Question about the app.

[pruppert]

I've read that the app is nearing an update. Hoorah!! Hopefully it
comes out soon. Any projected release date or window?

I noticed that you (Derrek) wrote that you had considered the pros and
cons of other apps as you began working on the update. I am wondering
if you reviewed any other nutrition data sources. Specifically, I
have found the website http://www.nutritiondata.com to be very useful
for monitoring nutrition information. They particularly have some
very visually appealing yet informative graphs for different foods
(eg., http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1809/5).
I was just curious if we can expect anything like that in the graphic
work that you've been working on. Can you post some screenshots?
Thanks.

-Phil

[Derrek]

Hello phil and welcome to the group!

There is no projected release date at this time. I will be putting up
a blog on or around june first to explain the delays and exactly what
we are working on.

I have reviewed many data sources for nutritional data. My primary
problem with them isn't what they represent, or how complete they are
(though this is an issue), it's whether or not the data you are
looking at is *actually* the food you have in front of you. If the
data doesn't match what you actually have, you can introduce quite a
bit of error in your data tracking. Example, one data source may put
peanut butter at 180 calories, another at 150. Even the same brand can
vary based on minor variations of the product (ultra creamy, crunchy,
super crunchy... etc). Additionally, no datasource has everything a
person might need. As such, we *highly* recommend that people enter
the data on the label. The same problems exist for exercise databases
since everyone burns calories differently. But, I've gotten off track
again....

The graphing on that site is interesting. Our graphing is not designed
to tell you how healthy or glycemic or anything else a food is (as on
that site). We aren't doctor's and our program is not here to tell you
how to eat healthy or what is or is not healthy. There simply isn't
any agreement in the medical community about what is universally
healthy. The simple answer for that is everyone is different. We
simply don't think it's appropriate for software to tell you what is
healthy. Our program is designed from the opposite point of view. You
get to tell it what you want to track (or what is healthy for you),
and then you see the results. You and your doctor can determine if
what you are doing is healthy for you. As such the program can be used
for nearly any nutrition tracking purpose or diet. Our focus is on
what you *have* done not what you will do. I do have some interesting
ideas for tools to help people make healthier choices but this is well
down the road. One thing at a time.

Just as an example of how you could use that site: you could create
your own field for fullness factor (you can do this in the current
version). In the upcoming version you will be able to graph this field
(or any other field) over time to see how spikes in one value relate
to spikes in another (weight, waist size, calorie intake, exercise
time... etc).

We've chosen this path because we believe it can help the most people.
The idea is to help people find their own healthy balance.

Screenshots will eventually be on the new blog I spoke of.

--Derrek

On May 26, 11:21 pm, pruppert <philliprupp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've read that the app is nearing an update.  Hoorah!! Hopefully it
> comes out soon. Any projected release date or window?
>
> I noticed that you (Derrek) wrote that you had considered the pros and
> cons of other apps as you began working on the update.  I am wondering
> if you reviewed any other nutrition data sources.  Specifically, I

> have found the websitehttp://www.nutritiondata.comto be very useful

> for monitoring nutrition information.  They particularly have some
> very visually appealing yet informative graphs for different foods

> (eg.,http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1809/5).

[pruppert]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Clearly, you're putting a
lot of thought into this. You said "But, I've gotten off track
again.... " but I actually enjoy hearing about the obstacles you run
into as you develop, not for any masochistic reasons, but because it
shows that you are actually taking the time to think about these
issues and produce a quality app as opposed to 95% of what is
currently in the app store. I'm looking forward to the blog and any
more anecdotes you could share regarding the things that you've had to
learn about or consider regarding nutrition and fitness as you develop
this app. Cheers.

> > have found the websitehttp://www.nutritiondata.comtobe very useful

[Derrek]

I'll be sure to talk about all of this on the blog! You may have
opened a can of worms on this!

I think the hardest thing for me is balancing what is most helpful for
an app to do vs. what it can do. Being an apple person, I believe
software should do fewer things extremely well. If you look at
garageband, iPhoto, iMovie and the other "Simple" apps you see that.
As a developer I keep wanting to make software do more. Those features
can have a diminishing return in terms of usefulness to the user. So I
have to keep pulling myself back and saying "should it do that?".

Anyway, back to work!

--Derrek

> > > have found the websitehttp://www.nutritiondata.comtobevery useful