Writing an iPhone Application - input requested

cplayer · #1 03-30-2008, 09:16 PM

Okay, I have a company who has supplied me with a Mac Pro tower to write an app for the iPhone. They don't care what my first one is, they're lending me the computer so I can learn and be ready when their real app is ready to be coded.

I'm a programmer by trade and want to write a mileage/fuel tracker and need input from the community here on what features they'd like to see and how much it should cost.

I want to write something people will find useful and that will give me a focus for learning the language, making a profit is not a concern - it would be nice, don't get me wrong, but that's not the main focus.

Any & all help will be greatly appreciated.

IPlayTrumpets · #2 03-30-2008, 09:40 PM

Interesting - I do a bit of programming as well, and have toyed with the idea of writing a mileage/MPG Java ME program for phones (like Motorola's Razr) running the Java ME platform.

Obviously my input on features would be a bit skewed since I program and wouldn't have a true "End User" perspective. But I am curious about your project. I don't consider myself a "professional" programmer - I only did 2 years of it in school and ended up in another field. But - I do still program on the side for myself and the company I work for (although programming is NOT my primary responsibility there).

What language will you be using? Does the iPhone use some implementation of the Java ME platform?

Sorry to ramble. Do let me know if I can be of any help...

Right Lane Cruiser · #3 03-31-2008, 07:08 AM

Hi, Cplayer! I take it your name is a reference to either music or programming?

I'd like to see a mileage tracker with the same feature set as our mileage logs here. In other words, track fill date, amount, cost, miles, percentage of EPA, and a graph. Sorting of columns would be good, as well as the ability to add individual trips with weather data (which is what I do manually in the Notes app on the iPhone right now), complete with an export/import function of some type.

I don't ask for much do I.

As for cost, that one I'm not sure about. If it had enough features I'd consider $10-$12 for it, but then again I don't buy much software and consider myself pretty cheap.

cplayer · #4 03-31-2008, 09:47 AM

Thanks for the input so far!

IPlayTrumpets - iPhone is coded in Objective-C, similar to C, C++. It actually runs a slimmed down version of Mac OS 10.5. Very powerful little devices.

Cruiser - great suggestion on weather data. Hadn't thought of that. My screen name here is actually my real name (first name Chuck). Creative, I know. I'm thinking $9.99 for cost, keep it in line with an album purchase price.

CptanPanic · #5 03-31-2008, 10:26 AM

Not to criticize, but since the iphone is always connected to the web, it would be better to have an iphone version of the mileage log webpage so you can input data on the go. As far as a native version you could make an local interface that maybe uploads the data to the site to make it more usable. Just my .02$
CP

JusBringIt · #6 03-31-2008, 10:42 AM

Ok it seems like we have couple different ideas here, one is to input data, the other is to log data...i think the inputting would be quite a bit much simpler....and already integrated into the iphone itself since it is connected to the web.

as for the data calculator information, wouldnt this be the same as what a scanguage does? how then would it read the information from the car?

the data logger seems a bit more practical, but the data calculator would be a bit more useful in coming up with something different. what am I missing here?

Right Lane Cruiser · #7 03-31-2008, 01:07 PM

Let me put it this way. If you've seen my daily grind posts, that's basically what I record on my phone after every trip:

Date
Trip mileage and distance
Tank mileage and distance
Fuel left
Temperature, wind, and road conditions

If I have a fill I also record total miles on the car, the fill amount, and the per gallon cost.

All of this gets transfered to the Daily Grind threads in some fashion but only the tank data goes into the Mileage Logs. It would be nice to have some program I could input the data to instead of just NotePad that would show me a graphical trend for my trip data and let me sort the data in whatever fashion I'd like. Export/import functions would be nice so that I can back up that data on my computer.

Whether or not this bears any resemblance to what CPlayer has in mind I couldn't tell you, but that is what immediately occurred to me when he described his idea -- mostly because that's pretty much what I do by hand. I toyed with the idea of doing it myself but if he can do it (and has the time to do so!!) I'll gladly pay him for it.

JusBringIt · #8 03-31-2008, 05:34 PM

sounds good'nuff! too bad there isnt a way to upload it directly from the sg...

cplayer · #9 03-31-2008, 07:00 PM

The iPhone's aren't technically "always" connected to the web- that would drain the battery quickly. They connect more on an "as needed" basis. That being said, there's nothing to prevent a post of data to the web.

Sean, I'm thinking almost exactly along the same lines as you. I'll post a "functional document" in a week when it's done.

All of these posts have been helpful! Keep em coming!

IPlayTrumpets · #10 03-31-2008, 08:54 PM

Ah - that makes sense...the C languages can be very efficient w/ resource usage on a mobile device. Most of the programs on my Palm are coded in C/C++.....just make sure you do garbage collection....Java handles it for you, but you have to mind your Ps and Qs w/ C...(I'm sure you already knew that).

I just realized - I have a Mileage log program on my Palm (QuickMile). I use it for work. It doesn't do gas mileage, but it has some very useful features that could be implemented in such a program.
1. It gets the time/date stamp from the system. You can then edit it if it is not correct (in case you are entering the trip after the fact).
2. You can export the log to text, word, or excel files (I imagine you could do the same for Mac word processors and spreadsheets).
3. After exporting you can delete the data and start over at the last logged mileage (to conserve memory - not that the data is that memory-intensive). I imagine you could have it retain the average MPG number even after such a deletion.
4. You can do multiple vehicles
5. You can keep a service log as well.

Just a few ideas