Published Power Cut Android App

[Raghu Saboo]

Folks,

Published the app today on Android Market

Also check this 2 min intro video.

The data is right now going into test.powercuts,in & not our main server at powercuts.in. So log reports freely!

Let me know the goods and bads. Publicize. Keep the momentum going.

--

-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Ajay Kumar]

Great! And congratulations on the release :) will get back to base in 2 days where I'll have good Internet to view videos etc..

More soon...

Sent from iPhone

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Discussion list for http://PowerCuts.IN

[Manish Malik]

The screenshots + video look great. Congratulations!

[Ajay Kumar]

On 27 July 2011 22:37, Raghu Saboo <raghvend...@gmail.com> wrote:

Folks,

Published the app today on Android Market

Also check this 2 min intro video.

The data is right now going into test.powercuts,in & not our main server at powercuts.in. So log reports freely!

Let me know the goods and bads. Publicize. Keep the momentum going.

I just saw the video :)

I havent tested the app - no android with me :D But can I tweet about this inviting testers/feedback?

Tweet: "Testing/Feedback: Any Android users want to test the #powercutindia app that @saboorag built?"

Also the bottom I see it says "Powering http://powercuts.in"

I'd remove the word "powering" and put something else, like "Supporting"

Or just the URL is enough.

And once again, great job :D 

--
Best Regards,

Ajay Kumar

http://aju.bz/me

[Raghu Saboo]

Thanks Manish & Ajay. Hope you had a good sleep :-)

For Twitter shouts I'll prefer to highlight the apps touted USP "Report powercuts in less than 20 seconds. Checkout powercuts.in app on Android market https://market.android.com/details?id=com.yuvera.powercut&feature=search_result"

I'll update the app on weekend or Monday to point to prod server. Few bugs & will remove "Powering".

There has been a drop in reports. So good time for some shouts again. 

Btw, look at the global appeal !

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Discussion list for http://PowerCuts.IN

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-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Ajay Kumar]

On 29-07-2011 16:54, Raghu Saboo wrote:

Thanks Manish & Ajay. Hope you had a good sleep :-)

For Twitter shouts I'll prefer to highlight the apps touted USP "Report powercuts in less than 20 seconds. Checkout powercuts.in app on Android market https://market.android.com/details?id=com.yuvera.powercut&feature=search_result"

But since it points to the "Test" URL now, I still feel we should tweet inviting feedback. When you change it to the PROD url. We can do the shoutouts in that way :)

-- 
Thanks & Regards,

Ajay Kumar
http://aju.bz/me

[Raghu Saboo]

The app (ver 1.1) is now talking to powercuts.in

Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.yuvera.powercut

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 10:37 PM, Raghu Saboo <raghvend...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Raghu Saboo]

Ajay,

The android app is now ready to be added to powercuts.in homepage. 

--

-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Ajay Kumar]

Give me 24 hours :) will do.

Sent from iPhone

[Raghu Saboo]

Ajay,

Busy / Forgot ? :-)

& is the SMS thing ready ? I heard some comments like "the reports are mostly from area which are already well served. acutely power starved areas have neither power, computer, smartphones and awareness to report the cuts". Seems crucial.

--

-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Ajay Kumar]

On 17 August 2011 06:39, Raghu Saboo <raghvend...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ajay,

Busy / Forgot ? :-)

Nope. Just was without internet and travelling.

--
Best Regards,

Ajay Kumar

http://aju.bz/me

[Ajay Kumar]

Just updated the info on the site. Flaky Internet and power here :)

Sent from iPhone

[Raghu Saboo]

Cool. Thx. Will now try to increase the reporting.

[Ajay Kumar]

On 17-08-2011 20:30, Raghu Saboo wrote:
> Cool. Thx. Will now try to increase the reporting.

I just checked the Approved reports. They are still not consistent with
the decided upon/documented ones as per the Moderation Guideline.

Can you check the format before approving reports?

http://wiki.ictd.asia/PowerCutsIN_Moderators_Guide

For e.g. from the recent reports:
* Unplanned is written as "UnPlanned" - should be "Unplanned"

Also date we already have that from the Date/Time stamp of reports so no
need to include that in the Title.

Also I noted #pcia in some reports. Are those coming from your Android app?

