Aviate (Beta) -- The Review

I've used launchers in the past, and while they have tended to allow more personalization; they mostly just made life more difficult.  Aviate has deviated from that course, and I must say that it definitely paid off.


 Let me just break things down a bit.

• Interface - The UI for this launcher has no learning curve, because of how simple it is.  There are no complicated settings; just organization that requires minimal effort.
• Usability -  I think a monkey could figure out how to use this launcher, and without trying to insult anyone; I mean, that the least technology inclined person you know could probably figure it out in under 30 minutes.
• Performance - Not that I'm certain that this is the right word for what I'm talking about, but regardless; I have found Aviate to be the "Speedy Gonzalez" of launchers, it is smooth and zippy and JUST WORKS! 
• I did notice that Moto Assist doesn't seem to be functioning well with it...  which I find pretty bothersome, since that's part of why I love the phone to begin with.
• Screenshots!

As of 10/23/2013 I still have invites for people who need them!  Get me your email address if you want me to TRY and send you one. I say "TRY" because several times I've been beaten to the punch by the waiting list, and people have already been sent invites.  Also, keep in mind that I personally have 4 left, and when you install, you will also get 5 invites to share (at least that's how it WAS working when I got it).

Grocery Apps

I have been working with several of the available (and "free") grocery applications for Android since my last post.  A few were tossed out of the competition quickly; having proved themselves to be unacceptable for normal use.  The 3 that are still installed on my phone have immense potential for everyday use.   List Ease, Out of Milk and Our Groceries are those lucky apps.
Let's discuss the good, bad, and ugly of these 3 Inventory/Grocery List Applications


List Ease

• Keeps track of $$$$ -- Allows you to input the cost of each item, as well as sales tax.  Will estimate the cost of your shopping list.
• Large barcode "vocabulary"  recognizes most products when scanned.
• List share and sync
• More features available when you upgrade to a subscription

Out of Milk

• Different types of lists -- Shopping, To Do, and Pantry(Inventory).  User creates sub categories within each to further organize items.
• This application is tied to an account, which means that you will not lose your lists if you uninstall for whatever reason (Like your SI surprising you by making Google Wallet work while you're putting groceries away; yes this happened during the course of my testing)
• Customization seems to be a huge part of this app.  Not only within the lists themselves, but in the settings as well.  The ability to change what actions do what is easily available, and fairly idiot-proof.
• List Sharing -- share lists using whatever means you wish

Our Groceries

• List Sharing/Sync -- can be requested or allowed from the app.
• Recipe section -- allows user to add ingredients to a shopping list

List Ease

• No dedicated section for recipes (although this could be done by making a new list for each recipe)
• Switching phones means lost lists.  Syncing does not work, leaving me to think that the developer abandoned users.

Out of Milk

• Scanning an item multiple times does not increase item count; instead creating another instance of the item, which can be slightly helpful if you have scanned two entirely different things, and the scan has resulted in identical item information.

Our Groceries

• Having switched phones this weekend I cannot access lists on the new phone that were created on the old. This was expected since there is no "sign-up" or "log in" to lead anyone to believe that it would sync.

I had totally planned on putting in the Ugly section as well.  Unfortunately, between life (aka looking for work and parenting) and a change in technology (I am now rocking a Moto X, and handed off ownership of my Note 2 today) I was unable to get as far as deciding just what the Ugly for each one was.  

An Inventory/Grocery Shopping Adventure

Awhile back, I attempted to change some details as far as how the URL for this blog was going to work.  I can safely say that it failed miserably; and for a while I even forgot if my domain name was still registered!  This morning I finally gave in and decided to see if I could fix what I screwed up, and Voila! I have things back the way I had them set up originally.

Now, if you head to http://erintotten.com you will end up here (on the homepage I'm sure) again through the magic that is url forwarding.  I'm not ready to try that whole mess where I remove the "forwarding" part, and redirecting isn't needed.