Show HN: We made 1 app this year(lentor.io)
lentor.io
Show HN: We made 1 app this year
http://lentor.io/saved/
22 comments
The whole "I made 30 apps this year..." posts are rediculous. Anyone can make lots of crapy apps
You're being very mean towards a fellow human being who is likely still an active HN participant and might read your comment.
It's also mistaken. ~99.9% of people can't.
You're being very mean towards a fellow human being who is likely still an active HN participant and might read your comment.
It's also mistaken. ~99.9% of people can't.
So 8 People in a year made an app in an area where there are 100 apps doing about the same? That is innovation?
Some how this impresses people compared to single guy doing 30 apps in a year?
My Bet is Single Guy with 30 apps will make real money over next year.
Some how this impresses people compared to single guy doing 30 apps in a year?
My Bet is Single Guy with 30 apps will make real money over next year.
Interesting point to bring up. In the case of this specific app, it was designed and built by a company that designs and builds mobile apps for clients (a development shop). The app is used a marketing tool to showcase their (nice) abilities. In the case of the "I made 30 apps this year...", it was a 15 year old person that was trying to learn how to make money by selling apps. The age is relevant, because it is likely that his/hers resources are limited (and thus may have little to work with).
It does take time and skill to develop good apps. In this case, the company that provides that as a service is showcasing it through the app itself. In the case of the 15 year old, he/she is learning how to do so him/herself. I fail to see the issue surrounding this. They are both doing well.
Now, the OP took recent thread titles from HN and spinned it to its own benefit. That is good a good way to get attention on HN.
It does take time and skill to develop good apps. In this case, the company that provides that as a service is showcasing it through the app itself. In the case of the 15 year old, he/she is learning how to do so him/herself. I fail to see the issue surrounding this. They are both doing well.
Now, the OP took recent thread titles from HN and spinned it to its own benefit. That is good a good way to get attention on HN.
>> "The age is relevant, because it is likely that his/hers resources are limited (and thus may have little to work with)."
I disagree with this point. When developing (relatively simple) apps the biggest resource is time - something a teenager has A LOT of. As someone who started developing apps when I was 17 I know that I was able to develop 5x the number of apps then that I can now. Simply because I had more time. Also because I was living with my parents as most people at that age are and money isn't really an issue it doesn't matter if apps fail, you can keep building. You don't need to spend time on paying projects or evaluate the risk of developing a new project of your own.
I disagree with this point. When developing (relatively simple) apps the biggest resource is time - something a teenager has A LOT of. As someone who started developing apps when I was 17 I know that I was able to develop 5x the number of apps then that I can now. Simply because I had more time. Also because I was living with my parents as most people at that age are and money isn't really an issue it doesn't matter if apps fail, you can keep building. You don't need to spend time on paying projects or evaluate the risk of developing a new project of your own.
I know plenty of teenagers who, in 2014, cannot afford a computer. Some of those who have computers do not have internet access at home or at a nearby place. A lot of them have access to mobile phones, but those are not yet an option in terms of programming. This from personally helping kids and teenagers learn about computers.
You and I were lucky. And for that I'm grateful.
You and I were lucky. And for that I'm grateful.
>The whole "I made 30 apps this year..." posts are rediculous.
I'm pretty sure those were young kids. Sure, I've seen people complaining about those types of posts in the past but I think being negative about someone's desire to learn and (perhaps) eventually build something that solves real problems is a caustic attitude.
I'm pretty sure those were young kids. Sure, I've seen people complaining about those types of posts in the past but I think being negative about someone's desire to learn and (perhaps) eventually build something that solves real problems is a caustic attitude.
Picasso was doing 3 paintings/drawings per day at some point in his career. We saw Edison's to-do list as well.
Executing an idea and following through to completion is hard enough. I think anyone who has made an app whether it is 1 quality app or 30 mediocre apps should pat themselves on the back for breaking through a barrier that not many people actually go through.
Agreed. But I will be curious to see who is making more money in a year.
One of the makers here. I'm curious as well :) Hopefully and ideally, everyone who puts in the work makes the money.
Seriously though, we actually do hope to make enough to pay off some of the bills. The revenue model is freemium, most users will not need to pay, and there is a one time IAP for users who end up using/needing the app enough.
