BeerSmith Android Brew Buddy

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Small Update on status, work is getting a little busy and im getting to the end of my class for my masters so going to be focusing more on those for the time being. So updates will slow for the next few weeks. Also im going on vacation for 2 weeks in may so wont be working on it during that time. But dont worry I am still working on it and will continue to respond on here and keep a list of request and what not.

For a small pitch for me, please rate and leave comments for the app, and if you click on an ad every once in awhile that would help as well. Hope everyone is enjoying the app
 
Announcement: It has come to my attention that I have not been entirely clear on the affiliation of this app. I want to clarify it right now. This app is by no means associated or supported by BeerSmith. This is an independent app that I have made on my own to be compatible with the BeerSmith recipe files and that is all. The owner of BeerSmith has spent a lot of time and money making BeerSmith a wonderful peice of software and my intent with this app is to allow people to view the results on their android devices on brewday.

"THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL BEERSMITH APP AND NOT DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH BEERSMITH"

Please direct all questions/comments/complaints to myself and not to BeerSmith. Thank You
 
So apparently there is already an App on the Apple Store called BrewBuddy, which might get into legal problems with me having mine called that, so Im looking to rename my app and taking suggestions for a new name. Any Ideas?
 
So I just finished brewing an Amber lager using my app as a helper, the timers worked for the most part, the boil one was a little off on the alerts, but they will be redone anyways. As for the rest with the brew steps and tools and being able to look at everything, it was great. Loved being able to do the refractometer there instead of at my desktop
 
I used it yesterday for an IPA. I set the timers for mash and boil and used a digital timer along side just in case. The App worked fine during the mash and the only difference between the two timers was maybe a few seconds and that was just the delay in setting both. I did get a call during the boil, when I answered the call, the App failed and wanted to force close. I may not have exited right and caused this though.
 
I used it yesterday for an IPA. I set the timers for mash and boil and used a digital timer along side just in case. The App worked fine during the mash and the only difference between the two timers was maybe a few seconds and that was just the delay in setting both. I did get a call during the boil, when I answered the call, the App failed and wanted to force close. I may not have exited right and caused this though.

So overall impression of the app during brewday, useful? worth having?
 
Update: Made some minor changes due to request from Brad from BeerSmith, these include some things for legality issues to not infringe on the BeerSmith name and make sure he is credited where credit is due.

Also because there is already an App by the name of BrewBuddy on the apple app store I change the name to BrewAide, same app link and download and should come up to be updated all the same so should not affect anything.

Enjoy
 
Just downloaded this. Brewing 20 gallons this weekend. I will let you know how it goes. This willbe so much nicer than hauling the laptop out to the garage. Thanks man. Really appreciate all the hard work.
 
So overall impression of the app during brewday, useful? worth having?

Absolutely, It was great having the info from previous brew days at hand to compare gravity's and have the converters at hand for the refract. So far it's a great tool, well worth the five bucks. When the alarm goes off on the timer, it plays Tom T. Hall's-I Like Beer.
 
Absolutely, It was great having the info from previous brew days at hand to compare gravity's and have the converters at hand for the refract. So far it's a great tool, well worth the five bucks. When the alarm goes off on the timer, it plays Tom T. Hall's-I Like Beer.

Sweet, Glad its doing what its meant to do
 
Just downloaded this bad boy for my Droid X running 2.3.3. Looks great on the phone. I created a DropBox account to use for the time being until the BeerSmith Cloud service is working. Can't wait to use this for my next brew day! Donated to get rid of the ads and say thanks for all the work you have put into this. Thanks Adeering!

Update: I didn't realize that I would have to create a folder called "Recipes" under "Brew Buddy" under "Apps" in the DropBox folder. Once I did this I was able to access the recipes I threw in my DropBox. Just in case anyone else is having issues. Could've been mentioned previously but I dont remember reading about this.
 
I've downloaded it and played with it a bit, but I think there's a few things missing that would keep me using it on brew day.

All the units are in really weird increments, like a batch size of 672 fl oz and mash in with 350 fl oz. I changed the batch volume and mash volume units to be gallons and quarts, but nothing changed. Same thing with the ingredients. Adding 200 oz of 2 Row doesn't make any sense to me.

