In reply to Post #18
"I do like the idea of it auto saving weather data etc, local if enabled. I've used a diary for 30 years and I see this as a updated version, it'd sure as hell make finding things in it easier."

It doesn't store weather data yet. But that's on the roadmap. There's a lot of free weather API's which will make this pretty easy to do.

Idea:
- When logging catches, automatically look up the weather data based on the location and time of the capture
- Air pressure, temperature, wind direction and strength
- Save against the catch and then allow that to be optionally shared.

At a later date I can then create a report charting captures on different air pressures etc.

I'm sure we already pretty much know the answer, but on a chart would be cool to see IMO!

Interesting, some pretty strong views, thankyou and certainly no offense taken!

Let me give some clarity:

Data sharing / privacy:
You're in no way forced to share information. The only info the app stores by default is your email address because it's required to identify you. Other than what you explicitly share, my servers do not see any of your data: the data lives on your device and is backed up to your personal google drive account (up to 15GB for free). This was a design choice I made for cost reasons but also because I know some anglers may be sceptical!

When you record your catches, you have the option to share it publicly. But what you choose to share is very granular and your choice. I want to build stats for fishing: if all you choose to share is the date / time, species and fish weight, then that's still some benefit as I can build a trend for that. If you share bait info (like nutritional composition, colour, type etc) then great! But I respect that's quite advanced. You don't have to share who you are, the lake you're fishing, any brands.

This is also suited for non publicity lakes. You can add lakes to the device and tag them as non publicity, meaning the app won't allow you to share the lake or any share catches associated with that lake so they'll stay private to you.

(Hopefully I've addressed all points raised on this)



A vision for the app is that you login and can see catches happening around the world, live. I can respect some may not want this, but it appeals to me. I'm sure there will be a lot of members on here who use Facebook, it's not too dissimilar to that is it really? But it's a feed purpose built for fishing, and that you have control over what to see. And it's more centralised.

It doesn't do swim booking. I could potentially add that in the future but that already exists. I do see the benefit in at least booking your time at a particular lake. And seeing real time swim availability. I don't fish much these days, have family etc so the peace of mind knowing that my place is booked, and I can fish adjacent to my family / friends. I don't want to go to linear and find every lake is rammed!

I think fishing is still very behind digitally. We should at the very least have a history of all the 30lb in the country. There's no reason why non publicity lakes could use the app or similar as well rather than creating their own log system. I can think of one benefit straight away: tracking fish being moved between lakes. AI is that advanced now, and carp especially mirrors are that distinctive that I'm sure it could do a good job uniquely identify a carp based on an image.

That is a good point on the fox marker app. I havn't used it, but I imagine it's similar to what I've built. My app is taking that idea further. What's better, writing your spots down on a piece of paper, or recording them on your phone which is backed up and can be queried etc? I'm sure a lot of you record how many wraps you're fishing to, at the very least you could use this for that.

Reply to jhhilton1983 "the fact you can have you information shared and the fact they can go from fully supported to nothing in a instant make them to unreliable.":
This is a web based application specifically to support as many devices as possible (doesn't require app store etc). All of the data is backed up to your personal google drive account in sqlite database format.
If for whatever reason my app dies, I die, I can't pay for the servers etc, then all that data still exists in your own account, and you can download it to any device and open up in one of the many free sqlite database clients.
If it's helpful, I could create a feature that allow you to download your data in to different formats? Or tutorials of how to download it?

For those sceptical, you could perhaps try the app before you completely write it off? I'm adding lot of features, I'm sure at some point, if not already, there will be at least one feature that's of benefit to you. It will be useful to you if:
- you record any details about your catches or sessions (bait, fish size, venue / spot, pictures). Effectively one of it's use cases is a digital fishing diary with cloud backup.
- you want to find local lakes. I'm adding a lake search within x miles of a GPS location feature. Whilst I was testing it I found that a syndicate lake I'm interested in but didn't have any info about was on there, randomly, and now I have the contact details.
- you have a group of friends and want to share your catches to the same Facebook page. I'm sure some of you will be on Whatsapp groups...
- you're part of a fishing brand (e.g. bait company) and want a single place to show captures caught using that brand.

I honestly don't see how this is taking away watercraft?

I think we have to accept some amount of commercialisation in the sport because unfortunately gone are the days of unfenced lakes with unknown stock, at least in the UK.

Ultimately IMO it is each to their own! Fishing is personal to everyone.

Chris

Hi all.

Just wanted to say I've cleared this post with Karl (forum owner) first as I'm a site advertiser.

As a side passion project I've created an app for carp fishing, it's been designed to specifically work on the bank using your mobile but it works on all modernish devices.

The reason for creating this post is because I'm looking for anglers who want to shape the future of it. So if you have any feedback, any features you would like to see, improvements etc, then I would love to know about it!

I've been fishing for over 30 years, and I really do regret the fact that in some cases I don't have pictures for, or have forgotten most of the details of my captures over the years.

As well as that I am a geek. We mostly know what works / doesn't work these days, but I'd like to use the data gathered to prove that statistically but also highlight things we've missed. Using AI to help with analysis is also an option.

Core features include:
- Catalog (very) detailed info about your catches and filter them. You choose exactly how much (if any) you want to share with the platform.
- Has over 1200 fisheries worldwide, I'm currently working on fishery search based on distance / location and adding more meta about fisheries such as fish species / weights etc.
- Facebook integration: share your catches directly to a Facebook page. This could be extended to other platforms like carpforum in the future.
- Free cloud backup: Uses your own Google Drive so your data stays yours unless shared.
- Spot picker: take images of your spots, record wraps / depth / substrate etc. Link to your catches.
- Works offline if you're in a remote place!

I'm making improvements and adding new features regularly. I have a lot of ideas, but if you want to influence this then let me know. I want this to be our app rather than my app.

I'm planning on keeping this free to use and it just requires a google account to get started. The benefit for me is just seeing the app take off and giving something back to the angling community.

The app is web based and is accessed via www.findex.fish. Also has a youtube channel with lots of tutorials.

Thanks for your time!

Chris