dotnetkow

Agreed, though in this case, they are going for general-purpose OCR. That's fine in some cases, but purpose-built models trained on receipts, invoices, tax documents, etc., definitely perform better. We've got a similar API solution coming out soon (https://digital.abbyy.com/code-extract-automate-your-new-mus...) that should work better for businesses automating their docs at scale.

Congrats to the Mistral team for launching! A general-purpose OCR model is useful, of course. However, more purpose-built solutions are a must to convert business documents reliably. AI models pre-trained on specific document types perform better and are more accurate. Coming soon from the ABBYY team, we're shipping a new OCR API designed to be consistent, reliable, and hallucination-free. Check it out if you're looking for best-in-class DX: https://digital.abbyy.com/code-extract-automate-your-new-mus...

Great insight, thanks for sharing!

How are the "was this page helpful?" links working out on web.dev? Are you receiving useful feedback?

Just us out at [Ionic](https://ionicframework.com/) - a complete platform for doing just that. Write a web app using your framework of choice (or none at all!) then deploy as a PWA, iOS, Android, or Electron app.

As a fellow .NET developer, I dig the author's point. However, I would argue it's not C# that's dangerous - it's Visual Studio, the IDE.

Love love love Netlify! Moved my blog from Tumblr (lol - but it was free!) to Netlify with Hugo as the static site generator. A wonderful experience. With little effort, my blog now has SSL, auto-deploys after I git check-in, and is a million times faster. I wrote a tiny bit about the migration process: https://www.netkow.com/moving-from-tumblr-to-hugo-netlify/

Saw this on Reddit last night, poked around on a few pages. It's great! Love the movie list example on this page: https://github.com/bpesquet/thejsway/blob/master/manuscript/.... Going from "for" loops into map/filter/reduce concepts is an excellent way to teach!

Ah sure, sorry about that! I meant to elaborate but got distracted haha. Up until now, I've used plain web tech... but will be switching to React Native or Ionic soon. They both offer so much: rich UIs, native plugins, and more. So what I meant by my comments is, unfortunately I can't give more feedback on RN, but given its rising popularity it would be a safe time investment. I do stand by my comment that you could begin with vanilla web, then move to a more complex framework when you grow to that point. Thanks for the kind comment about the course, too!

Based on your main point, no experience, I have two suggestions: React/React Native for the framework approach, or something lighter: Simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. My background: .NET dev by day, Cordova dev by night.

React/RN and Ionic would be my top framework suggestions. With React, you have to learn their specific UI syntax/JSX, then React Native syntax. With Ionic, you need to learn Angular and TypeScript, as well as their specific UI syntax.

Another idea would be to start with simple HTML/CSS/JavaScript. These are the building blocks of the web and I've seen others struggle immensely when they don't take the time to learn them properly. This is what I did with my apps, currently using Knockout.js (two way binding is amazing), KendoUI Core (easy cross-platform UIs), and PhoneGap Build (cloud service to create native apps from web code). Incidentally, my Pluralsight course launches in a few minutes - http://www.pluralsight.com/courses/phonegap-build-fundamenta... - and is exactly meant for beginners to get their feet wet before diving into the more complex frameworks.

Absolutely! Despite critics, they can feel native due to increasingly better phone hardware and picking a good framework (KendoUI Mobile, Ionic, React Native, Xamarin). I use KendoUI Mobile and Knockout.js for mine currently, with plans to probably switch to Ionic someday. Users don't care what the tech is - it's about the experience. I've sold over $100k in apps over 3 years... just launched an Untappd beer app if you're curious - www.getBeerSwift.com.

Here here! I do the same for my line of fitness apps. $3.99 at the moment. The only way for consumers to begin to understand that the software they use everyday costs real money to build and maintain is for us to charge for it. I'll be experimenting with higher prices later this year. Cheers!

That is really well done! Great video too. Congrats!

Sorry, missed your comment. Honestly, it's been tough. Oftentimes they claim that they couldn't find something/store was out of it (not sure I buy that!) or the produce they choose isn't the best. You can add notes to each item in the order, so I've been leveraging that to better effect. for example, next to milk, "farthest expiration date please!". You'd think that would be common sense though :)

Love this comment. In a similar vein: like everyone else here, I work the typical 9 to 5 then work on side projects nights & weekends. I agree with the spend money approach! Invest in software to become more efficient, save time avoiding manual tasks. I'm eating healthier nowadays, which means time needed to cook. However, I save some time by using InstaCart to deliver groceries to me. That's huge! Last, taking a good hard look at how you spend time is crucial, beginning with TV watching time. You'd be surprised (I was!) at how much you can get done if you simply watch 1 less show per week, for example.