Essentially, our philosophy is that we want to prove that we are providing value to people before we expect or want revenue from users. We might put more revenue options in the future, but it would be based on the same philosophy of providing actual value.
We're still beginners at this, so thanks for all the comments, good comments make us smile, and criticisms are even better so we can make the app better throughout the year.
Seriously though, we actually do hope to make enough to pay off some of the bills. The revenue model is freemium, most users will not need to pay, and there is a one time IAP for users who end up using/needing the app enough.
Essentially, our philosophy is that we want to prove that we are providing value to people before we expect or want revenue from users. We might put more revenue options in the future, but it would be based on the same philosophy of providing actual value.
We're still beginners at this, so thanks for all the comments, good comments make us smile, and criticisms are even better so we can make the app better throughout the year.
Indeed. Thirty multiplied by zero is still zero.
Haha, yes. Most apps on the app store don't make any money at all, but if making 30 helps you identify a profitable niche you can target then you'll come out ahead of the polished but perhaps poorly targeted app.
Hopefully people continue to release their stats.
Hopefully people continue to release their stats.
Me too, i realy see much value in this app.
I hope there was plenty of prototypes over the course of the year. A year seems dangerously long to work on an app without testing it with users / the market.
There's a certain variety of budgeting I've yet to see, but that I think would be very valuable. It's something I'd pay a decent amount for, actually.
The majority of my expenses and income are very predictable, such that I get paid every N days, I get billed X every Y days, etc. I would like to see an application that tracks my balance for every day, from now and into the future, such that I can see my predicted balance on, say, February 21st.
It could also tie into my bank account and track current and past spending, both to recognize recurring events and to update the current balance, which also cascades into all the future predictions.
The majority of my expenses and income are very predictable, such that I get paid every N days, I get billed X every Y days, etc. I would like to see an application that tracks my balance for every day, from now and into the future, such that I can see my predicted balance on, say, February 21st.
It could also tie into my bank account and track current and past spending, both to recognize recurring events and to update the current balance, which also cascades into all the future predictions.
There's an app for this. Dollarbird - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dollarbird-personal-finance/... it does exactly that for me. It does not tie to my bank account though it's all manual input (but you can schedule in recurring payments/income), which is actually good for me because I dislike miscategorizations
Nice! That calendar interface in the first screenshot is almost exactly what I imagined. It's a shame I'm on Android so I can't try it out, but it's good to see there are good apps for that sort of budgeting.
Hey Zikes,
The Android version of Dollarbird is actually already in the pipeline, most probably coming out sometime in February. So if you'd like to be updated about this you can sign up to our newsletter here: http://dollarbirdapp.com/contact/ Cheers!
The Android version of Dollarbird is actually already in the pipeline, most probably coming out sometime in February. So if you'd like to be updated about this you can sign up to our newsletter here: http://dollarbirdapp.com/contact/ Cheers!
I'll do that, thanks!
Is there an app that is also centered around events and trips? Most apps classify expenses as travel, food, lodging.
I want to see my transactions grouped by the excursions I've made to see which events I spent the most on.
I want to see my transactions grouped by the excursions I've made to see which events I spent the most on.
I downloaded Microsoft Money Plus Sunset yesterday to get access to that very feature. It doesn't do the online updating, but the 'project future cash flow' feature is very valuable to me.
I've actually been building this the last few months. One of the subtleties are bills or payments that appear on weekdays only, or the nearest weekday to a given date. I'm being careful to handle all these edge cases.
I have pretty good credit card projections implemented as well, including the rules for computing minimum payments.
I have pretty good credit card projections implemented as well, including the rules for computing minimum payments.
I just started down this road myself, is this a webapp, android, ios? How long until its ready for the public?
I'm making it a webapp. If you look at my profile you'll see I do tons of mobile work but I think something like this is better suited to a computer than a phone.
For mobile integration I highly recommend a CalDAV[1] feed. This sort of budgeting really makes a calendar view essential, and CalDAV integration with the phone's own calendar seems ideal.
Beyond that, some minimal mobile access would be nice for things like adding/modifying recurring events, updating the balance, or entering a new one-off debit/credit.
I stress this because I think for a lot of people budget applications provide a peace of mind, and it's nice to be able to check in on and confirm these things while you're on the go.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalDAV
Beyond that, some minimal mobile access would be nice for things like adding/modifying recurring events, updating the balance, or entering a new one-off debit/credit.
