I’m new to android developing, hoping I did everything right. So bare with me being a total noob.
I build a standalone Android app for the ha shopping list feature.
It uses websockets instead of the REST api so syncing is incredible fast.
Notifications are send when others add new items to the list.
Design is not my strength, I hope getting it nicer in coming versions.
Can it sort what store your items are usually purchased from, preferably sorted by aisle, so you can easily complete your list without scrolling back and forth? Maybe by location data?
How does it update a centralised database so the entire family have live data, and everybody doesn’t come home with two cartons of milk each because it was on each of their shopping list when they left home?
At this time the app does not save extra data to your device and completely relies on what can be saved as an item (id, sort, item name) defined by the ha shopping list. (that is the centralised db)
Does it support home delivery and remote ordering?
Nope - this app is just another frontend for the official ha shopping list feature
So reliable remote access to your HomeAssistant server is going to be mission critical to your project?
It is indeed, as it would be using it from your ha companion app or web frontend.
So usable only if
using Home Assistant Cloud
OR
VPN connection to your home network
OR
recklessly opening ports to your home network (and dyndns)
Can it do this from a dashboard panel as well as your phone?
Sure.
The app is a shortcut for you and your users to use the shopping list.
No need to manage a user account to only show that specific dashboard or explaining them how to use the full experience.
You may find using a cloud provider may be far more efficient and sync back to your HomeAssistant server for concurrency may be faster. Distributed computing.
Images for a visual identification of items to buy may add to transmission and storage requirements. You may be able to point and shoot, using visual AI recognition to classify items for convenience. I say this because most of us are creatures of habit, and most shopping lists are often boringly the same each time we venture out for retail therapy,
Add predictive volumes with reminders, based on history.
All of your ideas are quite convincing and I like them very much.
But nearly all of them wouldn’t work well with at least the official ha shopping list feature.
This seems to be a great way to build
a) a new shopping list app, with it’s own entity definitions to support all those needs
b) adding this to HA as new feature
So your four column database Android app is now a full blown AI supplemented immersive shopping experience?
The ultimate WAF drawcard?
Best of luck with it!
I made it because I needed a better experience (no translations, no sortability, no renaming in the existing apk I found) and wanting to not shove the companion app into my users faces.
It’s good, they like it, they use it.
I posted it here for other people maybe feeling alike.
Not trolling at all. Thinking out loud what a non computer literate person needs to help them go shopping. You don’t edit yaml in the supermarket aisles.
Start small, and build each new feature in as you develop and test it. Stand on the shoulders of giants.
Some of the issues I raised are from experience, having helped a uni student write their paper with an app last year that has been sold commercially. Hence the good wishes for you in your endeavour to make your product stand out from the crowd.
Hence the good wishes for you in your endeavour to make your product stand out from the crowd.
I think you still didn’t understand why I wrote the apk i posted above.
And I also think you don’t know my motivation in building things.
You had some very good and interesting points that could lead to a funny new but totally different project. IF I would do this, it would be for my own personal fun in the first place, not for “standing out”.
Your “wishes” sounded sarcastically to me. If this wasn’t your intention, apologies to you.
