Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#1

Post by ronyfadel » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 4:43 PM UTC

Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac
fadel.io

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#2

Post by hpen » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:31 PM UTC

This is cool I was ready to try it! Then I saw it wasn't free :( I pay for lots of apps but this doesn't seem worth it to me.

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#3

Post by ronyfadel » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:36 PM UTC

hpen wrote: post #2

This is cool I was ready to try it! Then I saw it wasn't free :( I pay for lots of apps but this doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm an indie developer, and the $7.99 lifetime license purchase sustains Batteries' development.

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#4

Post by metahost » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:36 PM UTC

Isn’t this the default behaviour on clicking the Bluetooth icon when a device is connected to a Mac?

I am on macOS Monterey (12.0.1) and this is what I see: https://imgur.com/a/SAKj3Cs

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#5

Post by ronyfadel » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

metahost wrote: post #4

Isn’t this the default behaviour on clicking the Bluetooth icon when a device is connected to a Mac? I am on macOS Monterey (12.0.1) and this is what I see: https://imgur.com/a/SAKj3Cs

Here are some differences with the bluetooth menu:

- Batteries also shows non-bluetooth devices (iPhone/iPad and AirPods/AirPods case even when not connected via bluetooth).

- Batteries shows your devices in the Menu Bar, Touch Bar and Notification Center.

- Batteries sends you notifications when any of your devices are low on battery.

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#6

Post by metahost » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:43 PM UTC

ronyfadel wrote: post #5

metahost wrote: post #4

Isn’t this the default behaviour on clicking the Bluetooth icon when a device is connected to a Mac? I am on macOS Monterey (12.0.1) and this is what I see: https://imgur.com/a/SAKj3Cs

Here are some differences with the bluetooth menu: - Batteries also shows non-bluetooth devices (iPhone/iPad and AirPods/AirPods case even when not connected via bluetooth). - Batteries shows your devices in the Menu Bar, Touch Bar and Notification Center. - Batteries sends you notifications when any of your devices are low on battery.

Ah thanks for the clarification, kudos on the launch! :)

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#7

Post by hpen » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:46 PM UTC

ronyfadel wrote: post #3

hpen wrote: post #2

This is cool I was ready to try it! Then I saw it wasn't free :( I pay for lots of apps but this doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm an indie developer, and the $7.99 lifetime license purchase sustains Batteries' development.

I do respect that. And if you find people paying for it then I say keep at it! I definitely think it is a neat app, but I just didn't see the value proposition personally. Others probably do. I know the macOS software market is usually higher priced than iOS and others.

Thats just my reaction and I wanted to give my feedback.

As a side note: I'm trying to break into the iOS/macOS dev market, do you mind sharing if you make all of your income from indie development? And how long have you been at it?

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#8

Post by techsupporter » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:51 PM UTC

hpen wrote: post #2

This is cool I was ready to try it! Then I saw it wasn't free :( I pay for lots of apps but this doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm just thrilled there is a time-limited trial and that the purchase is one-time.

Based on how iOS usually goes, I anticipated being disappointed by a "just a cup of coffee every quad-fortnight" subscription of $3.99/56 days or the like.

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#9

Post by KMnO4 » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:53 PM UTC

ronyfadel wrote: post #3

hpen wrote: post #2

This is cool I was ready to try it! Then I saw it wasn't free :( I pay for lots of apps but this doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm an indie developer, and the $7.99 lifetime license purchase sustains Batteries' development.

> sustains Batteries' development

What future development needs to be sustained? I developed a similarly-sized app back in the days of Snow Leopard and I’ve not really needed to do much maintenance to keep it going. An hour at most every major OS X version and that was mostly just updating dependencies and recompiling. That’s less time than I spend scrolling HN so I couldn’t justify charging for it.

Re: Show HN: I made an app that tracks your devices' batteries from your Mac

#10

Post by ronyfadel » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:58 PM UTC

KMnO4 wrote: post #9

ronyfadel wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an indie developer, and the $7.99 lifetime license purchase sustains Batteries' development.

> sustains Batteries' development What future development needs to be sustained? I developed a similarly-sized app back in the days of Snow Leopard and I’ve not really needed to do much maintenance to keep it going. An hour at most every major OS X version and that was mostly just updating dependencies and recompiling. That’s less time than I spend scrolling HN so I couldn’t justify charging for it.

New features (tracking other Mac batteries as well, better Apple Watch support), bug fixes, supporting new devices (Logitech, and new Apple devices), localization into new languages.

You’d be surprised!