There's no input for mash tun/grain temp. This is not something I would usually determine beforehand. I enter those details when my water is heating up.

I batch sparge, but it completely skips over the batch sparging step. It just tells me to remove the grains and add water to end up at 850 fl oz.

And I guess you designed this for tablets, but I would much rather use portrait mode on my phone. Much easier to type that way (Galaxy Nexus). I never landscape anything except videos or games.



All in all I think it is a great start, and definitely an area where Android is lacking. I love the timers. I like the predetermined places for taking notes and the important measurements like pre/post boil gravity and volume. I like the tools/conversions. Dropbox integration is sweet too (especially since they made it kind of annoying to transfer files via cable with my phone).
 
I would like it better if the grain bill was in pounds/ounces instead of fractional pounds. Such as 10# 6oz instead of 10.375# It's not super-bad, but it would be nice to have the ability to select how you want it to be displayed. There's a simple check box in the BeerSmith2 'units' options setup for 'Show English weights as lbs/oz (i.e. 2 lb 3oz)'... That's what I'm talking about... :D

Especially since my scale displays that way (lbs, oz)...
 
I've downloaded it and played with it a bit, but I think there's a few things missing that would keep me using it on brew day.

All the units are in really weird increments, like a batch size of 672 fl oz and mash in with 350 fl oz. I changed the batch volume and mash volume units to be gallons and quarts, but nothing changed. Same thing with the ingredients. Adding 200 oz of 2 Row doesn't make any sense to me.

There's no input for mash tun/grain temp. This is not something I would usually determine beforehand. I enter those details when my water is heating up.

I batch sparge, but it completely skips over the batch sparging step. It just tells me to remove the grains and add water to end up at 850 fl oz.

And I guess you designed this for tablets, but I would much rather use portrait mode on my phone. Much easier to type that way (Galaxy Nexus). I never landscape anything except videos or games.

As for the units, reopen your recipe after you have changed the units, im working on fixing this so you dont have to reopen your recipe to get it to show the right units.

The grain/mashtun temp is something Im not entirely sure about (as I dont use a mashtun, I do BIAB) so not sure of the calculations all needed to determine that on the fly, Ill add it to the list of things to look into, but not sure im going to be able to get that in there, might be something you have to guesstimate before hand: Edit: Looked at the difference and how it affects temps, correct me if Im wrong, but what this determines/effects is the strike temp of the water before you put the grains in. Now from my quick playing with beersmith with this, the difference of 5 degrees Fahrenheit affects the temp by 0.2 degrees fahrenheit for the temp. Now I like to be as exact as the next person (hence one of the reasons i made this app) but that definately seems like I know the temp of my equipment (typically the temp of my garage) within 5 degrees F before I go to brew. Not saying I wont look into it, but without more interest from others for this feature its gonna be put pretty low on the priority.

It was initially designed for tablets and then I made a phone version as well, however portrait mode is on the list of features to add in the near future, requires a little rewrite on some things though and I want to update the timers to make them work smoother first.

Sparge Steps will eventually be in there, again not something I do with BIAB so need to figure out how BeerSmith calculates the amount for each sparge and then I can put it in. The BeerSmith BSMX files and BeerXML files only give so much information, a lot is calculated by beersmith and since Im not affiliated with beersmith dont have access to how those are calculated and have to figure it out for myself.

This will be updating frequently until I deploy in september, then the updates will slow quite a bit, but most likely it will be pretty polished by then and not need updates.
 
Just downloaded this bad boy for my Droid X running 2.3.3. Looks great on the phone. I created a DropBox account to use for the time being until the BeerSmith Cloud service is working. Can't wait to use this for my next brew day! Donated to get rid of the ads and say thanks for all the work you have put into this. Thanks Adeering!

Update: I didn't realize that I would have to create a folder called "Recipes" under "Brew Buddy" under "Apps" in the DropBox folder. Once I did this I was able to access the recipes I threw in my DropBox. Just in case anyone else is having issues. Could've been mentioned previously but I dont remember reading about this.

