Free Mobile App For Pet Bird Lovers!

Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
Hi everyone


I'm a pet bird enthusiast and in my spare time I've developed an app for mobile devices called BirdBuddy. It's 100% free and lets you log and monitor your bird's progress through life.


You can create a timeline of life events, monitor diet, set up notifications and browse a broad knowledge base. You can even show your birds off to other users.


Try it now on Android. Available on Google Play Store:


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=oss.apps.bird_breeders_companion


If you give it a go and send me feedback with suggestions, I'll send you a free BirdBuddy t-shirt too :)


Thanks


Nick
 

Rozalka

Well-known member
May 23, 2018
8,594
Media
61
Albums
2
8,790
Poland
Parrots
Bourke's parrots, green cheeked conure
I've just tried it. I think there should be a option of unknown age because not everyone knows it. This isn't all of course
 

charmedbyekkie

New member
May 24, 2018
1,148
82
US/SG
Parrots
Cairo the Ekkie!
Hey Nick!

I work in UX - let me know if you're interested in a UX Expert Review or Heuristic Evaluation. You can PM me via a mod/admin.

Cheers!
 

clark_conure

Well-known member
Jul 14, 2017
3,923
Media
21
2,223
Minnesota
Parrots
A crossover Quaker Scuti (F), A Sun conure named AC, A Cinnamon Green Cheek conure Kent, and 6 budgies, Scuti Jr. (f), yellow (m), clark Jr. (m), Dot (f), Zebra(f), Machine (m).
I downloaded it, I haven't filled in all the stuff yet because I need find clark's birth certificate again, I think I put it away in my gun safe or somewhere I forget. But so far it looked like a really good interface. I just wanted to have all my clark data completely accurate.

I'm kind of jealous; in the 90's and 2000's I was the guy EVERYONE came to, to fix their computers or trace this email back to the source etc., or be an OP on a bulletin board. (I was well liked, and well hated; usually by the other Mods (protip never mod me)) since then I focused more on automation electronics, and looking at ladder logic programming and forgot all the stuff I used to know, (of which all the previous stuff is now completely obsolete, i might as well be an apple IIe expert).

I'll try it out over the weekend, the features I did see when I saw the left pane sideview were interesting....

Recommendation...add a parrotforums.com thing...an easy thread reader an replier. (might be there I only spent a few minutes with it so far, I saw it had a signup to some breeders thing.) But this is the only official parrot bulletin board of any real substance and information and fun on the entire Internet, (citing myself) and should be regarded as such. I don't know how you would integrate it but if I gave my login details it would pass forward into parrot forums through your app. Yeah I know I'm just adding to the pile of stuff you'd love to do.

I'll reply back once I have everything entered and play with it some more.

Have fun with it though...in a few months you'll have a ton of people on saying NO ADS and no FEES I want this for free dammit! so make sure you enjoy the process. :gcc:
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #6
Needs alotof work yet Nick.


Sure, I know, and I'm ready to do it but I need suggestions about what's good and what's not and what's needed.


If you have any tips they'd be gratefully received.


Cheers
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
I've just tried it. I think there should be a option of unknown age because not everyone knows it. This isn't all of course


Hi Rozalka


I chatted to you briefly in the app :)


I understand your comment about age and I had thought that also in the past. I'll have a think about how that change might effect other components of the app and will implement it soon if its not too complicated to do. Thanks.


I'd be happy to read any more of your suggestions too.


Nick
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
Hey Nick!

I work in UX - let me know if you're interested in a UX Expert Review or Heuristic Evaluation. You can PM me via a mod/admin.

Cheers!


Thanks for the offer and I may well explore it with you because I am to UI design what Gengis Kahn was to world peace. My skills are more in the back-end side of things. I'll drop you a line once I've made a few more improvements.


Thanks again.
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
I downloaded it, I haven't filled in all the stuff yet because I need find clark's birth certificate again, I think I put it away in my gun safe or somewhere I forget. But so far it looked like a really good interface. I just wanted to have all my clark data completely accurate.

I'm kind of jealous; in the 90's and 2000's I was the guy EVERYONE came to, to fix their computers or trace this email back to the source etc., or be an OP on a bulletin board. (I was well liked, and well hated; usually by the other Mods (protip never mod me)) since then I focused more on automation electronics, and looking at ladder logic programming and forgot all the stuff I used to know, (of which all the previous stuff is now completely obsolete, i might as well be an apple IIe expert).

I'll try it out over the weekend, the features I did see when I saw the left pane sideview were interesting....