I stress this because I think for a lot of people budget applications provide a peace of mind, and it's nice to be able to check in on and confirm these things while you're on the go.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalDAV
That's neat I hadn't considered CalDAV. There'll be a mobile stylesheet at least, I want that for my own use.
The banking startup simple has a feature like that called "Safe-To-Spend" https://www.simple.com/goals/
I just switched to simple, and am liking it so far. The design and functionality is, well, simple.
Thank you! I keep seeing these money management apps pop up, and I have yet to see one that's actually useful.. One that does what I want... What you just described.
I find if I have to input every little thing into it every day manually, I'm just going to get bored with having to interact with the app so much and then stop using it.
I find if I have to input every little thing into it every day manually, I'm just going to get bored with having to interact with the app so much and then stop using it.
I'm nearly positive I've seen that in Microsoft Money, and pretty sure I've also seen it in Mint.
I think I recall that feature in Quicken, although I've long since sworn off using products from Intuit.
I believe it was in Quicken, but the projected daily balance stuff is not in Mint. Its been something I've wanted and just started to write for myself. If I get to a point where I feel its actually useful for me, I'll consider doing something outward facing.
I use Mint and they're pretty close. They do have bill reminders with dollar estimates (for things that fluctuate, like electric/water), so it wouldn't be much of a stretch for them to add balance projections.
How do I enter expenses? I was hoping the app description would tell me that. It doesn't seem to be on the web page or app store page.
The pain of budgeting is in tracking outflows, at least for me. I make a combination of debit, credit, and cash purchases, and even just through those three channels it's easy to lose track of what went where.
As you note in your app description, people typically give up "tracking expenses... because it was too much effort." So how does your app solve this pain? Would be nice if it were explained.
The pain of budgeting is in tracking outflows, at least for me. I make a combination of debit, credit, and cash purchases, and even just through those three channels it's easy to lose track of what went where.
As you note in your app description, people typically give up "tracking expenses... because it was too much effort." So how does your app solve this pain? Would be nice if it were explained.
Agree wholeheartedly. There are any number of apps out there than can provide me with beautiful graphs and visualizations once they have the data they need, but I don't use any of them. Why? Because:
1) The ones that collect the data automatically require me to violate my bank's online TOS to gather the data (e.g. Mint), which potentially leaves me with no recourse should my bank account be compromised.
2) The ones that require me to input the data are just too much work.
1) The ones that collect the data automatically require me to violate my bank's online TOS to gather the data (e.g. Mint), which potentially leaves me with no recourse should my bank account be compromised.
2) The ones that require me to input the data are just too much work.
> The ones that require me to input the data are just too much work.
I've been using YNAB (You Need A Budget) for a few months, and it makes you input everything. I initially resisted and thought the same thing as you. However I forced myself to try it because so many people recommended it so highly.
It is at it's core a glorified spreadsheet, but it's a very well designed spreadsheet with great support and a solid budgeting methodology behind it. Entering transactions manually has not been that painful, and the big benefit of doing this is that you are actively participating with your budget. WIth mint you spend money and then see how it fits into your budget. With YNAB you give that dollar a job as soon as you get it, and you manually input it when you spend it. It really keeps you aware of your budget and where you are in it and in my experience makes it much easier to stick to it.
I found every time I tried to use Mint to budget (privacy issues aside) it never worked out because it was a very passive thing. Set up some categories. Spend money. Wait for email to tell me I'm over budget, oops.
YNAB is very active so it keeps you honest. And unlike mint, YNAB is designed to be a fluid budget. You can and are encouraged to adjust budget amounts and categories on the fly as life happens, which is something painful to do in mint or other apps.
It is a bit of a pain to have to manually handle transactions (though you can import CSV) but I find the benefits of doing that outweighs the hassle.
I've been using YNAB (You Need A Budget) for a few months, and it makes you input everything. I initially resisted and thought the same thing as you. However I forced myself to try it because so many people recommended it so highly.