Yeah it says it in the help file but thats it, I should make it automatically create the Recipes folder so its a little more obvious, thanks for the donation, every little bit helps

@Golddiggie, yeah the lbs oz thing is on my list already, doing things like that is a pain as I have to make a little change to every place it displays weight, it isnt too hard just tedious/time consuming/boring so it tends to get pushed lower on the list to more interesting things to fix.
 
I just got a bunch of recipes uploaded but every time I try to open the program now it has to "force close". It happened a few times before I got the recipes uploaded but now its happening every time. Appreciate any input, thanks.
 
Ill look into it, make sure you report all errors, does it close when you click on the recipe to open it, or does it close when some other tiime.
 
Mine is kind of random. Shuts down when I try to open it sometimes and others it shuts down when I open the recipes. Even with some issues I still love the idea and once I have it working i will be using this all the time. Thanks again.
 
I downloaded the app. First off thanks for putting the time into this - I for one will get a lot of use out of this.

The most important feature for me, as others have mentioned, is remote recipe availability. The dropbox synch, and future "cloud" is great. I can't tell you how often I find myself needing to view or alter my recipes...brewing at a friends house, wanting to go to the HBS after work, needing to make changes at the HBS, being too lazy to go get my laptop while brewing, etc.

I haven't had a chance to use the app much yet, but one minor issue I notice right away is that the layout doesn't fit on my phone's screen. Is this only meant for tablet use? I have a Droid PRO so it's probably the smallest Android screen out there.

In the next few days I'll probably give some of the features a try, and will report my experiences.

Thanks again
 
Just installed. After installing, I hit open in the play store. Immediately closed. Seems to be fine after that. I am running ICS Cyenogen mod on an HPTouchpad. Now to upgrade beersmith. I really hope this gets integrated into a full blow Android Beersmith release.
 
Thanks for creating this app. I just got some recipes loaded in my dropbox and it's working well for me.

I always have people ask me about a recipe from a beer I brewed months ago and I never wanted to take the time to copy them into my dropbox from Beersmith, so this is great!
 
Adeering, thank you for creating this app, just downloaded and installed a few recipes from dropbox, can't wait to use this weekend!
 
Big props for all of the effort you've put into this. I just read the whole thread, and I can tell how much effort this was. It is a great service to the brewing community. I've just downloaded on my Incredible, and will donate shortly. Once Brad gets the cloud service up and running, this app is going to be unstoppable!

I hope that you partner with Brad on the "official" release, as he'd benefit from your service! :mug:
 
Used it today, but the app kept crashing with force close. Not sure what was causing it, though I do use my phone for several other things, pandora, HBT, etc. Would be great if it didn't crash. I'm using a HTC EVO 3D. Didn't get an option to send a crash report.

Also noticed one time when I hit the back key, it restarted the timers.
 
Also forgot to metion the app looks great. If you can get it to be more stable it will be a killer. I actually tried to do something a while back similar, but mine looked like crap. I'm good at the technical part but the visual I suck at :).

I haven't read the entire thread but a great feature to add would be have it add notes for what time the mash timmer started, and the boil timer. I try to log this for all my brews.
 
Theres a couple bugs that im working out, not sure what is causing them as I cant reproduce the error, as for the timers, they are in the process of a complete overhaul and should work a lot better on the next release. Next release wont be for a little bit, trying to get a few bigger changes done so it will be a little longer.

It probably wont ever be an "official" release but Brad is great and is responding to my emails and helping out so it should stay current as long as I continue brewing (which will be a long time)

On another note, I do need to change some of the graphics (mainly the glasses for the colors) so if anyone would be interested in helping with that PM me, I could use a full set of SRM colors to replace the ones Im using
 
This is great concept and it looks like you're making good progress in implementation.

Pulling the brew timer straight from the recipe is flat out awesome.

I have access for another couple weeks to the full compliment of adobe products at work but don't have much experience creating graphics for apps. That said if you don't get a better volunteer I'd love to help.

One feature request is a way to check off the ingredients for inventory purposes say while at the LHBS (toggle between 'have it' / 'need it ' would be ideal).

Thanks for your efforts!
 
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