CollectorsFrenzy - iPhone v2 Reqs?

pj4533

I haven't been around here for a while, but I thought I'd drop in to get some feedback. I am currently gearing up to work on version 2 of the iPhone application for the Collectors Frenzy website, ceeFrenzy. I worked with Darko to get v1 out a while ago, and I think it badly needs an update. (Its gonna be a free update to anyone who already bought it)Currently I have these features in my queue of work to do:- native iPad support- bookmarking/favorites- cleaner/prettier UI (with speed still being most important)Possible features I am considering:- sharing of favorites via facebook/twitter/email- a easy 'browse' mode to quickly go through auctions at a glanceSo the question is...Is there any thing else you guys would want in an app like this? I just got an iPad, so that has me all fired up to write some code for it. Lemme know!-pj

spelunk

It would be really cool at least on the website version to be able to do an advanced search that querys the actual listing, not just the title.

willie_fugal

my biggest issue with v.1 is usually that the text in the description is too small to read well, and since the text is in a frame that only takes up 1/2 the screen, you cant even really magnify it well. here's a screenshot i took, it's a big screenshot though so i'm not sure if it'll do a good job of conveying what i mean...

Jonny_Paycheck

yeah the text expansion is kind of wonky. It doesn't work like the traditional iphone internet where you just "pull" it bigger, it's weird.

Bigger pics would be a mega plus. Or zoomable pics.

One other thing is when I search, and then I want to sort by end time (most recent) or whatever, I have to redo the whole search, it would be cool if you could just click on the sort and have the results sort from that command. Rather than clicking on the sort and then having to plug in the search again.

pj4533

yeah no joke. I hear you. Both those things are in my UI work.

I need to figure out a better way to convey the actual html data. Its kinda tough though, cause I never know what is in there. Some people have HTML heavy auctions with small print, some people use only one size text. You SHOULD be able to pinch/zoom in that window, but its screwy cause its just in that frame.

Hmmm.....I suppose this is where the iPad version will shine, having more real estate to work with. But I'll try to figure something out.

I'll check into the sorting without searching as well. I think I should easily be able to do that. I was trying to find another application that did sorting based on a search of some kind. (usually apple has a UI standard for this sort of thing) But I couldn't find another app that did it...you guys know of one?

Thanks for the feedback. I'll post some screen shots when I have something working to see what ya'll think.


-pj

willie_fugal

the rhapsody app does something similar to JP's point. you can perform a search (default is by artist), e.g. for marvin gaye, then choose album or song, and it'll automatically display results by album or song for the OG search term, without having to retype "marvin gaye"


p.s. the rhapsody app just got an update and it's FUCKIN AWESOME.

you can now download playlists (not sure what the upper limit is that you're allowed) to your phone so that you can listen to them even when you don't have any internet access. this was basically the big thing that everyone was knocking them for when comparing them against Spotify.

also they just dropped their monthly charge from $15 to $10.

selperfuge

CAN YOU INCORPORATE SHAZAM SO I CAN NEEDELEDROP FOR 2 SECONDS
AND THEN THE PHONE WILL TELL ME HOW MUCH IT'S WORHT

JehovWet

I'm guessing that search results have a returned item limit? Which makes re-ordering by date/title/price difficult because it could potentially require re-querying CF, which would be expensive for us chumps with EDGE iPhones. It might be helpful to return aggregrate information based on the search results: number of results, min price, max price, avg price, earliest date, latest date. I wrote an example iPhone app for a course here to demonstrate web service/JSON consumption that queried and determined aggregate pricing information for different sites. You can see each site has the number of results then the min/mean/max of all the results for that site.

mylatency

PJ, good to see you drop in
check pm this weekend for some stuff I noticed

peace,
M

pj4533

Yeah the mean/avg thing is a direction I thought about, but I found I nearly always wanted to see the details cause I could rarely be sure my search didn't pull in some auction that wasn't what I wanted and threw off the results.

I'll probably just do something like cache the last search and reorder based on that rather than re-querying.


Mark: will do

-pj

The_Hook_Up

all I need from it would be zoomable pics and text...too may folks put "see pics" for song titles on 45s and dont put song titles in the auction title...and right now we are only presented with a tiny, withered colored cheerio for a label pic.

Big pics and I am set.

great app. love it.

CBear

My personal vote is to keep it fast. I'll be bummed if it gets slowed down with features and pictures. At least for the first search. I don't need fast once I've entered an auction, just for the search.

Someone here mentioned text size. My usual remedy for this in most apps is to be able to turn the phone horizontal. This extends / enlarges the text usually. Is it possible to make it so that you can turn the phone 90 degrees and it will flip into landscape position?

To balance this out, I should say that I love the app and use it regularly.

mylatency

Maybe a "saved searches" screen/button, too?

I guess that might require user accounts... SO MANY USER DATA COLLECTION POSSIBILITIES!!!

Keep up the good work PJ!

pj4533

Speed will always be #1 priority for me. I use the app too, and while pictures and whatnot are nice, I really use it to get price info, and i want that part to be speeeeedy.

Bookmarks&saved searches are going to be in version 2 of the application for sure. Beyond iPad support, that is the main feature.

pj