Building software for cattle farmers. Week 1.

Introduction

• A while ago I created an android app for cattle farmers to keep track of their calves(baby cows) during calving season. However, I have decided to create a new version of that app instead of updating the old version.
• The new app can be found on the google play store HERE

Added Features

• This new version has two main updates:

1) fancy delete animation
2) search functionality

• I know these added features are not too interesting but I believe they are a good starting point.

Why build a new app instead of updating old one?

• Very good question!! There were a number of reasons but the main two being, I wanted to switch from Java to Kotlin and my app was still small enough that a rebuilt was not too much extra work. Why Kotlin over Java? Google has made it clear that the Kotlin programming language is now its preferred language for Android app developers. So we must do what the all mighty Google tells us to. Of course you can still make Android apps with Java, however, moving forward Android will be a Kotlin first experience for mobile developers.

Version 2

• Version 2 of my app, which is currently being review by Google, has what I like to call sport mode:

• This Sport mode is activated when the user flips their phone horizontal(technically the screen width has to be greater that 580dp). This allows the user to rapidly add new calves, which is a much better UI experience that the vertical layout.

Version 3

• The next version of this app is where I will introduce Firebase and networking to the app. Allowing the user to save, update and backup their data to a network.

Competition

• Now its always a little bit of fun to put yourself into a competition and coding is no exception. So I have designated My Cattle Manager as the competition!! That app has 50K downloads and I do not actually think I will overtake then in terms of market share. I just think it will be fun to compete and try to deliver a superior product

Updates

• I will be posting updates every Monday. If you want to follow along or are interested in Android development make sure to give me a follow.

Conclusion

• Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this blog post of mine. If you have any questions or concerns please comment below or reach out to me on Twitter.