Hello all,

I guess this is a more appropriate location than the general discussion but I guess the mode have the final say.

Does anyone know of a collection tracker? Specifically I am looking for an Android app. As far as I know it doesn't exist. Well there are the galleries on seibertron but I was looking for something a little different. I had considered writing one myself but I have only just started looking into it.

So any ideas? Is this even a worthwhile idea? Should I look at other options?

 

I've been mulling writing one to interface with the collection tracking system at shmax.com (I recently traded in my Palm Pre for a Galaxy S), but every time the issue comes up, I ask exactly what features one would expect from such an app, and all I get are crickets. So, what features would you expect?

 

A good reminder, Shmax. I'll try to remember to get back to your site one of these days.

 

Well it'd be a monstrous undertaking but I'd ideally be able to:

1) Sort by individual figures, what I mean is: I am a big soundwave fan I'd like to be able to sort for every soundwave ever created (or at least that are in the database), obviously other criteria would be faction, year of production

2) Picture of the figure in package and/or out of the package with list of accessories

3) "fun" things such as the tech specs etc, although to be honest i am not sure what is legally allowed for this sort of thing

4) i am not sure of the technical limitations of these kinds of programs but the ability to search ebay or a similar sight for a particular part or figure would be awesome. i don't anticipate this would really be feasible since i'd imagine it would require an absurd amount of work.

5) maybe a have and and wishlist to make easy porting for a trade site? for the card games i play deckbox.org has a pretty good setup, but i don't know how well it would translate to this.

there was other stuff but i have to find where i wrote it down.

 

We actually already have every single one of the features you mention on shmax.com (even the eBay lookup, and yes, it was a truly epic task); you could just load it up on any smartphone and use it as is (though admittedly load time is an issue for some networks). I guess I was expecting features more specifically tailored to the mobile platform. For example:

1) Use the camera to scan bar codes to instantly look up toys at the store, or add them to your collection (easy).

2) Use the camera to automatically identify parts and figures (difficult, but I'm itching to try)

etc.

 

Those were actually things I was thinking about as well, however I am still toying around with google goggles so I am not sure whether that functionality is needed although to be honest I have only just recently gotten into the world of smart phones. Either way it wouldn't hurt to have it rolled into a single application.

As for the ID'ing of parts I am not really sure how that would be implemented but it definitely would help when my girlfriend and I go garage sale hopping during the summer months and I am looking at pieces that I recognize but can't place.

I had thought maybe some kind of RSS feed related to when people post about sightings at various stores or something along those lines. However I don't know if that is worth the effort when you could subscribe to a thread for a given area.

You mentioned the mobile platform may cause some slowness issues accessing the site directly but I am not sure what he cost/benefit would look like for one built from the ground up for mobile platforms.

I feel dumb asking for something that already exists but I had no idea that your site was around so I will check it out and let you know if I think of something that isn't already a part of it. Guess I should've looked harder :L