Recommendation...add a parrotforums.com thing...an easy thread reader an replier. (might be there I only spent a few minutes with it so far, I saw it had a signup to some breeders thing.) But this is the only official parrot bulletin board of any real substance and information and fun on the entire Internet, (citing myself) and should be regarded as such. I don't know how you would integrate it but if I gave my login details it would pass forward into parrot forums through your app. Yeah I know I'm just adding to the pile of stuff you'd love to do.

I'll reply back once I have everything entered and play with it some more.

Have fun with it though...in a few months you'll have a ton of people on saying NO ADS and no FEES I want this for free dammit! so make sure you enjoy the process. :gcc:


Hi and thanks for your comments.


I'm just a hobbyist geek doing this for fun although a bit of pocket money from it would be nice hence the ads (home page only at the moment!).


To be honest I hope you are right about having a ton of people squawking about this in future. Developing this has been somewhat of a lonely experience so far and I really welcome all comments and suggestions.


I know the app is rough around the edges and I can take criticism but need suggestions with it.


I don't know any of the parrotforums.com people but would be happy to look at some kind of partnering arrangement once I get some traction with users.


Thanks for installing it. I hope you find it useful and look forward to hearing your thoughts.



Cheers.
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
I've just tried it. I think there should be a option of unknown age because not everyone knows it. This isn't all of course


Hi Rozalka


Following your suggestion above, I have now added this feature to the latest version of the app which is now live on the Play Store.


Thanks very much. I reckon you deserve an exclusive BirdBuddy t-shirt (if you want one, that is). Check it out here:


Test BirdBuddy and Get a Free T-Shirt! ? Bird Buddy


If you want one, PM me your mailing address and size (S, M, L etc) and I'll send one off. If you have any further comments or suggestions, please let me know.
 

Breeze

New member
Dec 27, 2017
138
10
Australia
Parrots
Duckie -( passed ) 1.5yrs Yellow-sided GCC

Eden- 14/8/2017 High-red pineapple conure

Indi- 12/11/2017 White bellied caique

Asher- 15/1/2018 - Black capped conure

Wolfie- 21/10/2017- Alexandrine
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #13
To those wondering about an iOS version, thanks for your interest. I am now focused on porting BirdBuddy to iOS which should take a few days and then it needs to be submitted to the folks at Apple for approval to be listed in the app store which as far as I can tell may take a week or two so hopefully it should available on iOS by the end of this month. If you follow this thread, I'll keep you updated on how its going. Thanks again
 

OutlawedSpirit

New member
Apr 12, 2016
1,020
21
Northern Illinois, USA
Parrots
Bo - DYH ~ Gus - CAG ~ Twitch - Linnie ~ Apple - Pineapple GCC ~ Goliath - Quaker ~ Squish - Peach face Lovebird
I've had the app for a while, but I've finally gotten around ti actually putting in data now that the holiday craziness is over. The main thing I noticed right away is that lineolated parakeets aren't a bird that is listed as an option for species. I bring them up, not only because I have one, but also because they aren't that uncommon of a species kept as pets so it may be a bird you want to look into adding.

Also, I don't know because I have not gotten this far but I just thought about it so I wanted to ask before I forget, is there a way to either export or share the data in the app with someone else? I'm just thinking that if it can, it could be useful if in the notes section of each fid, I put their daily diet, any medications, quirks or bad habits, and then be able to share that with someone if they were going to watch my kids for me if I needed to go out of town or something. I hope my rambling there made sense.

Just my two cents for now until I play with it some more. I hope that helps! I will say that unlike most other bird keeping apps, I do like that yours isn't centered fully around just breeding and can be used for those just keeping parrots as pets.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #15
I've had the app for a while, but I've finally gotten around ti actually putting in data now that the holiday craziness is over. The main thing I noticed right away is that lineolated parakeets aren't a bird that is listed as an option for species. I bring them up, not only because I have one, but also because they aren't that uncommon of a species kept as pets so it may be a bird you want to look into adding.

Also, I don't know because I have not gotten this far but I just thought about it so I wanted to ask before I forget, is there a way to either export or share the data in the app with someone else? I'm just thinking that if it can, it could be useful if in the notes section of each fid, I put their daily diet, any medications, quirks or bad habits, and then be able to share that with someone if they were going to watch my kids for me if I needed to go out of town or something. I hope my rambling there made sense.

Just my two cents for now until I play with it some more. I hope that helps! I will say that unlike most other bird keeping apps, I do like that yours isn't centered fully around just breeding and can be used for those just keeping parrots as pets.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk


Hi and thanks for the suggestions.


Regarding the lineolated parakeets, I'll create an entry for that species in the next release of the app so users can select it when setting up bird profiles.