--
Thanks & Regards,

Ajay Kumar
http://aju.bz/me

[Raghu Saboo]

On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 8:45 PM, Ajay Kumar <ma...@ajuonline.net> wrote:

On 17-08-2011 20:30, Raghu Saboo wrote:
> Cool. Thx. Will now try to increase the reporting.

I just checked the Approved reports. They are still not consistent with
the decided upon/documented ones as per the Moderation Guideline.

Can you check the format before approving reports?

http://wiki.ictd.asia/PowerCutsIN_Moderators_Guide

For e.g. from the recent reports:
* Unplanned  is written as "UnPlanned" - should be "Unplanned"

 

Correcting that.

 

Also date we already have that from the Date/Time stamp of reports so no
need to include that in the Title.

I followed what was there before you corrected it :-) http://wiki.ictd.asia/index.php?title=PowerCutsIN_Moderators_Guide&action=historysubmit&diff=555&oldid=529 

Seems Ushahidi is showing the "record" creation date-time, not the powercut date-time. One can submit a powercut that happened day/s before. Secondly, I am not sure if it shows that date formatted to user's TZ.

With these, you think the date should be removed. I think for a powercuts.in visitor, we should spare the effort to move the eyes on right to see the date of cut. What say ? 

Also I noted #pcia in some reports. Are those coming from your Android app?

Ahh yes. Please ignore it for now. I need it for "alerts"/"reminder" feature I am building. Will find a better way; might have to fiddle with Ushahidi source/settings. 

There is also a "[ Power Cut ]" when the user doesn't provide a comment. I think Ushahidi POST api was rejecting the report without comment. Have to verify that again.

--
Thanks & Regards,

Ajay Kumar
http://aju.bz/me

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Discussion list for http://PowerCuts.IN

--

-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Ajay Kumar]

On 17-08-2011 21:54, Raghu Saboo wrote:

Also date we already have that from the Date/Time stamp of reports so no
need to include that in the Title.

I followed what was there before you corrected it :-) http://wiki.ictd.asia/index.php?title=PowerCutsIN_Moderators_Guide&action=historysubmit&diff=555&oldid=529 

Seems Ushahidi is showing the "record" creation date-time, not the powercut date-time. One can submit a powercut that happened day/s before. Secondly, I am not sure if it shows that date formatted to user's TZ.

With these, you think the date should be removed. I think for a powercuts.in visitor, we should spare the effort to move the eyes on right to see the date of cut. What say ?

Had to correct that since we have not been including dates in the report titles since quite some time: http://powercuts.in/reports/view/591
The title itself includes a lot so I wanted to include important stuff in the title. Date/Time/Location/Type. So I still don't think which one to cut short.
My reasoning was, since Ushahidi by default doesnt have a mechanism to show durations, i.e. Start and End times, we include that. For everything else, like Date/Location etc they are listed and sorted in that way. Sorted timewise.

I think Manish pointed out that there is some issue similar to what you said when it comes to Ushahidi API's TZ/Reporting time handling.

I think better test it out first and then modify app accordingly?
Ideally your app should send powercuts.in start/end time and date when the cut occurs not when the incident is reported.

[Ajay Kumar]

On 29 July 2011 16:54, Raghu Saboo <raghvend...@gmail.com> wrote:

For Twitter shouts I'll prefer to highlight the apps touted USP "Report powercuts in less than 20 seconds. Checkout powercuts.in app on Android market https://market.android.com/details?id=com.yuvera.powercut&feature=search_result"

Raghu,

One feature request for your Android App :o)

Can you add an option of "Send Report using SMS" in case there is no internet etc.

Where by the application sends me the Location GPS Coordinates and Category/Comments/Time/Duration as an SMS to our number?

Instead of the Location name etc, the GPS Coordinates here is crucial.

[Raghu Saboo]

Ajay,

Yes, its possible to send SMS with GPS coordinates.

But who would have a phone with GPS chip without having a GPRS plan? Descent Android phones start from Rs 8K & it's pretty much a dumb phone without internet.

So, how much likely is this use-case ?

Btw, just in case you were not aware, the app works without GPS too, using cell tower triangulation, which in high tower density areas is pretty much accurate for our needs.

