Benjamin Ragheb's dashboard

Benjamin Ragheb started following the question "Please make Weightbot like EatWatchTM - but better!" in Tapbots.

Benjamin Ragheb replied on December 14, 2008 17:15 to the idea "Feedback on New Screenshots" in Benjamin Ragheb:

It looks like some of your comment got mangled around the "<18>".

Regardless, I don't disagree, the chart could look better. My first objective was to get all the math right so that it selects the correct areas of the chart (done) and next is to tweak the look. So I'll probably experiment with different colors or gradients and see what comes out best.

The fact that BMI doesn't work well for some people is why I wanted to make it optional --- turn it off and the chart, goal, and log screens work as they did before. I could have a series of Settings to enable BMI in each of these screens separately, but I really want to avoid a lot of Settings clutter.

Anyway, I'll definitely post an update when I try different looks for the chart. It is not likely going to be released as-is.

Benjamin Ragheb started following the question "Can I import data into weightbot?" in Tapbots.

Benjamin Ragheb started following the problem "Weight data from Weightbot?" in Tapbots.

Benjamin Ragheb started following the question "How does the backup work ?" in Tapbots.

Benjamin Ragheb started following the question "Feature Request: Stone(UK), Graph Annotations" in Tapbots.

Benjamin Ragheb replied on November 19, 2008 00:47 to the idea "Chart Improvement in y-Axis" in Benjamin Ragheb:

Sorry, I didn't realize I had forgotten to reply to this.

Basically, I agree with you about the problem, but it seems that the only solutions would be:

1. enable pinch-to-zoom

2. change chart scrolling so that it moves a month at a time (like browsing through photos, for example) rather than continuously (as it does now).

I think #1 would be best, though I'm setting that aside to work on other features currently. #2 would be a dramatic change from the way things work now. Perhaps a double-tap could switch between continuous scrolling and month-by-month scrolling, but that might make things a bit too complicated.

At any rate, I will be doing something to resolve this, though it isn't at the top of my plate right now.

A comment on the idea "New Chart Preview: what do you think?" in Benjamin Ragheb:

It's back In Review, but how long it takes Apple to approve it is anybody's guess.

Apple just announced they are lifting the NDA, which leads me to believe that eventually they'll also improve their black-box approval process... I hope. – Benjamin Ragheb, on October 02, 2008 10:33

A comment on the idea "Sharing Weight Data with Friends" in Benjamin Ragheb:

Are you talking about viewing other people's shared weight history on the iPhone with FatWatch? That would have a big impact on the app's overall design.

I think tracking your own weight is a mobile activity (you can take your iPhone with you to the scale) but deeply analyzing it or comparing others' is better left to a "real" computer. So I'm cool with FatWatch uploading your data to a server, but not so much with it downloading other people's data. – Benjamin Ragheb, on October 02, 2008 10:29

Benjamin Ragheb set one of Benjamin Ragheb's replies as an official response to "New Chart Preview: what do you think?" in Benjamin Ragheb

Benjamin Ragheb replied on September 30, 2008 23:46 to the idea "New Chart Preview: what do you think?" in Benjamin Ragheb:

The chart went through a few more iterations since I posted that screenshot. Here is a newer picture from FatWatch 1.3.

A comment on the idea "New Chart Preview: what do you think?" in Benjamin Ragheb:

Apple's review process is driving me crazy too. – Benjamin Ragheb, on September 30, 2008 23:40

Benjamin Ragheb replied on September 30, 2008 23:38 to the problem "Slow Chart/Crash on Chart View" in Benjamin Ragheb:

The problem is that FatWatch 1.1 draws the chart for your entire history before it displays anything, so as you add more data, it gets slower and eats more memory...

The good news is that FatWatch 1.3 (the next update, in review) fixes this by drawing the chart on demand, as you scroll, so it loads quickly and only uses as much memory as it needs.

I wish I could tell you when the update will be available, but we're both at Apple's mercy right now. Hopefully soon!

Benjamin Ragheb started following the idea "Sharing Weight Data with Friends" in Benjamin Ragheb.

Benjamin Ragheb replied on September 30, 2008 23:33 to the idea "Sharing Weight Data with Friends" in Benjamin Ragheb:

I am definitely in favor of such a feature, though there are a million ways to do it. I'd really like to leverage what is already out there before I create my own web service. Some ideas I've been considering that might get you where you want:

- sync your weight history with a Google spreadsheet
- sync your weight history with the Hacker's Diet Online
- export chart images to your computer, or allow you to upload them to a website or photo sharing site

A comment on the idea "Seeing your Goal weight in other views" in Benjamin Ragheb:

Regarding calorie surplus or deficit, these values can only be computed over a span of several days, because they are a measure of change over time.

The Trends tab will display these numbers for various spans, depending on how much information you have entered. After your first 2 entries, it will show data for the Past Week; when you have more data, it will show Past Two Weeks, then Past Month, and so on. – Benjamin Ragheb, on September 18, 2008 20:33

A comment on the idea "Seeing your Goal weight in other views" in Benjamin Ragheb:

The reason the numbers do not match is that the Goal screen is using the weight from your trend line (the moving average) instead of what the scale read that day.

For example, if your scale reading was 200 but you have been losing weight, the log entry for the day might read "200 lbs -0.4". That second number is the Variance, the difference between the trend line and your weight that day. If you add them back together, you get the trend weight for the day (200.4 lbs) and that is the number that the Goal screen uses. – Benjamin Ragheb, on September 18, 2008 20:31

A comment on the idea "New Chart Preview: what do you think?" in Benjamin Ragheb:

Thanks for the feedback. I'll think about how to work it in.

CSV export is a good way to backup your weight history or transfer it to another iPhone if you ever upgrade; even if it isn't popular, it needs to preserve all of your data. – Benjamin Ragheb, on September 10, 2008 18:18

A comment on the idea "New Chart Preview: what do you think?" in Benjamin Ragheb:

Let's say in your example that Cardio is red and Weights is blue. Is it a choice of one (Cardio OR Weights OR none) or is it a set of on/off switches (also allow Cardio AND Weights as an option)?

If it is a choice of one, then it is obvious what to do in the rest of the application: on the log view the check is colored red or blue; on the chart view the tick is colored red or blue; when I export to CSV the Check column is either 1 or 2.

If I am allowed to enable both, then I'm not sure what happens in the other views. On the log view there could be a set of colored boxes, some on, some off. When you export a file I could add extra columns (but that would make import/export more complicated because I can no longer assume the same order of columns). I have no idea what to do on the chart, since the dots aren't big enough to contain multiple colors.

The first way would be less disruptive to the existing program, but I'll bet most people want a system where they can enable multiple ticks (i.e., the second way).

Your thoughts? – Benjamin Ragheb, on September 03, 2008 21:16

A comment on the idea "New Chart Preview: what do you think?" in Benjamin Ragheb:

I'm not sure what you mean by "more customisable ticks"; do you mean that instead of marking the day with a check or no check, you want something like: red on/off, blue on/off, green on/off, yellow on/off?

While I appreciate that a single check on/off may not be enough for everybody, I don't want to overwhelm the application with too many buttons. If you have any specific ideas of how to add more ticks while keeping things simple, I'd love to hear them. – Benjamin Ragheb, on August 31, 2008 05:56