Hi
Photos:
For color: Yes, that seemed valuable to me at first too. And, I gave a lot of thought to this in the past, but after watching each iOS device upgrade, quickly realized that every hardware and software update brought significant changes to white balance, contrast, hue and every other photographic aspect that governs the “perception” of color. I am a fan of color matching - it has its place in roasting. Some aren’t, but I am. If you’re interested in color, I’d advise recording Agtron numbers. This is heavily integrated into Roastmaster’s reporting system, where you can get a bigger picture of what roast color (degree) might do to the taste of your coffee. SCA tiles are expensive, but there are internet hacks out there. The Kenneth Davids book Home Coffee Roasting has 4 of the 8 Agtron tiles on the inside back cover, and there are internet hacks with paint swatches out there.
For aspects beyond color:
There’s a case there. Still haven’t throughly dismissed it.
Grind field:
Useless...no. Perhaps, purposed differently. That field, by design, is meant to be quantifiable, which cannot be achieved with an alphanumeric value. Its decimal nature is tightly integrated into Roastmaster’s reporting engine, to allow users to report on a range of cuppings at various grind settings, and see what the absolute numerical grind value does to the taste. Remember, that field houses a decimal number. You could divide the fine setting up into segments, and use that as the decimal portion. For example, say you grind on coarse setting 22, and on fine setting C. If the fine range is from A to J, assuming a is 0, then C would correspond to .20. So, the numerical equivalent would be 22.2.