It is at it's core a glorified spreadsheet, but it's a very well designed spreadsheet with great support and a solid budgeting methodology behind it. Entering transactions manually has not been that painful, and the big benefit of doing this is that you are actively participating with your budget. WIth mint you spend money and then see how it fits into your budget. With YNAB you give that dollar a job as soon as you get it, and you manually input it when you spend it. It really keeps you aware of your budget and where you are in it and in my experience makes it much easier to stick to it.
I found every time I tried to use Mint to budget (privacy issues aside) it never worked out because it was a very passive thing. Set up some categories. Spend money. Wait for email to tell me I'm over budget, oops.
YNAB is very active so it keeps you honest. And unlike mint, YNAB is designed to be a fluid budget. You can and are encouraged to adjust budget amounts and categories on the fly as life happens, which is something painful to do in mint or other apps.
It is a bit of a pain to have to manually handle transactions (though you can import CSV) but I find the benefits of doing that outweighs the hassle.
I was about to try this too, but it wants to know my location, phone call information, storage access and whatnot :(
Download the desktop version. The mobile one is not a full fledged app, it's mostly a convenience to record transactions and check budget amounts on the go. 99% of the time I use the desktop app.
+1 to this too. Not mentioning this very clearly somewhere at the top automatically leads me to believe (perhaps wrongly) that you haven't addressed this problem.
Is there a way to export data?
Also, thoughts on putting a PIN or password?
my nexus s with cm 10.2 is not eligible for this app (i'm in italy).
so i can't save up money for the nexus 5 and download the app. it's a never-ending problem.
> Requires Android
> 4.0 and up
This cuts out pretty big portion of the userbase, doesn't it? Around 25% according to developers' dashboards[1].
I'm also interested in how this makes money? Or how it could make money. I'm not sure ads are viable alternative for apps you don't need to engage a lot with (i.e. games, readers, ..).
1. http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html
> 4.0 and up
This cuts out pretty big portion of the userbase, doesn't it? Around 25% according to developers' dashboards[1].
I'm also interested in how this makes money? Or how it could make money. I'm not sure ads are viable alternative for apps you don't need to engage a lot with (i.e. games, readers, ..).
1. http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html
The 25% (or so) of Android users who are cut out by this likely aren't going to be terribly concerned with budgeting for themselves, and probably can't afford to pay for anything anyway.
I begin all of my new Android projects with compatibility for 4.0 and later only, because my target market doesn't include people with small budgets buying budget smartphones with years-old OS versions, because they're less likely to do what I want them to: pay me money.
I begin all of my new Android projects with compatibility for 4.0 and later only, because my target market doesn't include people with small budgets buying budget smartphones with years-old OS versions, because they're less likely to do what I want them to: pay me money.
How does it work? Do I have to type in my expenses manually?
Can it work without cloud? Saving data only to my SD card and export them to CSV files? I dont want to share my expense habits with you..
The website's font looks bad for me on the latest Chrome, Windows x64:
http://i.imgur.com/cN6tXNl.png
Gets better with zooming though, at 120 % it looks nicer: http://i.imgur.com/d0GkKcq.png
Gets better with zooming though, at 120 % it looks nicer: http://i.imgur.com/d0GkKcq.png
Beautifully designed, it looks great on both Android and iOS. Nice work. I'm usually not a very good user of these apps as my income/expenses are very irregular (so any automation features are useless to me) and I'm terrible at remembering to enter the data. I'm going to give it a try though.
I'll definitely give this a try! And thank you so much for making an app that only requires network access on Android! All those apps that want your location and access to your contacts and whatnot are so annoying -_-"
Gorgeous design. One thing I don't like are the gradient colours in the calendar view. Better to use a threshold value range, so the view doesn't display sixteen different colours.
It's really hard to read the thin grey text on the bright orange background:
http://i.imgur.com/dCMcnmv.png
Is there the possibility to create a budget for the family? So that both me and my wife will spend from the same budget?
Do you know of any android/web app that can do that?
Do you know of any android/web app that can do that?
You essentially just want the app on each device tied into the same account?
i want a common budget (family budget) which to be accessed by me and my wife, so that we're also able to see which one spends more.
"Add more than 100 entries per month for $3" is brilliant. People won't know they're locked into the app until halfway into the month.
Looks nice. Is there a plan to implement the option to password protect and export the data? Also, multiple currencies would be highly appreciated!
