Posted: 3/14/2017 5:15:31 PM EDT
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So awhile ago, I got on an organization kick and decided to inventory and organize my firearm collection. I went looking for an inventory application and was unable to find any existing applications that worked like I wanted. So, I wrote my own. After finishing the app and completing the organization / inventory and sharing with a few friends, I decided to upload it to the app store (Windows). Anyways, it’s been on the store for about thirty days, and gets pretty much no traffic and looking at the app store telemetry I think it’s pretty much one time downloads and then deleted. I figure there are a few things going on.
First, I’m probably suffering from some bias here, what I think is useful may not actually be useful to the rest of the world. Second, the people I showed the app with are all millennial gun owners and it looks like everybody that has downloaded the app is primarily older than 50, and perhaps may not find it at all intuitive and are giving up. Thirdly, I’m guessing it’s a really small number of people that desire to inventory and keep records on their collection to the extent I do and of those that do, the number that would be willing to use a PC and willing to look on the store for an app is probably quite small, especially without any advertising. Having said all that, what would you do if you were me, leave it alone and see what happens, try to get some older people to look at it, delete it and go shooting, something else? |
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Your number one problem is the windows app store. You are reaching what, 2% of the possible market? |
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No one uses the Windows app store. port it to iOS and you might have a better market. |
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While I'm certain that an iOS app would have way more success, I have absolutely zero experience with iOS development. This all started out because I had a surface pro and needed a better way to complete an inventory, well that and it was a challenge. Quoted:
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No one uses the Windows app store. port it to iOS and you might have a better market. |
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How many people have enough guns to where they need a database app to keep track of them?
Mostly older guys, right? I don't think IOS or Android or any smart-phone based app or os will appeal to them. Not Linux either. These are Windows people all the way. These guys may not have the latest Windows version, so you might to support OS's as old as XP. WIN32 or .NET being the best options for development. After that, you need to stand out above the competition. Maybe add a feature to log rounds fired, type/load/maker of ammo, as well as date weapon was cleaned and/or sent to the gunsmith for work. IOW, full details pertaining to the gun including storing pics in multiple image formats. Then a reporting function to report on things like gun most fired, most used caliber or ammo type/load/maker most used, when gun most used, etc. Full data mining, reporting and graphs. A real collector will appreciate that. Oh, and use a royalty-free database like the various free MS desktop databases based on SQL Server or a linked-in database such as SQLLite (via C++/CLI if .NET). If it's no better than an interface over MS Access, it won't stand apart. A real comprehensive app with data mining is something a collector will appreciate. And imagine if you sell a gun and provide a full report with it like a CarFAX? The report includes a list of every date the gun was fired, what ammo/amount was used, when it was cleaned and with what cleaners. Shit, I'm getting a chubby just thinking about it (must be the German in me.) 
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While I'm certain that an iOS app would have way more success, I have absolutely zero experience with iOS development. This all started out because I had a surface pro and needed a better way to complete an inventory, well that and it was a challenge. Quoted:
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No one uses the Windows app store. port it to iOS and you might have a better market. You have to know your customer demographics. 
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This kind of app idea highlights something missing from the app marketplace:
INTEGRITY If I'm going to load up an app with precious data like gun collection details, I want to know that data won't be duplicated/shared for any reason whatsoever. There ought to be some blanket, reproduceable EULA clause that is a bullet point on the feature list, eg "Conforms with HEAVILYARMED Data Security v1.1" that punishes the app developer for unauthorized sharing. And, agree with previous comments on the Windows store, it sucks. |
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iOS is for mobile devices. The kind of people who need to inventory a lot of guns will be using desktop apps to do it, not a cell phone or tablet. Picture men aged 40-80. That's the major gun collector market. Many still have flip phones. They sure as hell avoid any screen smaller than 17" because their eyes are getting fucked-up from age and they can't see shit, especially close-up. You have to know your customer demographics. Quoted:
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No one uses the Windows app store. port it to iOS and you might have a better market. You have to know your customer demographics. I'm in that demographic, I wouldn't want to go to a desktop computer to maintain my gun database, and I'm a coder along with a bunch of other things. Tablets and smartphones are easier to use and they are the way of the future -- especially for that demographic. |
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Yeah. You don't know those demographics at all. I'm in that demographic, I wouldn't want to go to a desktop computer to maintain my gun database, and I'm a coder along with a bunch of other things. Tablets and smartphones are easier to use and they are the way of the future -- especially for that demographic. |
