Dev Diary: Early Design Sketch of Tap Grocer for the iPhone
We just recently released v1.4 of Tap Grocer, our grocery list app for the iPhone and the iPod touch. We’ve been getting emails from people who really like the inventory/grocery list concept of the app and how it saves them a lot of time when making their list. It took us a while to get to this point. In this post and an upcoming series of posts, we’ll try to give you a peek behind the curtain of our development process.
In this post, we show a picture of a very early initial concept for the app. As you can see it’s very different from the final results here.
We made Tap Grocer because we wanted a grocery app that works just the way we want. However, we got to our current design through a long iterative process of using it and refining it. Our early testers and users also helped out a lot during this process.
But we are not done yet. Our newer users are always telling us how they think we can make Tap Grocer work better for them. We always listen and try to learn from their comments. In fact, we are working on a major upgrade to Tap Grocer that takes into account all that what we learned from them. It will retain the inventory/grocery list concept that they all love. But the interface will be refined to make it even more useful and easier to use.
In our upcoming posts, we will tell you more about the development of our upcoming upgrade. We’ll show how we do things, the design process, the new user interface and the upcoming features. Note that even though it will be a very major upgrade, it will still be free to all current users. So there is no reason not to get Tap Grocer on the App Store now. If you have other suggestions, we are always here to listen. Just tell us what you think at feedback@purkee.com.
Tap Grocer 1.4 Submitted for Review
The update for Tap Grocer to version 1.4 has just been submitted for review. The main additions to this one are:
- Item notes or descriptions
- Custom units for item quantities
Thanks to all our users who contributed the above suggestions. Please wait for the update to show up on the App Store in the coming days. As usual, this update is free for all current users.
Tap Grocer 1.3 Resubmitted for Review
We had a problem with our previous submission for the 1.3 update to the App Store. The version we submitted contains a bug which was not caught during testing. It was not a crasher, but it requires new users to fiddle with the Settings app to make it usable. That is clearly not acceptable, so we had to submit a new version that fixes the bug. We’re really sorry for this and the delay in pushing out this update.
We are therefore making it up to our users by including more enhancements to our new submission. This new version was tested more thoroughly to hopefully prevent the previous problem we had with this update. The now longer list of improvements is given below:
- Settings app now allows user to turn off badge icon and to choose Helvetica as the grocery list font
- Now prevents duplicate section names
- Section editor is now accessed via a toolbar button on the inventory screen
- Alphabetical sorting of sections
- Alphabetical sorting of items within a section
- “Mark All as Stocked” button on the inventory screen
- “Clear Finished Items” button on the grocery list
- Additional units for item quantities
- UI performance enhancements
- Minor and cosmetic bug fixes
Again, we thank all our users and testers who gave feature suggestions and reported the bugs. We are sure our users will love this update as it is the biggest one yet. We really listened to their suggestions and tried to incorporate it in a very usable way to the app. As always, this update will be free for all current users.
Tap Grocer 1.3 Submitted for Review (Now with Helvetica)
The update for Tap Grocer to version 1.3 has been submitted for review. A notable change for this version is the option to use Helvetica as the grocery list font. Formerly, the Inventory screen used Helvetica while the Grocery List screen used Marker Felt. Now Helvetiphiles (or Marker Felt haters) can rejoice as the Settings app now allows you to change the grocery list font to Helvetica.
The list of other changes is given below:
- Now prevents duplicate section names
- Section editor is now accessed via a prominent button in the upper left of the inventory screen
- UI performance enhancements
- Minor and cosmetic bug fixes
Thanks to all our users and testers who gave their suggestions and reported the bugs. Your contributions made this upgrade possible. Please wait for the update to show up on the App Store in about 2 weeks. As always, this update is free for all current users.
