More tracking fields, Less clicks

[xeruf]

Just found your app, and it is the foundation for something I have been looking for for a while:
I want to track things in my life so I can find patterns, such as sleep length, specific dietary components (gluten, milk, ...) and whether they may be linked to diarrhea, moods, medications and more.
Of course in the future it would be nice to be able to find patterns automatically, but maybe that is also something for a separate app.

What I care about right now: There are too many clicks.
When you open the app, instead of the plus button, why not right away have a textbox at the bottom where you can click into and start typing?
Plus, autocompletion would be great if you track similar things repeatedly (also a dropdown when you enter the textbox).
And then having to select between size, number and fraction with a dropdown I find a bit silly, why not have three rows with all options at once instead of all the empty space?

Right now I need to click:

• add note
• click the textfield
• choose unit type from amount dropdown
• enter amount
• hit save

Ideally I would:

• click the textfield
• enter amount

If it is designed without a separate screen, the amount could be automatically saved once I leave the textfield, or a small save button as usual.
Establishing such a habit of tracking small things all the time for me is all about it being frictionless, and this is my vision to it.

I personally also am not a big fan of freetext notes as main note - I would like to add things to track and then maybe add a note to it.
So I create a list of things to track, such as "Meal", "Zinc Supplement", "Sleep" and then for the first I add which potential allergens it had as freetext, for the second the amount, for the third the hours - so basically having templates instead of it being completely freetext.

All that said, thanks for building this and I hope we can get somewhere with this - I am also open to do a small donation if those things can be implemented satisfactorily :)

[jake-traced-it]

Hi, thanks so much for your feedback and ideas! We will take it into consideration when working on the next version of the app.

Regarding the autocompletion and selection between size / number / fraction: The purple + buttons on the "Your notes" screen should provide these features to some extent.

For example in the following screenshot, when you tap the purple + button by the "Apples (S)" note, then the app will take you to an "Add note" screen, in which:

• the "Apples" text is prefilled -- as if there was an autocomplete,
• the size unit is selected and "S" is prefilled -- so you don't need to select between size /number / fraction, when you often use the size unit for apples.

Do you use this feature?

[xeruf]

Oh I missed that, thanks that helps a lot!

So to summarize my open points:

• quick add instead of separate button to add
• utilise screen estate to minimize back and forth
• split into item - note - amount
• when clicking on the plus, focus should automatically be in the amount field (if it's a number) or in the note field - just one less tap needed makes a difference in such an app
• customize timestamp: Allow to edit time of the already existing items. #4

[jake-traced-it]

Cool.

Thanks again for you ideas. We really appreciate the feedback!

quick add instead of separate button to add

We will probably keep the list screen and new note screen separate for the time being, because when each screen has a distinct function, then the app is easier to understand, especially for new users. And making the app easy to understand is as important for us as minimizing the number of taps.

That said, we will probably add a way how to add new notes without launching the app, for example by using a Quick Settings tile.

utilise screen estate to minimize back and forth

Same here. To keep the app easy to understand, we are unlikely to show more than one amount unit at the same time on the add note screen for the time being. We will use the screen estate for the time input.

split into item - note - amount

Could you please point to the part of your initial message that this refers to?

when clicking on the plus, focus should automatically be in the amount field (if it's a number) or in the note field - just one less tap needed makes a difference in such an app

Good catch! I made a separate issue for that #28

customize timestamp

Absolutely. It will be implemented soon!

[xeruf]

Thanks for the thoughtful considerations!
I have my own takes as a power user but can understand your points.

Could you please point to the part of your initial message that this refers to?

Related to this:

I personally also am not a big fan of freetext notes as main note - I would like to add things to track and then maybe add a note to it. So I create a list of things to track, such as "Meal", "Zinc Supplement", "Sleep" and then for the first I add which potential allergens it had as freetext, for the second the amount, for the third the hours - so basically having templates instead of it being completely freetext.

For example I want to find out whether I have an issue with wheat/gluten consumption, so I track "Wheat", then an amount (xs for traces, s for small snack, ... - I do like those simple rough measurements sometimes) and in a separate note I might put what it was - bread, pasta, etc.
So if I use the plus to re-track this item, only the item name is copied, not the extra note.

[jake-traced-it]

I see. Thanks for the clarification

[jake-traced-it]

By the way, to get an approval to publish the app on Google Play, we're still looking for a couple of people to install the Google Play testing version of the app (it's the same as the F-Droid / Izzy / GitHub one). So if you use Google and if it would be convenient for you, you can send me an email to jake at traced-it dot app and I'll invite you.

[xeruf]

right now I don't have a phone with google services but will keep it in mind ;)

[jake-traced-it]

Cool, thanks :)

[xeruf]

by the way I rediscovered my notes on how I envisioned such an app a while back:

Track various health factors swiftly,
such as sleep and different dietary components
you suspect of having a negative impact.
Only needs one main screen:

• vertical scale with scale, by default 0 to 9 on the left
• a few vertically arranged buttons of things to track with clear configurable icons, such as:
  • sleep hours
  • diary products
  • wheat / gluten
  • stool firmness
  • alertness

Select the value on the scale,
and once you click the button it is tracked,
enabling you to track within seconds.