Initial thoughts: promising search and cataloging app
TLDR: The search, wishlist, and owned categorisation features work well, searching by theme can use some improvement, set identification using camera does not work as intended and not practical, and the subscription pay wall is not ideal. Ok so here’s my initial thoughts after having it for about 5 minutes. Firstly, it is quite easy to use, typing in the set number gives you that exact set as well as all the associated information and parts list. Additionally you can scroll down through all the themes and finding all the sets in there. However pressing on the theme will tell you that there’s nothing in that theme. This is because, from what I’ve gathered, the app is loading the entire list of sets. Next is the set recognition, which relies on the set ID/barcode which is on the box. There are two issues I’ve noticed. One, when scanning the barcode for the Orient Express set, it was recognised as a Ninjago book (but I only did it once so it may be a random error), and two, it is a lot faster and easier to read the box instead of trying to scan the barcode. It is a good idea in concept but I personally don’t think it’s necessary, especially when it takes a bit to get the barcode read, longer than it takes to put in 5 numbers. It would be better if it could generate a VR or AR representation of the set. As for the set management, I think it works well. You can input your set number, add it to your owned or wanted list, and keep it there, which is better than making a spreadsheet and cataloging everything. It is a great addition for everyone. Now onto my biggest gripe, the subscription fee. I am personally not a big fan of it, especially when on the App Store it is free but as soon as you load the app up, it asks you for a subscription, which you cannot get past. To be fair, I did not properly read the app description and thus was surprised by it, but a free option with limited features would be nice. So to reiterate improvements that can be undertaken, I would suggest creating a stripped lite version that offers limited capabilities such as basis search and wishlist/owned list with a limit and offer it for free. The camera feature, while novel, can be swapped for something else like VR or AR models you can interact with. It should also be cross platform compatible to enable more people to use it, but these are my suggestions and I’m no app developer so I don’t know exactly what to do. Otherwise, this is a solid app that does what it needs t
