Aquarium iPhone apps

[masc2279]

I'll give my review here since I've been playing with it for a couple days.

I think you should just put one name for each fish and then have other common names searchaeble for that fish because I'd rather not browse through the whole list with fish that I've seen 2-3 times with different names.

Also, I'd like to have somewhere on the side the potential adult size of each fish since everyone needs that.

Breaking down the different species of fish so it's easier to browse through them.

I'd like to be able to have fish show up by their temperement, adult size, family (cichlid, tetras, etc.) and where they are from (south america, asia, australia)

Also, I'm finding the app is laggy when your scrolling up and down.

The database redesign that i am in the middle of will address most of those items. As for the scrolling this is an issue due to the different sizes of images which are being resized on the fly. I will be looking into making dedicated thumbnails for the tables to see if this will speed things up. From other developers they are having the same issue if the tables get to large with tons on info and images.

 

[masc2279]

I actually bought "Aquarium Handbook Complete" before I returned here to see your offer of a reviewers' coupon. I'm not upset about missing the freebie, I've been waiting for an app like this for awhile & the price seems reasonable assuming more updates are coming. There's lots to love here, making favorites, current tank & pet store lists & are great. With this kind of app, more will always be better but with that in mind it does seem to be missing some important entries. I only keep three species of fish in my two tanks & I was surprised that Angelfish are missing from the database. But I don't criticize for releasing the app with missing entries, I assume they will come with time, there's plenty here to make the app fun & useful.

Unfortunately I need to address the interface design. It seems that you put forth effort to give this app a custom layout that I don't think is working for the content. The short of it is you should hire an experienced graphic designer or stick with the canned iPhone graphic set which is quite nice.
Screen real estate is wasted on iTunesesque reflections. Photos are stretched & distorted everywhere. Fonts are too small making them difficult to read. The window is often split in half which I find offers no benefit. I can't get rid of he keyboard to browse my search results.

An example of an "easy" iPhone interface that succeeds in displaying TONS of information well could be "Now Playing". An example of an advanced layout that I'm happy to pay $25+ would be "iBird" (there's a free lite version too).

In my iTunes review I will be less critical/specific and would be happy to give it four stars for now. I think it's a great Version 1 at a reasonable price. Looking forward to updates & thank you for undertaking this project for us! I wish you success.

Here is a screen grab of the angelfish section

 

[mathchris]

Freshwater Angle Fish. No need to rush it for me, I was just illustrating the lack of something common. Twice a month is very impressive, that's fantastic to hear!
The keyboard hiding the search results issue is gone, maybe I made a mistake as I cannot repeat it now.
There are a few features that iBird implements you may want to consider one day, links to a flickr search, Wiki search & user notes. Very cool features indeed.

 

[masc2279]

Freshwater Angle Fish. No need to rush it for me, I was just illustrating the lack of something common. Twice a month is very impressive, that's fantastic to hear!
The keyboard hiding the search results issue is gone, maybe I made a mistake as I cannot repeat it now.
There are a few features that iBird implements you may want to consider one day, links to a flickr search, Wiki search & user notes. Very cool features indeed.

Ahhh. Freshwater angelfish. That is in the to-do list.

Scott

 

[j402]

cool iPhone app

I am an iPhone user too. and would like to do review if you could sent me promo code for your app. An email has been sent to you.....

I am the owner and developer of Aquarium Handbook Complete. I am looking for some reviewer currently and if you are interested email me and i will send you a coupon for it. The only thing i ask in return is that you post a honest review on itunes and here. And this goes out to others as well i will give out 10 free copies to users of this board. The only thing is you must be in the US. Apple does not give us codes for use outside of the US.

Thanks

Scott W. Hotaling
masc2279@gmail.com

 

[RDTigger]

Updates on this thread?

Any chance of a Blackberry compatible version...?

 

[masc2279]

Updates on this thread?

Any chance of a Blackberry compatible version...?

Sorry not in the short term. They are coming out with the new os which might have multitouch. But the small screens are still have real-estate issue. The amount of data and things that are displayed would not work with the standard blackberry. I am looking into it. But its not in the short term.

I am also looking into Google Android but thats still a ways also.

I have just started to support the iPad and its in the same app as the ipod/iphone version. And i am right now working on the idea for a mac and pc version as well.

Sorry

Scott W. Hotaling

 

[xVitox]

have you ever thought of working with AquariaCentral to make an app or an mobile friendly version of this forum? I think that would be awesome!

 

[theemon]

do you have crayfish in it? i breed p. alleni (blue) and p. clarkii (white and orange)

maybe you could use my pics? and put a theemon water mark on them ? ? ?

id love to review your product but i dont have an ifone. do u have a sprint version?

 

[masc2279]

No just ipad,ipod,iphone for now i am playing with the idea of android and others but it is in the prototype stage nothing near term.

As for the items i am always looking for better images feel free to email me at masc2279@gmail.com with the watermarks and a name to give credit to which all images get.

Scott w. Hotaling