Craft Check Blog

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

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