Convertbot 1.2 and Weightbot 1.3 Preview
- April 28th, 2009
- 52 Comments
After a ton of hard work and lots of help from our localizers and beta testers we managed to get both Weightbot 1.3 and Convertbot 1.2 released this weekend, just in time for the ADA submission deadline. Read on for some details.
Convertbot 1.2
The second major update of Convertbot adds localization. We managed to add in support for French, German, Japanese and Spanish in this version. Many thanks to Guy Parrot, Maximilian Schöning, Yuzuru Shiraiwa and Martín Marconcini for spending a lot of time in getting all the hundreds of strings translated over. We’ve also managed to sneak in a few extra currencies, speed up the launch time and fix a couple minor UI bugs. And just for our English speaking cousins outside of the USA, Meter and Liter are now spelled as Metre and Litre (though the “correct” spelling is kept for folks in the US).
Weightbot 1.3
For Weightbot 1.3 we finally added in the long planned Data/Goal view. This view gives a simple way to look at your progress in reaching your weight loss or gain goals. I think it adds an entire new dimension to Weightbot and makes the app much more useful.
We also did a bit of visual clean up in the app, this is especially noticeable on the main screen. Here are the before and after shots (the left side is the updated version):
The change is very subtle, but it feels more in sync with Convertbot. The first thing we noticed about Weightbot when we finished Convertbot was that it looked so dated in comparison.
Coming up
Up next for Convertbot is more units, we’ve gotten a ton of suggestions and we’ll be going through them and implementing a number of them. For Weightbot we plan a full re-tooling of the Graph view, we’re not ready to share details, but we plan to make them a lot more useful. We also plan to get started on App #3 sometime in the next couple weeks.
Looking great! Love the teaser shot of the new UI
Excellent feat !!!! You guys are what iPhone apps are all about !!
Two of my favorite iPhone apps. Gorgeous design and wonderful, refined functionality. Congrats on breaking free to take on Tapbots full-time!
Another great update to a well designed iPhone application! Great to see attention to the small details.
It looks like better usability and easier view of how much weight was lost. Man that looks gorgeous. Horray to small type! :)
Incredible how an astonishing design can be improved yet!
One question, are we still going to have the graphs? Or are they gone?
Metre & Litre ARE the correct spellings and tis you who are the English speaking cousins. As you full well know you tricksters ;)
Really nice updates. Weightbot 1.3 looks great with this small details in the data “goal” view.
Is there a third bot in progress? :)
@Gerardo
The graph view is still there. We are also currently working on improving it. Rotating your device counter-clockwise now reveals the progress view and clockwise reveals the graphs.
Looking great – it’s very promising to see you are never willing to settle – even though you have arguably the nicest designed apps currently in the App Store.
Keep up the awesomeness!
Have to say weightbot has been a big factor in me losing weight – 25lb now!
Cheers lads
Whatever happened to the “Export your data into a portable format.” feature?
@BenJ
Programming is done, we just need to finish the UI for it.
These apps just keep getting better and better. Excellent work! Best looking app in the app store.
Guys, this update looks great! I felt like I was playing a “Find the changes” game, the changes were so subtle, but so much better! Great job!
Outstanding small apps… someday all apps will be made this way!
Would have bought this but I needed to track more than one person. Multiple profiles /accounts would be great
Great App,
…but I am really missing the graphs (monthly, yearly, and daily) since the last update (May 4th 09).
Please add them again in the next update.
Manfred
i love your apps and i’m already downloading the update! I’m just wondering if you can also add body fat tracking on weightbot. please? :)
the app is great, but i also realy missed the graphs… this is for me the best thing on weightbot… please give the graphs back!
Hi – nice update – many thanks for it. I use Weightbot on a daily basis. One thing: since I was looking for some time for the graphs – you should give the info on finding them by rotating the iphone in the opposite direction. I could only find it by reading the blog here.
mk
I like the new interface but found the graphs really useful. Now I’ve upgraded they have gone. Anh chance of getting them back?
I have installed 1.3. How do I access the new Data/Goal view? I cannot figure out how to do this. You provide no instructions at all.
You should certainly provide better documentation not only in the app itself but also on this web site.
And why is there an animated graphic of the sliding doors when the application launches? This slows the program down and does not add any functionality. It’s a “splash screen” with nothing on it. It annoys me and I want to turn it off.
I just discovered that you can change the graph view by double-tapping in the upper right hand corner (to see a graph for a week or a year).
I have owned this app since it first came out and I never knew this. Again, this is because you provide no useful documentation!
If there is documentation of this, you have it hidden on this web site or in the app itself. I cannot find it and it is not obvious.
Please stop focusing on your celebrated clean user interface and provide some useful documentation as to how to use the program. This is much more important than visual appearances!
where is the graph damn?
The graphs are still there. Just rotate the device clockwise instead of counter.
@Wheat
The starting animation has been there since weightbot 1.0. It just looks different now. And it’s not just a splash screen. The app is actually loading everything into memory at that time.
And there is a message that pops up right in the middle of the graphs telling you to double tap to change graph views. This shows up every single time you view the graphs until you actually try it. Either someone else did it on your device or you might have tried it a long time ago and just forgot about it. :)
WOW! Weightbot feels so ‘upgraded’ with the new look & feel. Congrats to both! Nice touch to put the graph to one side and the goal conversion to the other!
My girlfriend misses its loading weightbot screen though.. ;)
One thing to consider in Convertbot 1.3.. Fuel unit: KM / LT .. This is the unit we use in Mexico and other LatinAmerican country.. In Chile, for instance, hey use LT / 100km. (which you already have).
