Brew Timer for Android

[Ace_Club]

I've been playing around with this and like the alarms/timing function. Some suggestions based on my preferences for a timer:

- Adding a countdown of the time remaining for the whole profile. I know that I like to look at the clock frequently and see how much longer in the boil there is left.

- Adding the option to choose different notification styles.

 

[Jaysus]

Just downloaded it on my HTC Evo...

Just downloaded for my Evo as well!

- Adding a countdown of the time remaining for the whole profile. I know that I like to look at the clock frequently and see how much longer in the boil there is left.

That's a great idea!

 

[Jaysus]

P.S. I love the the notification bar icon!

 

[humanjoe]

- Adding a countdown of the time remaining for the whole profile. I know that I like to look at the clock frequently and see how much longer in the boil there is left.

Explain this one to me a bit more. Right now there is a boil time count down at the top of the screen that counts down until the boil ends. Are you suggesting a different countdown? Or the time of the boil and the post boil steeping combined? Something else?

- Adding the option to choose different notification styles.

Working on that right now, revamping the whole notification system.


Thanks for all the great replies so far everyone. I had a lot of fun writing this app and I'm going to keep enhancing and adding features to make it as useful as possible. Thanks again!!

Adam

 

[Ace_Club]

Explain this one to me a bit more. Right now there is a boil time count down at the top of the screen that counts down until the boil ends. Are you suggesting a different countdown? Or the time of the boil and the post boil steeping combined? Something else?

Hmmmm...maybe something is funky on the version I have. The digits at the top right of the screen remain at 60:00 while the timer is running. You're saying this is supposed to be an active countdown? That is what I was looking for, but as I said, the version I downloaded today was not doing that. Strange.

 

[humanjoe]

Hmmmm...maybe something is funky on the version I have. The digits at the top right of the screen remain at 60:00 while the timer is running. You're saying this is supposed to be an active countdown? That is what I was looking for, but as I said, the version I downloaded today was not doing that. Strange.

Oh wow, I will have to check that out. Thanks for the heads up!!!

Edit: Just ran some quick test and I do see something strange. Do me a favor and before you start a session reset it first. Then start the countdown. In my tests the countdown started. If it works for you then that should be a simple fix I'll release soon.

Adam

 

[humanjoe]

Heya Everyone,

Just wanted to give you all an update on the Brew Timer. Right now I'm in the middle of testing some updates to the app. The new version has a completely revamped notification system that should eliminate the slight delays for alarms that were occurring when the phone went into a deep sleep. Also I have added the ability to choose notification sounds for your Brew Timer alarms (this seemed to be the biggest request by far). I also added some state persistence so that the app doesn't reset itself to its default state if the OS cleans it up.

There are a couple of other small little things like expanded help and small bugs.

I'm hoping to test this weekend and do a release next week sometime.

If you have any question, concerns or comments, drop me a message here, at my Twitter account (@TheBrewTimer) or send an email to brewtimer at humanjoe dot com.

Thanks a lot for the time you used this app and all the great ideas.

Adam

 

[Jaysus]

Thanks a lot for the time you used this app and all the great ideas.

Adam

Thank you for the app!

 

[MyMistake]

Downloading now! Thanks Adam.

 

[humanjoe]

Heya Everyone,

The new version is posted to the Android Market. In this version I took your wants and added custom notification alarm sounds for all events and rewrote the alarm system so the firing of the alarms is much more accurate. Also, after you guys get to use it could you do me a favor. If you have a minute could you write a review and/or rate my app in the Android Market. Good or bad I would love to see the feedback so let me have it!

Now, on to the topic at hand, so what do you guys want me working next? From previous posts it seems there s a desire for an All-Grain timing mode. Is that still a desire? Is there anything else out there people want to see?

Thanks again for all your feedback and looking forward to the next version.

Adam

 

[reim0027]

I am downloading it now. Can't believe I just heard of it.

I definitely want an AG timing mode. :rockin:

 

[Bitterbrush]

I'm in the middle of a brew and I can't figure out how to get the alarm to shut off and keep timing to the next event in my boil! Isn't there a alarm cancel button or something???

 

[humanjoe]

Opening the notification bar at the top of your screen will cancel the persistent alarm. If you don't want persistent alarms at all there is an option in the preference menu to turn them off. Hope your brew is going well!

Adam

 

[Bitterbrush]

Yep, I figured it out! Just have to open up the notification drop down window on my Mesmerize. I made it through the boil with 3 hop additions, worked great!

 

[humanjoe]

Glad to hear it worked well for you. I would love to hear your opinions on how it works and if the interface make sense. Always looking for input to make it work better.

Adam

 

[Bitterbrush]

I really like this timer. It worked flawlessly through this last batch, my only trouble was getting the alarm turned off. Once that was behind me it worked fine. I setup timers for my boil w/ hop additions, a separate one for my mash, another for my mash out, and one more for my aeration.