About sharing data, that is actually a big part of the app, but the other person who you are sharing with must also have the app installed and have a user profile set up. The app contains a social network platform called BBSpace. In BBSpace, app users can see pictures and data published by other users, so the 'notes' section you referred to can be published with other details of each bird, and other users can then find your profile in the BBSpace section and view the data. All that functionality is already in place.



If this doesn't cover your requirements, please could you tell me a bit more about how you'd like it to work and I'll see if I can incorporate what you need.


Oh and by the way, I got your very kind PM and have written a reply but I can't send it at the moment because the system says I don't have a high enough post count! So now I'm going around different forums trying to add something useful to get my count up to 20 haha.


Cheers
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #16
Hi All


A little later than expected, the BirdBuddy app is finally available for iPhone/iPad users in the App Store.


You can download it from the App Store here, or go to the App Store and search for 'My Bird Buddy'.


I really want to maintain and improve the app in future and a lot of that will depend on the feedback and suggestions I get from users, so please send me the good, the bad, but hopefully not the ugly.


If there is any new functionality you would like to see, let me know.


To those users who have already sent me suggestions which haven't yet made it into the latest version, I apologize but I've been preoccupied with getting the iOs version done. Now that it's done, I'll get back to adding those features. Promise!


I hope you find the app useful and look forward to any comments.


Cheers


Nick
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #17
Hi All


A new version of the BirdBuddy app has been released with the following changes:


- increased length of permitted chat messages [thanks user Shezbug]
- updated User Manual in Knowledge Base [thanks user Shezbug]
- Lineolated Parakeet added to available birds and Knowledge Base [thanks user Outlawed_Spirit]
- added 'Unknown' as an option for gender in bird profiles [thanks users Zara & Bill]
- fixed bird pairing functionality
- overhauled code to prepare for multi-language in future releases
- various more minor fixes


The biggest change was actually one which no one should see at this stage, as I changed a lot of code to prepare for multi-language later on. As a result of this, I'm hoping that the prior functionality hasn't been affected badly.



I've done a fair amount of testing but still, if you find any bugs please let me know here or via the contact form on my blog site. Thanks for your patience and help.


Nick


PS - some changes, like the addition of the new Parakeet to the knowledge base may not be present if the app is not newly installed (ie for existing users). To get that functionality, make a note of your email/password details, uninstall the app, then reinstall it from the play/app store and tap 'Recover' on the home page to get your details back with the new functionality. Any problems, let me know.



Cheers!
 
Last edited:
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #18
Hi All


Just to let y'all know, there is a new version of BirdBuddy available with the following improvements:


- Added new 'Metrics' section in the user birds list that allows the recording, tracking and comparison of 22 different metrics for hematology, blood chemistry and weight over time (thanks user Teckechick)
- Added new 'Lost and Found' section in the 'Tools' section, starting with Pawboost.com search - others to follow
- Added 'UpdateBBSpace' button in Diet section for saving diet details to the BBSpace 'cloud' (thanks user Shezbug)
- Added a 'Diet' button in the user birds list for easier accessibility
- Changed left navigation menu to be context sensitive
- Added language selection dropdown in the top-right of the Home Page
- Added 3 new languages - French, Spanish and Thai
- Minor bug and display fixes


If you find any bugs or have any suggestions, please let me know :)


Nick
 
OP
birdlover12345
Nov 18, 2018
57
13
Parrots
Alexandrine Parakeet, Sun Conure, Cockatiels, Java Finches, Zebra Finches
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #20
Hi Everyone

There's a new version of BirdBuddy available now on the play/app store with the following changes:

- Added Sound Library in Tools section
- Removed slow page transitions
- Added 'Contact Developer' email button in home page
- BBSpace Activity images in home page can now be enlarged on tap
- Minor changes and improvements

The sound library contains over 700 audio files - roughly 10 per species - which you can download and play to your bird. My sun conure and alexandrine both seemed to react well to it. Anyway, I've tried to make this new functionality as intuitive to use as possible, but if you need instructions on it, there's a breakdown of how to use it here:

https://birdbuddy.mobi/2019/05/18/new-functionality-bbspace-sound-library/

Note For iOS (Apple) Users: There is an issue with the app crashing on some devices (so far old iPads and latest iPhones) when viewing other users' profiles in the BBSpace section. Fixing this is top of my priorities and should be done by the next version. In the meantime, to prevent it happening try limiting the number of profiles sent to your device by tapping the yellow 'Toggle Search Config' button and refining your search to a specific country and (optionally) state/region before tapping the green 'Enter BBSpace!' button.

As usual, if you find any other bugs or have any suggestions for the app, please let me know :)

Nick
 

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