The FrogPad
 
A forum to get help or talk about Roastmaster…or anything else coffee.

Photo/Camera  (Read 5830 times)

lorimipsum

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I would really like the ability to attach photos to a given roast. Since I'm experimenting with different setups with my air popper right now, it would help me to remember how I set it up (was i outside? using an extension cord? what was the weather like?). Also, sometimes I'd like to take a pic of the beans to compare roast to roast.

Danny Hall

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Hi

A number of folks have asked about this. I would like to see this ability as well. I explored it early on in development, mostly with the mindset of having the ability to compare roast degree. I did some tests, but I could rarely reproduce the same lighting from roast to roast, so the results were disappointing. The more I've thought about it lately, though, the merits for noting things like uneven color, speckles of oil, sheen etc. are helpful, even if the color isn't 100% reliable.

I've added your notes to the backlog ticket I keep about photos. I try to tackle things based on the number of requests I get. I expect to look into this in the near future. Thanks for the feedback!

OuBallie

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Hello Danny,
Any further thoughts on adding this feature please.
It's a real PITA to take photos and then try to tie them in with the roast.
I really hope you add this soon.

Geoff - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Grovel grovel :-)
PS.
Will post details of my converted Prima popper

Danny Hall

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Hi Geoff

Sorry to say, it's still in planning at the moment. The reason I haven't done it is that it's a bit more problematic than it may seem. Here's where it's at in planning...

It's bad database design to store actual photos in a database. Doing that makes  a database grow to huge sizes, and renders it completely unportable (and potentially slow). So, programmers often just store pointers to photos on the device. Roastmaster users, though, are constantly shuffling databases around, and would probably find it off-putting if a photo they tagged was not available on another device.

So, you may think... Well, iCloud to the rescue... sadly no. iCloud (until recently) has been missing a couple of key things that would make it a good fit for use with Roastmaster (conflict resolution with inventory management). I've been left with the decision to redesign the parts that iCloud can't handle (hack it) or wait for a proper solution (the good way). I chose to wait, and I think Apple has filled the missing gaps for me. Can't speak too much on it because of NDA, but I'm hopeful it may become a possibility soon.

If so, both problems could potentially be resolved with iCloud. The update I'm currently working on is huge. Well, code-wise anyway.(I'm internationalizing the app for other languages.) There are, though, still a lot of great things coming feature-wise in this update, but I can't modify the database schema structure itself until this update is complete - just the live code that runs. The changes are too complex and testing would be nearly impossible with all the extra variables.

Long story short (too late) I have a lot planned for following update when I'm free to modify the database schema again. I may choose to introduce photos in two stages. The first stage by simply allowing you to tag a photo, and then presenting the option to display it IF it resides on the current device. That little bit will go a long way. Then, later, worry about iCloud and all the niceties if the iCloud improvements pan out, or I can devise a non-hackish way to get past the inventory management problem.

Thanks for the feedback, though - and for the groveling. :) It's a feature I'd love to have for my own roasting as well. I think it will be particularly helpful to those who roast a bit darker, and want to see how much oil and sheen the beans have.

OuBallie

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Thanks for the most comprehensive response Danny.
Shows what I know about iOS programming.
Its always enlightening, to be given the reasons why something is not as easy to do/implement as we think.
At last it appears that Apple are opening up the iOS API, in a way that can be used by developers.

Geoff - Enjoying a mug of 'real' coffee :-)

tadhaas

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Happy new user - thx for making Roastmaster.   One of the first things I wanted to do was attach photos.  Seems so logical and frankly necessary for roast comparisons, not to mention data/labels from suppliers etc.  Again, thx and I look forward to learning more ASAP.
Coffee and the road are meant for each other!
If you ride check out www.MotoStays.com

Danny Hall

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Thanks Tad - I agree, and definitely want to revisit this once iOS 8 is in the past. I tied up almost all of the heavy-code loose ends on my backlog list in the coming update. Looking forward to tackling some of the easier, fun stuff (like this) in the coming seasons.