Now if I just had an app that would show my Beersmith brewsheets everything would be perfect!

 

[nootay]

just downloaded and will put to use tomorrow. thanks!

 

[Jaysus]

Glad to hear it worked well for you. I would love to hear your opinions on how it works and if the interface make sense. Always looking for input to make it work better.

Adam

I will be using it again tomorrow (newest release this time) - I'll be sure to leave a review in the Android Market

 

[humanjoe]

I will be using it again tomorrow (newest release this time) - I'll be sure to leave a review in the Android Market

Thanks!!

 

[Jaysus]

I am using it right now for my mash... I love being able to pick my alert sounds.

Now, on to the topic at hand, so what do you guys want me working next? From previous posts it seems there s a desire for an All-Grain timing mode. Is that still a desire? Is there anything else out there people want to see?
Adam

I am sure it is completely unnecessary, but I would love to see a home screen of some sort. Something simple that shows icons for the current menu items. It's really just a personal preference of mine, but I suppose it is something to consider.

 

[solavirtus]

The app looks promising, and I'm going to use it the first time tomorrow. I'll post about how it goes.

Edit: Downloaded and created the schedule I'll be using tomorrow, and I really like it so far. I like being able to add whatever I want. The interface is easy to understand and use.

Suggestion: How about adding another category of timer for the mash? It seems easy enough to adapt the boil schedule to use for a simple infusion mash, which is what I'm going to try.

 

[humanjoe]

Suggestion: How about adding another category of timer for the mash? It seems easy enough to adapt the boil schedule to use for a simple infusion mash, which is what I'm going to try.

Thanks for giving my app a try!!!

I was thinking about this. There several ways I could go with the layout and design. What do people think? Do you want a different "mode" it goes into for mash schedule? Or something different? I would love to hear your ideas. I'm working on an idea right now but still in the design phase.

Adam

 

[Bitterbrush]

I just added another profile for each timer I needed; mash, mashout and aeration. But having a different timer mode that doesn't have the 'MTB', 'MTS, and 'MTE' would be good. What the alarm says at the end of the event could be linked to the profile name, instead of "Boil Complete", "The Boil has ended"?

MTS.. minutes to steep, what is that for? I don't know of anyone steeping their boil?

Thanks for the great timer! I'm going to use it again tomorrow on a Rye IPA.

 

[humanjoe]

The minutes to steep (MTS) is used for spices or anything else you want to sit the the wort after the boil ends. A lot of my spiced beers call for cinnamon or something like that to be dropped in when the boil is over and then to steep it for 5, 10 minutes, etc. Some fruits I've added I'll drop in the boil with 1 minute or so remaining and then I'll let it steep an additional 5-15 minutes or so. Does that make sense?

Adam

 

[Bitterbrush]

The minutes to steep (MTS) is used for spices or anything else you want to sit the the wort after the boil ends. A lot of my spiced beers call for cinnamon or something like that to be dropped in when the boil is over and then to steep it for 5, 10 minutes, etc. Some fruits I've added I'll drop in the boil with 1 minute or so remaining and then I'll let it steep an additional 5-15 minutes or so. Does that make sense?

Adam

That makes perfect sense Adam. I can see how it would be beneficial to someone that adds spices, etc.

 

[solavirtus]

Alright, so my update after by brew session today:
The app worked really well. Hands down the best brew timer I've used. I"ll definitely be using it again next brew day.

The only negative thing I can say is that it's a little odd that it makes a bunch of notifications instead of just one when an event comes up. That's really minor, but I thought it might be useful. It would make more sense to have single notification in the pulldown menu, with a repeating sound.

As far as a mash schedule timer, I would think something similar to the boil timer would work pretty well. The only thing is that during a mash, there are a lot of different methods that don't take predetermined times (a decoction step which depends on equipment, or a fly sparge that might go fast or slow depending). In that way, it might a little tough...

 

[Bitterbrush]

Had to stop using this timer and go back to my laptop and Brewery Timer.

Had a mash timing with a step time for my flame on to get my sparge water up to temp. I didn't get an alarm at the step and missed that by 5 minutes (good thing I was watching the time). Then at the end of the mash time there was no alarm and the icon in the notification window just went away at the end. All my alarm volumes were good.

 

[hadabar]

I've had problems with mine too lately ever since the last update...it freezes, missed addition times...idk what happened... this did rock

 

[humanjoe]

Hmmm did you get crashes? Or did it just not fire off an alarm? Is it the most recent version (0.9.45)? I haven't seen any behavior like that. If you don't mind could you give me an idea what your profile was like and what had happened during the session.

Thanks and I'll start figuring this out ASAP.

Adam

 

[solavirtus]

Oh, that reminds me, I don't think I got an alarm for the end of the boil when I used it. My profile was pretty simple, about 4 events for adding hops, irish moss, chiller, etc. It was a 100 minute boil time. I was watching it at the end anyway, so it didn't cause any problems.