Tap Grocer 1.2 Update Submitted for Review
The update for Tap Grocer to version 1.2 has been submitted for review. The big change for this update is the ability to indicate quantities for items. We’ve also made the email sync feature more reliable. The complete list of changes is given below:
- Item quantities
- Now prevents duplicate items
- More reliable syncing via email
- Emailed sync link now marks appropriate items as “Stocked”
- Synced items and sections are now added in the same order they were emailed
- Minor bug fixes
Thanks to all our users and testers who gave their suggestions and reported the bugs. You made this update possible. Please wait for the update to show up on the App Store in the coming days. As always, this update is free for all current users.
Tap Grocer 1.1 Update Submitted for Review
The update for Tap Grocer to version 1.1 has been submitted for review. The majority of changes for this new version is a direct result of the feedback given by our users and testers. So if you have anything you want to see in a future update, do not hesitate to tell us at feedback-at-purkee.com .
The big change in this version is the ability to sync via email. The current version in the App Store already allows you to send your grocery list via email. But with this update, the email sent will contain a sync link. When tapped on the device, the link will launch Tap Grocer and emailed items will be automatically added to the inventory and the grocery list. So sharing grocery lists is so much easier with this update.
There is also the small change where you can now see the number of out of stock items. This number is displayed even when the app is not running. So at a glance, you can see if it might be time to go to the grocery store.
The summary of changes for version 1.1 is given below:
- App icon now has a badge showing the number of items that are currently out of stock.
- Sync via email: sent email now has a link which launches Tap Grocer. Items sent from email are automatically added to the grocery list.
- Tweaked app icon
- Tweaked default/sample items
- Fixed issue where some people may accidentally invoke item editing when they meant to tap on the “Stocked” button.
- Added button allowing users to easily send feedback to developers
- Minor bug fixes
Please wait for the update to show up on the App Store. This update is free for all current users. So if you don’t have Tap Grocer yet, there is no need to wait. Get it now on the App Store.
Tap Grocer 1.0 Released on the App Store
We’re happy to announce that Tap Grocer is now available on the App Store. You can use this link to check it out.
Tap Grocer is a simple and smart grocery list app for the iPhone and the iPod touch. The main idea is that it keeps track of items in your pantry or refrigerator. You can mark those items as either “Out” or “Stocked”. Items that are marked as “Out” are automatically added to your grocery list.
While shopping in the store, you are given a simple and easy to use interface that allows you to quickly cross out items as you buy them. Items bought are automatically marked as “Stocked”. This system allows you to reuse items on your grocery list, so you do not have to enter them every time.
You can group your items according to the grocery section in which they are found. The app comes preloaded with sections commonly found in most grocery stores. You can fully customize the sections. You can add your own and rearrange them to match how you shop.
Tap Grocer has a simple and intuitive interface. It’s really fast and works like a built-in iPhone app. When we designed Tap Grocer, we tried to imagine how a built-in iPhone grocery list app should work and look. Try it out and we think you will agree with us. Rest assured, we will continue on improving this already great app for you. Upgrades are free, so there is no need to wait.
Tap Grocer Submitted
Tap Grocer has been submitted to the App Store. It is under review by Apple. We will inform you on this blog once it’s available.
Tap Grocer is our take on what an iPhone grocery list app should be. It has a simple yet elegant interface that allows you to keep track of items in your pantry and refrigerator. Items that you mark as out are automatically added to your grocery list. To learn more about Tap Grocer you can go to http://purkee.com/tapgrocer/.
We also made a few changes to our site to better communicate our philosophy for building our products. Our aim is to build everyday apps. We do not aim to build novelty apps that you’ll use a few times then throw away. We like to build stuff that are actually useful and you’ll use everyday. We try to build them so they work just right and is actually helpful instead of getting in the way. Hopefully you will see a lot of this at work in our first product, Tap Grocer.
Welcome
Welcome to the Purkee blog. We develop iPhone apps. We are hard at work creating useful and fun apps for you. This blog is a space where we can update you on the interesting stuff we are working on. We will also post the occasional stuff that interest us and hopefully you as well. Our first app will be in beta testing soon. We will post more about that here.