Great thread idea! Began a "biggest loser" competition at work, lost 5 pounds. Launched MisfitWatchr for iOS and Android (converts Misfit activity into WeightWatchers points). Began development of BeerSwift (faster check-ins for Untappd). All in all, a very productive month!

I've attended every year so far, it's a blast! Like someone else mentioned, like many conferences, the more you put in the more you get out. There is a large variety in content and lots of opportunities to socialize. I've taken back lots of new ideas to my work, whom has always paid for it. I even spoke this past August! https://www.thatconference.com/sessions/session/1171

+1 for Freshdesk. Another indie developer here - works very well as support for my apps!

Creator here. I love trying large varieties of beers at tastings, festivals, and breweries. The current Untappd app doesn't make check-ins easy for these events - hence my app idea. If interested, please sign up for emails - I hope to launch in Q1 2015. Add me on Untappd too (https://untappd.com/user/dotnetkow) if you'd like. Thanks!

Scratching your own itch is the best way to get started! Congrats, keep it up!

What was the app's name? I built the same thing but for Android app about 4 years ago: FixMyQ. It's still a painful use case that I wish they would officially implement, or at least be more transparent about. I always suspected that they didn't/don't want users to focus on movies expiring at all (makes sense). However, rather than educating users as to why this happens, they pulled the info like you mentioned. Such a shame!

Still broken? Ugh. Fellow PhoneGap developer here, I feel your pain!

Great idea for a blog! Will start following it.

Yes, only app sales - no IAP. Not sure how to explain other apps, but if you look at the list of top paid Fitness ones, many of them charge more than the typical 99 cents - that probably factors into it. It certainly does for mine! Also, I've noticed Yoga, pregnancy, etc apps absolutely kill it (consistently!) in sales day after day after day....

Unfortunately for the first version I didn't track hours (I am now). It took all of last summer (June to August) of nights and weekends. Not too bad considering it was only a few hours per week b/c of being more active outside due to Summer. It's PhoneGap based, so much of the effort wasn't so much writing features so much as learning/figuring out the tools I used: KendoUI Mobile for the UI, PhoneGap Build for building native versions, and Knockout.js. I come from a .NET backend background, so I wanted the new challenge of building an app with frontend tech, not only for CSS/JavaScript practice but also benefiting from one codebase for multiple platforms (iOS, Android, and WinPhone 8).

$2-5k per month (after Apple's cut) from my Fitbit mobile app, Fitwatchr: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fitwatchr/id684005201?mt=8&i.... The unique value is Fitbit activity conversion to Weight Watchers points as well as a tougher but more rewarding calorie tracking that is based on real science (Mifflin equation). Effort on my part really depends on me/my current schedule as it's a side project. I admittedly have some bad reviews that boil down to getting users to understand how the calorie tracking works. Using Freshdesk (love it!) to answer 1-2 emails per day. It'll be 1 year working on this next month.

Very well said. Completely agree on the "angry" part - I've experienced that with my own app ($2.99). The hateful things that people write are mind boggling! It costs less than a Starbucks coffee yet they feel like I've robbed them blind. My theory is that the "race to the bottom" that occurred years ago when the app stores began are to blame - as developers/companies we had a chance to establish appropriate expectations but blew it. From here, it's an uphill battle but I think sticking to our guns (charging for apps) and educating friends/family about the true costs/work effort behind apps is a great first step.

Refreshingly honest, happy to see more developers sticking to their guns. If you are creating software that truly provides long lasting value, you should get paid for it. I wrote a post with some similar reasons why I charge for my mobile app ($2.99 though as opposed to $99): http://netkow.com/post/89053877550/why-i-charge-for-my-mobil...

Great article from 37signals. I built my app for Fitbit, Fitwatchr (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fitwatchr/id684005201?mt=8&u...), using web tech only. I leveraged PhoneGap for native access (OAuth via an InApp browser and Google Analytics) via plugins, PhoneGap Build for native iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 builds, and KendoUI Mobile to achieve native looking UI for all (handled mostly automatically!). They are correct - in 2010 the technology, tools, or performance may not have been quite there yet, but in 2014 things are much more viable.

Hi all - creator here. If you have questions about how my Fitbit app works or how I leveraged PhoneGap Build, please don't hesitate to ask! The platform has really matured in the past year, allowing for real great apps to be created in HTML5/JavaScript.