stored. The entire contents of the first aid kit or your bug-out-bag. The emergency supplies in your car. Your book collection. The wine cellar. It doesn't matter what you need to keep track of, Prep & Pantry is there for you.

The items you keep track of don't necessarily have to have a barcode. You can create your own tracking ids. The id can be letters, numbers, or both. Do you have your own label printer? Using readily found software you can print your own barcodes. Prep & Pantry recognizes most types of barcodes including QR Code. (That's the square one that looks like tv static.)

Compatability
Prep & Pantry's barcode scanning feature is optimized to work with iPhone 3GS, 4G, and iPod Touch 4G. GPS location lookup works best with iPhone 3GS and4G.

Some screenshots for your viewing pleasure:

Fuzzbling · May 20, 2011

Cool idea! Looks useful for sure. I sent you a PM.

atalbert · May 21, 2011

Hi,

I found your post while searching for an iPhone app that could scan pantry contents. I couldn't believe there wasn't anything available, it just seems an obvious app.

I have an iPod Touch 4G and would be happy to beta test the app. Now to see about PM'ing you.

Tony

Brown · May 21, 2011

I received my invite and registered with test flight

GiantFrog · May 26, 2011

Thanks everyone for all the replies and the help. Several devious little bugs have been found and rehabilitated

, and a few new features were also added.

Please stay tuned as there will be an announcement when the app goes live on the App Store and I will be giving out 25 copies to members of NorthwestFirearms!

Barefoot343 · May 26, 2011

I think this sounds like a great idea...however, with the gov. already using your Iphone and other smartphones to "track" various things about you including locations who is to say they wouldn't be watching that info as well. what are your thoughts on that giantfrog? Is there a way to make it secure? (don't know thats why I am asking)

I am not paranoid about it but simply don't want them watching what I have in my pantry, if it was secure I would probably pick that app up if and when it came out, seems very useful.

GiantFrog · May 26, 2011

Thanks Barefoot343.

I have pondered this as well and I approach this topic without being über paranoid (Meaning: not believing that Big Brother can look directly in you device and peruse your files at will.)

The app data is more secure than the phone calls (or forum posts!) you make. As long as you are not using the automatic UPC lookup feature, no data is transmitted (over any network) by the app at any time. Even when using the optional online UPC lookup, only the barcode number is sent to upcdatabase.com, the name and product size is returned.

Frank and full disclosure: the data on the device is not encrypted, the database system I use does not support it and I'm not willing to jump through the hoops to make it happen. Also, with software encryption, there would be export laws I would have to deal with and I just don't want to. So simply enough, I chose the easiest and most secure method, keep the data off of the air and the device in my pocket. (btw, iPhones do have built-in data encryption when you use the password lock)

In the extreme view, the iPod touch users will be the most secure. They're not on an open network and all the data is contained on the device. The only security issue would be if the device gets into "the wrong hands".

I'm not paranoid myself, but my girlfriend does look at me oddly when I give out my nom de guerre (she really needs to work on that). :s0131:

I should mention that there was a discussion about smartphones and privacy in the poll I posted a week or so ago entitled "What smartphone do you have?" You can read what others had to say about it as well.

Barefoot343 · May 26, 2011

GiantFrog said:
Thanks Barefoot343.

I have pondered this as well and I approach this topic without being über paranoid (Meaning: not believing that Big Brother can look directly in you device and peruse your files at will.)

The app data is more secure than the phone calls (or forum posts!) you make. As long as you are not using the automatic UPC lookup feature, no data is transmitted (over any network) by the app at any time. Even when using the optional online UPC lookup, only the barcode number is sent to upcdatabase.com, the name and product size is returned.

Frank and full disclosure: the data on the device is not encrypted, the database system I use does not support it and I'm not willing to jump through the hoops to make it happen. Also, with software encryption, there would be export laws I would have to deal with and I just don't want to. So simply enough, I chose the easiest and most secure method, keep the data off of the air and the device in my pocket. (btw, iPhones do have built-in data encryption when you use the password lock)

In the extreme view, the iPod touch users will be the most secure. They're not on an open network and all the data is contained on the device. The only security issue would be if the device gets into "the wrong hands".

I'm not paranoid myself, but my girlfriend does look at me oddly when I give out my nom de guerre (she really needs to work on that).

I should mention that there was a discussion about smartphones and privacy in the poll I posted a week or so ago entitled "What smartphone do you have?" You can read what others had to say about it as well.