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Discussion list for http://PowerCuts.IN

--

-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Ajay Kumar]

On 22 August 2011 09:18, Raghu Saboo <raghvend...@gmail.com> wrote:

But who would have a phone with GPS chip without having a GPRS plan?

Its about giving users an extra option. Also GPRS might not work always. Also because, SMS works on low network strength as well, while GPRS might not.

[Raghu Saboo]

I have not seen apps providing failover option for network. (counter point: But then there are not a lot of apps for 3rd world)

The biggest deterrent is this.

People don't like to install "unbranded" apps that send/recieve call-logs / SMS. This page is presented on/before installing the app & deters people.

But guess I know where are you coming from, you travel a lot & would have seen patchy data connectivity.

But my argument is that Android phones are not yet less available for less than 5K. There would be very few people in hinterlands using them.

That should change with time, hopefully. Right now I believe the primary audience for smartphone apps is big & small city dweller. I'd prefer 10 new urban guy to install the app than to provide failover for 1 with patchy data connectivity.

Would love to hear from Manish too.

 

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Discussion list for http://PowerCuts.IN

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-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Asmita]

Hi Ajay, Raghu,

Sorry for butting in here especially since I have little knowledge about app development but do we have a document with specifications about the app? It would be good to have one along with various options being considered, pros & cons About each option also included. This will help us to rework the app as reality changes (esp Android phones becoming commonplace in a year's time). Also we wouldn't be dependent on availability of a person to make changes.

Regards,
Asmita

[Raghu]

The app's mockup is what I treated as functional spec.
http://www.slideshare.net/raghvendrasaboo/power-cut-android-app-prototype

On Aug 22, 12:22 pm, Asmita <asmita1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Ajay, Raghu,
>
> Sorry for butting in here especially since I have little knowledge about app
> development but do we have a document with specifications about the app? It
> would be good to have one along with various options being considered, pros
> & cons About each option also included. This will help us to rework the app
> as reality changes (esp Android phones becoming commonplace in a year's
> time). Also we wouldn't be dependent on availability of a person to make
> changes.
>
> Regards,
> Asmita
>

> On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 11:02 AM, Raghu Saboo <raghvendra.sa...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > I have not seen apps providing failover option for network. (counter point:
> > But then there are not a lot of apps for 3rd world)

> > The biggest deterrent is this<http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=android+permission+sms+send&hl=en&sa...>
> > .

> > People don't like to install "unbranded" apps that send/recieve call-logs /
> > SMS. This page is presented on/before installing the app & deters people.
>
> > But guess I know where are you coming from, you travel a lot & would have
> > seen patchy data connectivity.
> > But my argument is that Android phones are not yet less available for less
> > than 5K. There would be very few people in hinterlands using them.
>
> > That should change with time, hopefully. Right now I believe the primary
> > audience for smartphone apps is big & small city dweller. I'd prefer 10 new
> > urban guy to install the app than to provide failover for 1 with patchy data
> > connectivity.
>
> > Would love to hear from Manish too.
>

> > On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 10:22 AM, Ajay Kumar <ajuonl...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> >> On 22 August 2011 09:18, Raghu Saboo <raghvendra.sa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>> But who would have a phone with GPS chip without having a GPRS plan?
>
> >> Its about giving users an extra option. Also GPRS might not work always.
> >> Also because, SMS works on low network strength as well, while GPRS might
> >> not.
>
> >> --
> >> Best Regards,
>
> >> Ajay Kumar
>
> >>http://aju.bz/me
>
> >> --

> >> Discussion list forhttp://PowerCuts.IN
>
> > --
> > -Raghu
> >http://twitter.com/saboorag<http://twitter.com/#%21/saboorag>
>
> >  --
> > Discussion list forhttp://PowerCuts.IN

[Ajay Kumar]

On 22 August 2011 12:52, Asmita <asmit...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry for butting in here especially since I have little knowledge about app development but do we have a document with specifications about the app? It would be good to have one along with various options being considered, pros & cons About each option also included. This will help us to rework the app as reality changes (esp Android phones becoming commonplace in a year's time). Also we wouldn't be dependent on availability of a person to make changes.

Re: Dependency:

Thats only possible if the developers of the App, release the "Source Code" under some Open Source license and make it public. Currently volunteers like Raghoo and Manish(HazelMedia) have made the apps as a support/Pro Bono towards the project.

