Update to our Android Beta incoming!

This update fixes the “receive ALL the notifications!” issue some of you have been having. Now there are no notifications. Trust us: it’s an improvement.

Existing beta users should find their app has updated automatically. If your app doesn’t automatically update, or if you’d like to join the Android beta, you can download it manually at

CraftCheckApp.com/Android or https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.craftcheckapp.craftcheck#_=_

Hey Android users: We got you a gift for the holidays!

Do you want to build a snowman? an Android beta?

After more than a year of answering the “Where is Android?” question with “Coming soon…” we’re finally able to say “Out now! Sort of!” We know - subtle. But as of the moment you see this, Craft Check is officially in public beta for Android!

A couple caveats:

1) This is our first Android app, and we were only able to test on some of the more popular devices. So we know there are most likely a couple issues here and there - help us improve the experience for you and everyone else by sending us any issues you might have so that Barrett can yell at Rudy until he cries we can fix them.

2) You may notice a number of updates over the next couple weeks as we release new versions with little tweaks here and there.

What’s the difference between the iOS and Android versions? None. They’re functionally identical. It was important to us that we not release a cut-down or compromised version as is so common to Android apps. So despite how much extra work it was for us Rudy, we he buckled down and delivered. If you get the opportunity, definitely buy us him a beer. A craft beer. Maybe use an app to check it. (That’s a hint.)

3) Barrett is pretty much useless when it comes to coding, so while Rudy was slaving over a console for untold hours upon end, Barrett took ten solid minutes and wrote a song about our Android release to the tune of Do You Want To Build A Snowman - we know, timely.

Do you want an Android beta?
Come on let’s go and scan!
We see you’re holding crafty beer
We’re finally here
To save you from that can!

The packaging says Craft Beer
But no it’s not.
They hope that you’re just a fool.

Do you want an Android Beta
(It’s pretty solid for a beta.)
We think it’s cool.

Do you want an Android Beta?
It scans and searches all the beer.
We really think that it is overdue
You knowing real craft brew
Is everything they fear!

We made it really simple
You just scan and know
So Craft Beer is all you’ll buy

Do you want an Android Beta?
We worked real hard to get a beta.
Give it a try.

4) Thanks for supporting us, and for not giving up every time we told you Android was coming soon. We really think it was worth the wait, and can’t wait to hear what you think!

You can grab our beta at CraftCheckApp.com/Android

What’s new in Craft Check 2.1?

You may have noticed a shiny new Craft Check update sitting in your notifications - don’t panic, everything’s going according to plan!

  • By user request, we added a button to let users manually trigger the flash to improve barcode scanning in dark or low-light scenarios.
  • As this flash button was a feature we’d previously removed, we really tried to fit in a “Dark Night Returns” joke, but it just wasn’t happening today. Maybe next time.
  • We fixed a bug that caused some users with iPhone 4S models to experience application crashes when they attempted to scan a barcode. Or just open the scan screen. Or click a button. We decided this was ultimately a suboptimal user experience, so we removed the “Instacrash on 4S” feature and replaced it with “Read The Documentation" and “Now It Doesn’t Crash on 4S Anymore” features.
  • Read the documentation.
  • Continued to be surprised that Apple lets us publish these as our official documented changeling in the app store.

Anonymous asked:

I. Can't believe you have no support for UK real ales or craft beer. Brewdog is huge over here!

Here’s the problem: There’s no prevailing definition for what constitutes “craft beer” in the UK. We personally love Brewdog, but it’s a problem they’ve identified as needing to be solved as well: https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/defining-craft-beer

Canada has a similar issue: there are multiple regional definitions of “craft beer” and “craft brewery” but no national definition. That means the same beer and brewery may be considered “craft” in Ottawa, but not in British Columbia.

So until there’s an actual industry definition for “craft beer” we can’t really make arbitrary decisions on what to consider “craft” or not. Well, we could theoretically just create our own definition, but then we’d be the outsiders trying to tell another country’s beer community what to consider “craft” and what to consider “crafty.” That’s not a great position to be in. We’d much rather the country’s craft breweries and industry groups come up with their own internal definitions for us to go by.

So we’re rooting for the Brewdog guys to solve this problem, and they’re actually making really good progress. But until there’s an actual industry-understood definition for “craft beer” in the UK, we can’t really tell you what’s craft beer and what’s not.

ANNOUNCEMENT: (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To) Craft Check Version 2.0!!

Is that a real Craft Beer or just a crafty imitation? Get Craft Check Version 2.0 right here and find out!

There’s something often said about good intentions. I’m not sure what it is, because our intentions tend to barely graze “chaotic neutral” on the best of days, but suffice to say that sometimes what you get isn’t exactly what you’d planned. 

In our case, what we’d planned for Craft Check was monthly updates as we moved into the next quarter’s development cycle, culminating in a big, splashy release on Android, all of which netted us dozens of awards and a fleet of Ferraris apiece. What we got instead was over a year without updates of any kind (and zero Ferraris.) Those two outcomes are kind of different, regardless of how good our intentions were.

Now I wish we had a better explanation other than “we got busy on some other things” but the reality is that Rudy and I both simply got busy with some other things. Craft Check is a side project for both of us, and in the pursuit of continuing to stave off the haunting specter of homelessness, we both had to play a little life triage and prioritize some day-job-esque things. Unfortunately that means putting off serious work on Craft Check until we were both back to baseline.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that two months ago, we both decided that enough was enough, and we needed to get Craft Check back on track. The best news is that today we released a very new, very updated, and very free Craft Check 2.0!

Craft Check 2.0 is a culmination of a number of updates, primarily focused around technical and user interface improvements, plus a few highly-requested features.

Keep reading

Craft Check 2.0 Release Notes

What’s new in this version?

  • Changed price to free, as in “actually, totally free. Promise.”
  • Improved database operation from “mostly acceptable” to “pretty good, to be honest” through adding background database updates that periodically connect to our CMS to download new and updated entries. Now as long as you have an internet connection, Craft Check’s database will be up to date.
  • Revised user interface to streamline the experience. Gave screen priority to scanning and moved search to top bar, because we like scan better and search was being super weird about it. Like, just respect our choices dude.
  • Added new sharing options that automatically promote brewery social media information where available, because we like promoting craft breweries…which is why we made this app in the first place. So, you know, accomplishing goals left and right here.
  • “Not Craft” messaging now includes additional information on beer ownership, where applicable, because our users overwhelmingly asked for more information on non craft beer ownership. So thanks, everyone, we think it’s a neat addition too.
  • Removed ennui.
  • Doubled moxie.