Thanks a lot for all you support…
and good luck at WWDC’s ADAs!!!!
Found the graphs :-)
Looks nice – how updated are the currency conversions or where are they coming from?
How about a nice 2-finger pinch/spread to change the graphs’ scales? It’s an iPhone/iPod ‘special’ multi-touch feature, and you have the perfect place/use for it!
Love the new app! Great work guys.
But I have to agree with some of the comments above. I really felt like you guys skipped the graph function in the update untill I read at this blog how to acces the view. Please include it in the instructions, so I won’t be the only one struggling to look for the graph in the next update; -)
hello i live in africa and we use XAF currency
1 Euros = 655, 957 XAF or 1XAF = 0,00152449 euro.
This rate is fixed, can’t change and there is no exchange rate.
or with convertbot 1 Euro gives 590,04 XAF. It’s false.
can you change this rate?
Thanks in advance
Love WeightBot – have recommended it to everyone I know who is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Being able to see weight loss averages, and timeline to reach goal (based on progress to date) is a nice addition.
Please add the information about the graphs being available to the Info page. I came to this site to write a comment asking for them back except they were never lost…
To TapBots: Thank you so much for this very very awesome app. I’m in high school and I have lost 23.5 pounds and I have never been happier with myself. Being able to track my weight and see my progress has been the biggest motivator for me, and I’m very grateful to you guys for developing such a great app that has inspired me to come this far.
Hi. CB with german localization is very nice. Thanks for that. Although there are some glitches, i.e. there are still some words left untranslated. Is there a fix planned?
in the ver 1.3 i’m missing the former graphs with the history of the weight.
Me too. I mean, I miss the graphical view after the update. But both, Convertbot and Weightbot, are the finest Apps for the iPhone. Good work. Thank you!
I love the apps, you turned the simple tools into something great, I’d love to see what you can do with a calculatorbot or rulerbot or databot… The possabilties are big, keep up the good work!
I have Convertbot and love it. I’m even considering buying Weightbot just because you deserve, even though it would have no use for me. ;-)
Have you thought about portuguese translations? (I live in Brazil)
If I may add a suggestion, what about shoe and cloth sizes? It would be of tremendous help, because it’s a complicated matter.
And for last, I did read the 24 bytes entry, and must say I’m with Ian, on the toggle suggestion for kilobytes as kibibytes.
Wonderful work, ‘Bots! I have and use both apps regularly – very fine.
One request:
On Weightbot, would love for the graphical/historical view to keep the same vertical scale as you track month-to-month, similar to the “streaming” daily view you can swipe side-to-side. The monthly view is great, but if changes in weight from month to month spanned larger or smaller relative ranges, the vertical scale changes to fit the display. Viewing a single, standalone month this is fine, but if you’re flipping through the months, the changing scale is a bit confusing.
Thanks and keep up the great work!
When will it be on sale again? :) $0.99
Love the Weightbot app and use it everyday. In the Weight/Progress/Time section I understand how the Time Passed is calculated but how is the Time Left calculated?
Cheers
Hi there
Thanks for a great Weightbot program.
You should really implement the graph calculating, that is used in ‘Hackers Diet’.
In my opinion it gives a much better representation of your loss/gain than the algorithm you use now.
Should be very easy for you to implement it, and let the user select which he wants to use.
The algorithm is easy, it has a calculated weight and a measured weight. Example:
Today:
Measured: 100 kg
Calculated: 100 kg. (now called C0)
Tommorov:
Measured 99 kg. M1
First calculate the change:
Change = C0-M1*0.1 rounded to 100 gram
Calculated weight is then C0-Chance today.
In this example the new calculated weight it:
100-(100-99)*0.1 = 99.9 kg
The calculated weight will slowly follow the measured weight in steps of 100 gram.
By using this way, it does not look like you gained 1 kg, just because you did not go to the toilet before measuring and stuff like that.
Hope it makes sense, else email me :)
Would be nice to have option to record %bodyfat as well. Many of us have bodyfat scales and it would be cool to monitor lean weight as well as total weight.
Great App in any case. I use it every day!
I know – stupid request, but today I needed to calc a weight based on density and volume and I needed to go from mm3 to cm3 – easy math, but I needed to confirm it (grew up with out metric system – US)….
I’m a happy owner of Weightbot, and you just sold me on switching from Units to Convertbot. Just bought it!
I have a request for Convertbot: could you add an option to set a default for each type of conversion? For example: each time I switch to currency, I would like it to default to USD - Euro, regardless of the last currency conversion that I made, because that is a conversion that I make often. Make sense?
Thanks for a great, visually gorgeous and fun iPhone conversion app.
Any news to when we’ll see weighbot 1.3?
Hello, will you support Serbian Dinar as possible currency later?
Convertbot is an useful tool. I like it.
Would you please add one more current — CNY?
Hello, great program, very useful. Would like to see a conversion from BTU to Therms. This would be helpful for my work. Thank you and keep up the good work.
AWESOME work on these apps! I’ve been using them for a while and they have (almost) everything I need with the best looking user friendly interface available on the AppStore.
Just one suggestion which I think many other people caring about their fitness would appreciate : body fat tracking included to Weighbot.
Are you planning to do that?
i love this iPhone app. it has been instrumental on my weight loss for the past 6 months.
two things:
l would like to echo Claus Jensen’s suggestion to provide an option (NOT totally replace) to use Hacker’s Diet algorithm in implementing the graph.
also, echoing Michael’s suggestion on using the 2-finger pinch/spread to change the graph…it’s more “natural” on an iPhone.
also, is it me? but i can NOT clear the passcode on the WeightBot.