Afaik the alternative is concerned, since we use the Ushahidi platform they already have the "Apps" for Android/iPhone which we also use - like any other Ushahidi deployment/site can for free - and it is free and open source. Code hosted here: https://github.com/ushahidi/

So we can always get into that code and make changes as per our requirements, when needed. Or ask Ushahidi guys for support.

[Ajay Kumar]

On 22 August 2011 12:52, Asmita <asmit...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

> Sorry for butting in here especially since I have little knowledge about app
> development but do we have a document with specifications about the app?

Also we had a discussion where we thought we should have consistency
in various "User Experiences" pertaining to our site where many people
might build apps/sites to report/let users use our platform.

This is a document in work:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nF03H6gvzvr3Ex_3KeJy_2G2x3H2Mjcinn0GPlYhsNo/edit?hl=en_US

The objective is to decide on some common minimum standards, so that
we have a consistent user experience across various mediums.

[Manish Malik]

Agreed about the deterrent problem with the Android install-time permissions. They didn't include a way for an Android app to only ask at runtime whenever it wants to _actually_ use the SMS functionality.

The alternative to this could be user-choice. i.e. Keep the primary Android application as it is (without the failover). Another version (descriptive title, for example, "Powercuts India with SMS") could be uploaded with a link for it on the website and in the primary Android App.

Anyone who wants to download the SMS-enabled version, would be able to do so in this way. The rest won't be bothered.

Best,
Manish

[Raghu Saboo]

Thanks Manish for the suggestion.

Expanding on that, I can create an "allied" app that won't have an user interface but would be auto started when delivering report fails due to absence of data connectivity.

It would handle just the SMS sending part. 

Those who don't have connectivity problem will install only the primary app.

Those needing SMS based reports will additionally download the allied app.

The interface to create the report would be the primary app. Secondary app would be headless & auto-invoked.

That should meet all the needs. Will start on it soon.

-Raghu

[Ajay Kumar]

On 26 August 2011 15:37, Raghu Saboo <raghvend...@gmail.com> wrote:

The interface to create the report would be the primary app. Secondary app would be headless & auto-invoked.

The reports coming in from your Android App have incorrect time.

For e.g. http://powercuts.in/reports/view/851

http://powercuts.in/admin/reports/edit/851 

Says, the power cut was 06:07 AM however the system time recorded for this record shows 00:37 AM.

Also since "endtime" plug in is a third party plugin, i doubt the Ushahidi native API has a way to include that in the calls? since the system doesn't read them that way..

Any work arounds?

[Raghu Saboo]

It's 4:45 PM right now & I know that there will be a power cut from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. The SEB didn't announce that. But it has been happening for last 3 days. So in app, at 4:45 PM, I say Unplanned cut from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

That's essentially a prediction. :-)

I will prevent sending report where unplanned cut start time > current time. 

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Discussion list for http://PowerCuts.IN

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-Raghu

http://twitter.com/saboorag

[Ajay Kumar]

On 2 September 2011 16:54, Raghu Saboo <raghvend...@gmail.com> wrote:

It's 4:45 PM right now & I know that there will be a power cut from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. The SEB didn't announce that. But it has been happening for last 3 days. So in app, at 4:45 PM, I say Unplanned cut from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

That's essentially a prediction. :-)

I will prevent sending report where unplanned cut start time > current time. 

I am not sure about this. However the scenario/reports that I am talking about appear to be a GMT issue. Which means, either the Ushahidi API doesnt work as per locale settings i.e. GMT+0530 hours.

Check the time stamps . There is a clear difference of 0530 hours.

The reports coming in from your Android App have incorrect time.

For e.g. http://powercuts.in/reports/view/851

http://powercuts.in/admin/reports/edit/851 

Says, the power cut was 06:07 AM however the system time recorded for this record shows 00:37 AM.

[Ajay Kumar]

Found another report with weird time:
http://powercuts.in/admin/reports/edit/843/

Report title says: Planned - 07:18 PM to 07:14 PM - 19-08-2011 - Outer
Ring Rd, Sanjivini Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka

Ushahidi Time field says: 01:48 PM.

--
Thanks & Regards,

Ajay Kumar
http://aju.bz/me