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Yeah. You don't know those demographics at all. I'm in that demographic, I wouldn't want to go to a desktop computer to maintain my gun database, and I'm a coder along with a bunch of other things. Tablets and smartphones are easier to use and they are the way of the future -- especially for that demographic. Additionally like another poster said, also allow for input of metrics on the guns, like load data and round count. Then take it a step further, allowing inventory of ammo, reloading components, optics and accessories. Bonus points if you can parse the SKU barcodes on the ammo boxes. |
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Look at any inventory control process, it involves a hand held to enter data into while walking a warehouse floor. If they've got a big enough collection to require a database, they're going to want to take inventory while standing in front of their various gun safes or racks. Additionally like another poster said, also allow for input of metrics on the guns, like load data and round count. Then take it a step further, allowing inventory of ammo, reloading components, optics and accessories. Bonus points if you can parse the SKU barcodes on the ammo boxes. Quoted:
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Yeah. You don't know those demographics at all. I'm in that demographic, I wouldn't want to go to a desktop computer to maintain my gun database, and I'm a coder along with a bunch of other things. Tablets and smartphones are easier to use and they are the way of the future -- especially for that demographic. Additionally like another poster said, also allow for input of metrics on the guns, like load data and round count. Then take it a step further, allowing inventory of ammo, reloading components, optics and accessories. Bonus points if you can parse the SKU barcodes on the ammo boxes. |
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Most people seem to like the idea of tracking ammo and rounds fired per gun, in fact if you look at some of the existing products that seems to be a fairly common feature. The engineer in me loves the idea of having a detailed history on every firearm, shots fired, etc. The realist in me says it would never be used, I can't see myself scanning ammo out prior to the range, tracking which rounds I fired in which gun and then logging that data back into the system. My usual range trips are open the safe grab a few things I haven't shot recently grab some ammo and go, but like I said I may be the outlier here. I do like the idea of tracking the ammo collection size, would be nice to pull the phone out whenever you are thinking of going to the range or the latest deal is posted on ARFCOM and know how much ammo you had on hand, may have to look into that.
It's interesting to see where the idea of inventory went, the consensus seems to see it as a large scale collector, 100+ guns, who is actually inventorying them on some set calendar period. My vision was more a single place to keep invoices, images, prices paid, as well as serve as a C&R bound book. The thought process was that if this was backed up to the cloud, in the event of any loss I could quickly provide law enforcement and insurance a printed report with details of the firearm or accessory, images, serial number, where it was purchased etc. Although as one poster pointed out, there are a lot of people that are nervous about storing that information, especially in the cloud. In my case I made it optional, data is stored locally and can be synced to the users personal cloud storage it they desire. I state this in the privacy policy, but there really isn't a good way to reassure someone that their data isn't being shared or stored by the developer. |
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Most people seem to like the idea of tracking ammo and rounds fired per gun, in fact if you look at some of the existing products that seems to be a fairly common feature. The engineer in me loves the idea of having a detailed history on every firearm, shots fired, etc. The realist in me says it would never be used, I can't see myself scanning ammo out prior to the range, tracking which rounds I fired in which gun and then logging that data back into the system. My usual range trips are open the safe grab a few things I haven't shot recently grab some ammo and go, but like I said I may be the outlier here. I do like the idea of tracking the ammo collection size, would be nice to pull the phone out whenever you are thinking of going to the range or the latest deal is posted on ARFCOM and know how much ammo you had on hand, may have to look into that. It's interesting to see where the idea of inventory went, the consensus seems to see it as a large scale collector, 100+ guns, who is actually inventorying them on some set calendar period. My vision was more a single place to keep invoices, images, prices paid, as well as serve as a C&R bound book. The thought process was that if this was backed up to the cloud, in the event of any loss I could quickly provide law enforcement and insurance a printed report with details of the firearm or accessory, images, serial number, where it was purchased etc. Although as one poster pointed out, there are a lot of people that are nervous about storing that information, especially in the cloud. In my case I made it optional, data is stored locally and can be synced to the users personal cloud storage it they desire. I state this in the privacy policy, but there really isn't a good way to reassure someone that their data isn't being shared or stored by the developer. |
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I'm about to put my development environment back together, I might actually activate my developer account again and I'll see what I can do. |
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I was looking into Xamerian, would allow me to keep the C# back end and port to ios and android, haven't really put any effort into it other than a cursory read through. Summer is upon us and that's the time for Mountain Biking, hiking, and shooting, not writing code. Quoted:
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I'm about to put my development environment back together, I might actually activate my developer account again and I'll see what I can do. I have a feeling it won't be that difficult, I just need to know what people want. It's been about a year since I did any iOS development -- I won't touch Android anymore. |
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I was looking into Xamerian, would allow me to keep the C# back end and port to ios and android, haven't really put any effort into it other than a cursory read through. Summer is upon us and that's the time for Mountain Biking, hiking, and shooting, not writing code. |