Data export is definitely on the horizon. Password protection is on the list, but not yet definite. We actually do support multiple currencies (we hope our users agree it is done in an elegant fashion, feedback welcome) - let us know if we are missing yours and we will get it in the next release.
The app is missing Moldavan leu (MDL)[1], which I wanted to use. The password protection is a must have for me too. Or maybe a simple pattern lock.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovan_leu
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovan_leu
Looks neat, but my device is incompatible and I can't figure out why. I have a 2012 Nexus 7 and Android 4.4. What gives?
nitpick: the image on your page doesn't look right. It takes too long to load for such a small image and it isn't clear. Perhaps you have a large image which is being re-sized by the browser?
I'm on firefox, windows 7.
I'm on firefox, windows 7.
You guessed correctly, the image is an extraordinarily large png (1050x1364, 250kB).
rgb(218, 218, 218) on rgb(237, 173, 45) makes my eyes hurt.
Could someone comment on this vs YNAB? With YNAB I have it hooked up on my desktop as well. How does this compare? I like the neat visuals, wish YNAB had those.
I think this would be good for planning your savings for future (forecasting), YNAB is about current and past budgeting (though there are ways around it (http://www.youneedabudget.com/support/article/forecast-in-yn...).
That isn't my impression of YNAB. I only tried it out briefly about a year ago, but what I understand is that you plan you future savings by adding it to your budget today. If I wanted to save $80,000 for a down payment on a condo over four years, I would budget $1667 monthly for it in YNAB, and then allocate incoming money to it each month. That isn't a workaround, that is simply how the system is supposed to work.
When you think about planning for the future, I don't think a mobile app is really a good way to go about it. When I was setting up YNAB, I used the desktop app. It took me a while to enter all my budget information and set it up the way I liked it. This wasn't because of YNAB's UI, which is pretty good, but because monthly finances can be complicated. I couldn't imagine doing all of this on a mobile device. It would be incredibly frustrating.
YNAB has mobile and desktop applications. This is nice. You use the desktop application for setting things up and the mobile application for recording purchases (and checking your budget status when considering a purchase) while you are out.
All that said, I was never hooked. The system forces you to think about and record every purchase you make. This is probably great for people living paycheck to paycheck trying to get ahead, or people unable to meet their savings goal. If this isn't you, then you'll probably just find the system to be an unnecessary annoyance.
When you think about planning for the future, I don't think a mobile app is really a good way to go about it. When I was setting up YNAB, I used the desktop app. It took me a while to enter all my budget information and set it up the way I liked it. This wasn't because of YNAB's UI, which is pretty good, but because monthly finances can be complicated. I couldn't imagine doing all of this on a mobile device. It would be incredibly frustrating.
YNAB has mobile and desktop applications. This is nice. You use the desktop application for setting things up and the mobile application for recording purchases (and checking your budget status when considering a purchase) while you are out.
All that said, I was never hooked. The system forces you to think about and record every purchase you make. This is probably great for people living paycheck to paycheck trying to get ahead, or people unable to meet their savings goal. If this isn't you, then you'll probably just find the system to be an unnecessary annoyance.
I've thought about this a lot. What I really don't want to do is invest time in dealing with the data I don't care about. Because of the nature of spending, it tends to be pretty noisy data. When my budget isn't tight, I really don't care to track and think about every transaction. I'm just not interested in a detailed accounting of my coffee habit if at a high level my finances are on the right track.
I've taken an approach of manual entry for a few "important" categories of discretionary spending. It's been good to leave everything else for the less frequent review of my bank statements.
I've taken an approach of manual entry for a few "important" categories of discretionary spending. It's been good to leave everything else for the less frequent review of my bank statements.
In that sense, yes, YNAB can be used for future planning of expenses. But I think the thing they were referring to is that YNAB is not really meant for 'forecasting' your money. Though you could do it, they discourage it and it's meant to be about allocating only the money you have now. In other words, you don't budget something until you actually have the money for it.
So the difference is with YNAB you would indeed budget $1667 when you get your paycheck, but you wouldn't carry that out 12 months in the future and plan your income/expenses to determine how much money you'll have at that point.
So the difference is with YNAB you would indeed budget $1667 when you get your paycheck, but you wouldn't carry that out 12 months in the future and plan your income/expenses to determine how much money you'll have at that point.
Kudos.